Announcement of the Ministry of Finance, the General Administration of Customs, and the State Taxation Administration on the Preferential Tax Policy for Returned Goods Exported via Cross-border E-commerce

Announcement No. 16 [2026] by the Ministry of Finance, the General Administration of Customs, and the State Taxation Administration

To support the development of new business models in cross-border e-commerce, we hereby announce the preferential tax policy for returned goods exported via cross-border e-commerce as follows:

1.Goods (excluding food) declared for export under the cross-border e-commerce customs supervision codes (1210, 9610, 9710, 9810) from January 1, 2026, to December 31, 2027, which are returned to China in their original state within six months from the date of export due to overstocking or returns, shall be exempt from import duties, import value-added tax (VAT), and consumption tax. Export duties already levied at the time of export shall be refunded, while VAT and consumption tax already levied shall be handled in accordance with the relevant tax regulations governing returns of domestically sold goods. Goods exported under the supervision code 1210 shall be returned from outside the customs special supervision area or the Bonded Logistics Center (Type B) to the domestic area outside the special supervision area within six months from the date of leaving the area.

2.For goods that meet the provisions of Article 1 and for which export tax rebates have already been claimed, enterprises shall replenish the rebated tax amounts in accordance with current regulations. Enterprises shall apply for exemption from import duties, import VAT, and consumption tax, as well as for a refund of export duties, by presenting the Certificate of Tax Replenishment/Non-rebated Tax for Export Goods issued by the competent tax authority.

3.The term "returned to China in their original state" as specified in Article 1 means that the exported goods, upon their return to China, shall retain their minimum commodity form essentially identical to that at the time of export. No additional accessories or components are allowed, and no processing or modification should have been carried out. However, goods that have undergone processes such as unpacking, inspection (testing), installation, and debugging are still considered to maintain the "original state". The returned goods should not have been used, except in cases where quality defects are only identifiable after trial use or where it can be substantiated that the goods were returned after being tried by the customer.

4.For goods that meet the provisions of Articles 1, 2, and 3, enterprises shall submit documents such as the export commodity declaration list or export customs declaration form, along with a statement explaining the reason for the return, to verify that the goods are indeed being returned due to overstocking or returns. Enterprises shall bear legal responsibility for the authenticity of these documents. For goods returned due to overstocking, enterprises shall provide a "Self-declaration" as the reason statement, pledging that the return is due to overstocking, and proceed with the duty-free return procedures accordingly. For goods returned due to customer returns, enterprises shall provide return records (including those from the cross-border e-commerce platform or rejection records), return agreements, etc., as the reason statement, based on which Customs will handle the duty-free return procedures.

5.Any illegal activities by enterprises, such as tax evasion and tax fraud, shall be dealt with in accordance with relevant national laws and regulations.

Announcement is hereby given.

Ministry of Finance

General Administration of Customs

State Taxation Administration

February 6, 2026