GuoShuiFa [1998] No.84 June 9, 1998

Taxation administrations and Foreign Economic Relations and Trade Departments (Commissions, Bureaus) of provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government and municipalities separately listed on the State plan:

With a view to supporting export of foreign trade and speeding up taxation reimbursement on export and guarding against and puncturing illegal activities and criminal offences of gaining taxation reimbursement for export by cheating, the State Bureau of Taxation and MOFTEC have decided to further standardize export and procedure of taxation reimbursement. Details of the Circular are hereby given as follows:

1. To strengthen management of export trade

(1) Export companies must correct their business thinking. They should on the one hand try to enlarge their business scope, earn more foreign exchange and exhance efficiency, and on the other hand, observe laws and strictly forbid fraud of any form. We should firmly prevent and companies from imitating import and export trade by way of changing currencies so as to gain taxation reimbursement by cheating.

(2) Export companies must do their work conscientiously and meticulously. They should make special efforts to educate their vocational personnel, who should be required to acquaint themselves with sources of goods, quality, price, taxation and traders' rating, to personally take a hand in transaction, warehousing, transportation, declaration at the customs, etc, and to definitely avoid such transactions as "four-self" and "three-unseen" (that is, trader or medium bring clients by themselves, bring goods by themselves, bring draft by themselves, and declare at the Customs by themselves and exported products unseen, goods supplier unseen and foreign trader unseen). Meanwhile, the system of job responsibility and system of rewards and penalties should be adopted inside the companies so as to strengthen restriction and punishment.

2. Procedure of taxation reimbursement

(1) Regular report. Export companies should set up a system to gather certificates of taxation reimbursement and report to local authority and apply for taxation reimbursement in regular intervals. Except for exported goods of ium or long-term exchange settlement, certificates of taxation reimbursement should by fully gathered before clearance is finished (May 31 of the year). Otherwise, taxation authority should not accept application for taxation reimbursement.

(2) Regular approving of taxation reimbursement. After receiving application materials already chceked by foreign economic relations and trade department, the taxation authority should verify documents and credits timely. To those with full and true documents and credits and correct electronic information, formalities should be finished within 20 working days. For those with questions, timely investigation should be made. The Taxation authority should send back letters in time according to stipulations of the State Bureau of Taxation, and should send back results of investigation to the taxation reimbursement authority at the sending place within 2 months after receiving the investigation letter from the taxation reimbursement authority. If it is impossible to get the outcome of the investigation due to special reasons, acknowledge ment letter should be sent back first to indicate the reason and the deadline of the next letter. For those which can not be found out within one production link, and needs calling-back of the past, export companies have the responsibility to provide veidence. Taxation reimbursement can be made only after re-chcek is made by the taxation reimbursement authority. For those with incorrect evidence or providing of evidence impossible within the clearing period of that year, taxation reimbursement should not be made.

3. Strict verification on electronic information of taxation reimbursement for export

(1) Taxation authorities in charge of taxation reimbursement for export should improve electronic management on taxation reimbursement and carry out strict verification according to relevant stipulations. Except for those stipulated by the State Administration that verification of electronic information is unnecessary, and application must be checked against the declaration form, certificates of exported goods, etc. For those applications impossible to be checked solely by way of electronic information, the method of combining computers with staff should be adopted.

(2) The State Bureau of Taxation should gather, transmit, issue and ues electronic information of specified taxation receipts according to rules stipulated by the identification system o specified trceipts for taxation reimbursement so as to ensure the imtegrity and correctness of electronic imformation. Specific methods will be stipulated separately.

4. To guard against and puncture illegal activities and criminal cases of gaining taxation reimbursement for export by cheating.

(1) Taxation departments and foreign economic relations and trade departments should keep a close eye on the tendency of cheating in taxation reimbursement. They should guard against such activities and avoid loss to companies and the state.

(2) The right of reimbursement for those adopting transactions of "four- self" and "three-unseen", once found, will be stopped for at least half a year no matter how much the amount of reimbursement is. The right to involve in export business for those cheating in other ways, will be revoked upon apporving by MOFTEC and its authorized units. Rseponsible personnel will be punished by judicial organs.

This Circular shall enter into force on June 1, 1998.

Please carry out completely.

Promulgated by The State Administration of Taxation on 1998-6-9