Circular of the State Administration of Taxation on Printing and Distributing the Measures for the Administration on Export Tax Refund (Exemption)

Circular of the State Administration of Taxation on Printing and Distributing the Measures for the Administration on Export Tax Refund (Exemption)

Guo Shui Fa [1994] No. 31

February 18, 1994

The tax bureaus of various provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government, the taxation bureaus of various municipalities separately listed on the State plan and the taxation departments of import and export directly under the State Administration of Taxation:

We formulated the Measures for the Administration on Export Tax Refund (Exemption) according to the "Interim Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Value-Added Tax" and the "Interim Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Consumption Tax", and hereby delievred to you, it will enter into force as of January 1, 1994.

Attachment: Measures for the Administration on Export Tax Refund (Exemption)

In pursuant to the "Interim Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Value-Added Tax" and the "Interim Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Consumption Tax", the following provisions on the refund or exemption of value-added tax and consumption tax on export goods are hereby promulgated:

I. Enterprises empowered to handle exports (hereinafter referred to as" export enterprises") except otherwise provided for may apply to tax authorities monthly for an approval of refund or exemption of value- added tax and consumption tax for themselves or acting as an export agent after customs declaration and listing of the goods as sales in their accounts upon the presentation of related documents.

II. The following goods are eligible for refund or exemption of value added tax and consumption tax with special approvals:
(I) goods shipped out of the country for use in contracting projects by companies contracting for foreign engineering projects.
(II) goods shipped out of the country for use in repair projects by enterprises undertaking the repairs.
(III) goods sold to foreign ships or Chinese ocean-going ships by foreign ship supporting companies or ocean-going shipping supply companies and paid in foreign exchange.
(IV) machinery and electronic products and building materials sold by domestic enterprises after winning international bidding financed by loans provided for by international financial organizations or foreign governments.
(V) goods bought in China and shipped out of the country by enterprises as their shares of investment abroad.

III. The following export goods are exempt from value-added tax and consumption tax:
(I) goods processed with supplied materials and re-exported.
(II) contraceptive drugs and instruments, ancient and second-hand books.
(III) cigarettes.
(IV) military goods and goods for export produced by military supplies factories or allocated by military supplies departments.
The tax-free goods prescribed by the State shall not get tax refund.
The provisions on the tax refund or tax exemption for goods exported by enterprises with foreign investment shall be promulgated separately.

IV. Except re-export of goods processed with supplied materials as approved by the State, the following goods are not eligible for refund or exemption of value-added tax and consumption tax:
(I) crude oil.
(II) export goods as foreign aid.
(III) goods whose export is banned by the State, including natural bezoar, musk, copper and copper-based alloys and platinum etc.
(IV) sugar.

V. Goods bought by export enterprises from small scale taxpayers with ordinary bills shall get no tax reduction or tax refund whether they are sold at home or exported. But reduction or tax refund shall be made for the following goods considering their large proportion in the export and special conditions in production and procurement:
Drawn work, arts and crafts, spices, mountain goods, wickerwork and bamboo and rattan products, fishing nets and gears, rosin, gallnuts, raw lacquer, bristle tails, goat skin and paper products.

VI. The export of the originally high tax rate goods and precious goods shall also follow the relevant provisions in the "Circular of the State Administration of Taxation and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation on Tax Refund for High Tax Rate Products and Precious Products Exported by Some Export Enterprises" (GuoShuiFa [1992] No.79). The export of the originally high tax rate goods and precious goods exported by non-designated enterprises shall not get refund.

VII. The amount of value-added tax refunded for export goods shall be computed according to the tax amount for purchase of the product. The specific methods of computation are:
(I) For an export enterprise which has separate inventory account and sales account for export goods, the taxable amount shall be computed according to price and tax amount specified in the special invoice for value-added tax on purchase of export goods.
For enterprises which have adopted the weighted average method in inventory and sales, the following formula may be used for computation according to different tax rates and goods:
Refundable amount = Amount of export goods * weighted average purchasing price * Tax rate
(II) For export enterprises which handle both domestic sales and export goods and there are no separate accounts for export goods, the following formula should be applied after computing the taxable amount of the sales account for domestic sales and deducting the taxable amount of purchase account of the period:
1. Sales amount * Tax rate >= remaining taxable amount after deduction of the tax amount for the purchase of the product.
Refundable amount = Tax amount remaining for the purchase after deduction
2. Sales amount * Tax < Remaining taxable amount after deduction for the purchase of the product
Refundable amount = Sales amount * Tax rate
Taxable amount for purchase of the product for deduction in the next period = the taxable amount for purchase of the product remaining after deduction of the period - refundable amount
Money amount of sales refers to the FOB price of the goods and the Renminbi amount computed according to the foreign exchange quotation.
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