Measures of the People's Republic of China Governing the Customs Taxation of Import and Export Commodities Part III

Chapter IV Return of Duties on Import and Export

Goods and Collection of Duties Due

 

Article 59. In cases where the Customs discovers that excessive duties are collected, the Customs shall notify the taxpayers to handle tax rebate formalities immediately. Taxpayers shall, within 3 months starting from the day of receiving the notice from the Customs, handle tax rebate formalities.

 

Article 60. In cases where taxpayers discover that they have paid excessive duties, they may, within one year starting from the day of duty payment, apply to the Customs for the return of extra duties paid, together with the bank¡¦s current savings interest during the same period.

 

Taxpayers applying to the Customs for return of duties and interest shall provide the following documents:

 

1. letter of application for tax rebate;

 

2. original letter of payment of duties and proof that there is a need to grant tax rebate.

 

Article 61. In cases where imported goods that have paid duties are returned abroad in their original status due to quality or specification reasons, taxpayers may apply to the Customs for a rebate, within 1 year starting from the day of paying duties.

 

Taxpayers applying to the Customs for a rebate shall provide the following documents:

 

1. letter of application for tax rebate;

 

2. original import declaration, letter of payment of duties, invoice;

 

3. export declaration of goods that are transported abroad;

 

4. agreement between the consignor and consignee regarding return of goods.

 

Article 62. In cases where export goods on which export duties have been paid are returned in their original status and transported back into the country due to quality or specification reasons, and on which related taxes in the domestic process that are returned due to exportation have been paid, the taxpayers may apply to the Customs for tax rebate, within one year starting from the day when taxpayers pay duties.

 

When applying to the Customs for tax rebate, the taxpayers shall provide the following documents:

 

1. letter of application for tax rebate;

 

2. original export declaration, letter of payment of duties, invoice;

 

3. import declaration of goods that are transported back into the country.

 

4. agreement between the consignor and consignee regarding return of goods and confirmation by the tax body that the related taxes in the domestic process have been paid.

 

Article 63. In cases where goods on which export duties have been paid and which failed to be loaded and exported due to certain reasons and are declared to the Customs for return, taxpayers may apply to the Customs for tax rebate within one year, starting from the day when the taxpayers pay the duties.

 

When applying to the Customs for tax rebate, taxpayers shall provide the following documents:

 

1. letter of application for tax rebate;

 

2. original export declaration and letter of payment of duties.

 

   Article 64. For import and export goods in bulk which experience a short shipment and have been granted access after collection of duties, if the consignor, carrier or insurance company of the goods has returned or compensated payment for the part of short shipment, the taxpayers may apply to the Customs for return of the corresponding duties on the part of short shipment of import or export goods, within one year starting from the day when the taxpayers pay duties.

 

When applying to the Customs for tax rebate, the taxpayer shall provide the following documents :

 

1. letter of application for tax rebate;

 

2. original import or export declaration, letter of payment of duties, invoice;

 

3. related inspection certificate issued by qualified commodities inspection agencies;

 

4. documents evidencing that refunds or compensation has been made.

 

Article 65. In cases where import and export goods are damaged, poor quality, not in conformity with specifications or are found to be of short shipment not listed in article 64 of this set of measures, and the consignor, carrier or insurance company of the import and export goods has compensated money accordingly, the taxpayers may apply to the Customs for return of duties corresponding to the compensated money, within one year starting from the day when the taxpayers have paid duties.

 

When applying to the Customs for tax rebate, the taxpayers shall provide the following documents:

 

1. letter of application for tax rebate;

 

2. original import or export declaration, letter of payment of duties, invoice;

 

3. documents evidencing that compensation has been made.

 

Article 66. The Customs shall conduct examination and verification upon receipt of the application for tax rebate from taxpayers. The Customs shall accept application documents submitted by taxpayers that are considered complete and conforming to the patterns set. The date of receipt of the application materials by the Customs shall be considered the day of acceptance.

 

In cases where application documents submitted by the taxpayers are not complete or do not conform to the format set, the Customs shall notify the taxpayers once what further information they require within 5 working days, starting from the day of receiving the application documents, and the day on which the Customs receives all supplementary application documents will be considered the day of acceptance by the Customs.

 

In cases where taxpayers apply for tax rebate in line with the provisions of articles 61, 62 and 65 of this set of measures, and the Customs considers it necessary, the Customs may request taxpayers to provide an inspection certificate or other related evidencing documents issued by qualified commodities inspection agencies for the original import or export goods, showing that the goods are poor in quality, do not conform to specifications or are damaged or short of the specified amount.

 

The Customs shall inspect and verify the application for tax rebate within 30 days upon receipt of it and notify taxpayers to handle tax rebate formalities or the decision of refusal of tax rebate.

 

Taxpayers shall, within three months upon receipt of the notice issued by the Customs for tax rebate, handle related tax rebate formalities.

 

Article 67. The Customs, when handling tax rebate formalities, shall fill in the income refund notice and follow the following rules:

 

1. return interest accrued on the excessive part of duties collected in line with article 60 of this set of measures, the interest to be returned shall be calculated according to that of current savings as specified by the People¡¦s Bank of China on the day when the Customs issues the income refund notice. The period for the calculation of interest to be returned is between the day when the taxpayers pay duties and the day when the Customs issues the income refund notice.

 

2. in cases where VAT involved in the importation process has been offset, the VAT will not be refunded, unless otherwise specified by the State.

 

3. arrearage collected is not refunded.

 

In cases where refunded duties and interest involved are to be withdrawn from the treasury, this shall be carried out in line with the provisions of laws and administrative regulations governing treasury administration and related implementation rules.

 

Article 68. After import and export goods have been granted access and the Customs finds that not enough duty has been collected; it shall ask the taxpayers to make it up.

 

In cases where Customs finds some duties have been omitted, it shall request the taxpayers to make it up within one year, starting from the day when the goods are granted access.

 

Article 69. In cases where collection of duties is less than it should be because of violation on the part of taxpayers, the Customs shall request the taxpayers to make it up within three years, starting from the day of duty payment.

 

In cases where the violation acts of taxpayers have resulted in the omission of duties collected, the Customs shall request the taxpayers to make it up within three years, starting from the day when the goods are granted access. The Customs shall, in addition to requesting the taxpayers to make up what is missing according to law, collect an arrearage of 5/10,000 of the missing or omitted amount of duties on a daily basis between the day of duty payment or on which goods are granted access and the day on which the Customs discovers the violation acts.

 

In cases where collection of duties on goods under Customs supervision less than what is supposed to be collected is caused by the violation on the part of taxpayers, the Customs shall request the taxpayers to make it up within three years, starting from the day of duty payment, and collect an arrearage of 5/10,000 of the missing or omitted amount of duties on a daily basis between the day of duty payment or on which goods are granted access and the day on which the Customs discovers the violation acts.

 

Day of duty payment mentioned in the previous paragraph refers to the day on which violation acts on the part of taxpayers occur.

 

In cases where the day cannot be identified, the day on which the Customs discovers the violation acts will be considered the day of duty payment.

 

Article 70. In cases where the Customs requests taxpayers to make up the missing or omitted amount of duties, it shall issue a Notice of the Customs for Making Up Duties. Taxpayers shall go to the Customs to handle the formalities related to the making up of duties within 15 days upon receipt of the Notice of the Customs for Making Up Duties.

 

In cases where taxpayers fail to handle the formalities related to the making up of duties within the period specified above, the Customs shall issue a letter of duty payment before the expiration of the period specified.

 

Article 71. In cases where the violation acts of taxpayers have resulted in the collection of arrearage at the same time as the collection of duties in line with the related provisions of articles 37, 40, 45, and 69 of this set of measures, and the taxpayers fail to pay duties within the 15‑day period allowed, the Customs shall, in line with the provisions of article 20 of this set of measures, collect an arrearage on the period between the day of expiration of the collection period and the day on which duties have been paid .

 

Chapter V   Reduction and Exemption of Duties on Import and Export Duties

 

Article 72. Taxpayers importing and exporting goods entitled to duty reduction and exemptions shall, before the importation and exportation of goods, go to the Customs to handle the examination and approval formalities of duties reduction and exemptions on the strength of related documents. The following import and export goods entitled to duty reduction and exemptions are exempt from handling the examination and approval formalities of duties reduction and exemption:

 

1. one batch of goods with value of tariffs, VAT involved in the importation process or excise tax less than RMB50;

 

2. advertisement articles and sample goods without commercial value;

 

3. goods having been damaged or lost before being granted access by the Customs;

 

4. fuels, articles and foodstuff and beverages carried by entry and exit transportation vehicles, which are considered necessary for travel;

 

5. other goods that are free from handling the examination and approval formalities of duties reduction and exemptions.

 

Article 73. For goods listed in item 3 of article 72 of this set of measures, taxpayers shall, at the time of declaration or within 15 days starting from the day when the goods are granted access by the Customs, give explanations to the Customs in writing, and provide related evidencing materials.

 

In cases where the Customs deems it necessary, it may request the taxpayers to provide inspection proof issued by qualified commodities inspection agencies to show the degree of damages of the goods. The Customs shall grant duty reduction or exemptions in view of the actual degree of damages made.

 

Article 74. Unless otherwise specified, taxpayers shall apply to the competent Customs authority for the handling of examination and approval formalities of duties reduction and exemption. The Customs shall conduct examination and verification in line with related provisions and issue the Certificate of Duty Collection and Exemption.

 

Article 75. Special imported goods entitled to duty reduction and exemption of special regions, special enterprises or for special purposes shall be under the supervision of the Customs:

 

Period of supervision by the Customs for special imported goods entitled to duty reduction and exemption:

 

1. shipping vessels, aircrafts: 8 years;

 

2. motor vehicles: 6 years;

 

3. other goods: 5 years.

 

Period of supervision starts to count from the day when the goods are granted entry access.

 

Article 76. Within the supervision period of special imported goods entitled to duty reduction and exemption, the taxpayers shall report once a year, starting from the day when goods entitled to duty reduction and exemption are granted access, to the competent Customs authority the status of goods entitled to duty reduction and exemption. Unless otherwise approved by the Customs to be transferred to other project units eligible for the same type of taxation preferential treatment, the taxpayers shall pay duties reduced or exempted and complete formalities of release of supervision before transferring the goods thus imported or otherwise disposing of them.

 

When the supervision period of special imported goods entitled to duty reduction and exemption is over, the Customs supervision shall be released automatically.    

 

In cases where taxpayers need proof to testify the release of supervision, they may go to the Customs to apply for proof of release of supervision on the strength of related documents and certificates, within one year, starting from the day of expiration of the supervision period. The Customs shall verify the information within 20 days upon receipt of the applications filed by taxpayers and issue proof of release of supervision.

 

Chapter VI   Guarantee for Duties of Import and Export Duties

 

Article 77. In any of the following circumstances, the taxpayers requesting Customs to grant access to goods in advance shall provide guarantee for duties in full amount according to the duty payable identified preliminarily by the Customs:

 

1. the Customs has not yet identified commodities categorization, duty paid price, place of origin and important documents of duty collection;

 

2. in the course of handling examination and approval formalities for duties reduction and exemption with the Customs;

 

3. applying for extension in the payment of duties;

 

4. entering or leaving borders temporarily;

 

5. with the exception of incoming repair and outgoing processing goods that are subject to bonded supervision;

 

6. In cases where taxpayers declare the importation or exportation of compensation goods of no consideration due to damages, poor quality of or non‑conformity with specifications of goods, and the original imported goods have not yet been transported abroad or not yet been abandoned and handed over to the Customs for treatment, or the original export goods have not yet been returned into the country.

 

7. others that require guarantee for duties as per related regulations.

 

Article 78. Period of guarantee of duties is normally not longer than six months, unless otherwise specified. Under extraordinary circumstances, approval from the governor of the Customs authority directly under the General Administration of Customs or persons authorized by the governor is required in order to consider the extension of the period.

 

Guarantee of duties shall normally be in the form of deposit, letter of guarantee issued by banks or non‑banking financial institutions, unless otherwise specified. Letter of guarantee of duties issued by banks or non‑banking financial institutions means guarantee of joint responsibility.

 

In cases where the letter of guarantee of duties has specifically stated the period of guarantee, the period of guarantee shall, normally not be shorter than the guarantee period approved by the Customs.

 

Article 79. Within the guarantee period approved by the Customs and the taxpayers have implemented their taxation obligations, the Customs shall complete the formalities related to the release of the taxpayers from guarantee of duties within 5 working days, starting from the day when the taxpayers implement their taxation obligations.

 

Within the guarantee period approved by the Customs, in cases where the taxpayers fail to perform their taxation obligations and they have paid deposit for duties, the Customs shall complete the related formalities of transferring deposit into duties within 5 working days starting from the day of expiration of the guarantee period.

 

In cases where the letter of guarantee of duties is provided by banks or non‑banking financial institutions, the Customs shall request the guarantor to perform their taxation obligations within 6 months upon the expiration of the guarantee period or within the guarantee period specified in the letter of guarantee of duties.

 

Chapter VII   Supplementary Articles

 

 

Article 81. Violators of this set of measures and whose acts have constituted violation of Customs supervision or smuggling shall be punished according to the provisions of the Customs Law, Implementation Regulations of the Administrative Sanctions of the Customs of the People's Republic of China and other related laws or administrative regulations. In cases where crimes have been constituted, the criminal liabilities shall be investigated.

 

Article 82. Taxation administration of bonded goods and goods entering or leaving bonded zones, export processing zones, bonded warehouses and other similar locations under the supervision of the Customs shall be implemented in line with this set of measures.

 

In cases where there is no provision in this set of measures, the provisions of related laws, administrative regulations and rules of the Customs shall apply.

 

Article 83. Measures governing the declaration for duties and payment of duties through electronic data exchange shall be worked out separately.

 

Article 84. The General Administration of Customs shall be entitled to the interpretation right of this set of measures.

 

Article 85. This set of rules shall enter into force as of March 1, 2005 and the Measures Governing Customs Taxation released by the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China on September 30, 1986 shall be abolished at the same time.