I. Core Changes in Import Equipment Tax Refund Policy (2025 Edition)

According to the latest Implementation Measures for Import Tax Policies on Major Technical Equipment issued by the Ministry of Finance, the 2025 import equipment tax refund presents three major changes:

• Increase in VAT Refund Ratio:The VAT refund ratio for advanced manufacturing equipment listed in the catalog has increased from 13% to 15%.
• Dynamic Adjustment of Equipment Catalog:23 new items of emerging industry equipment have been added, including 5G base station equipment and hydrogen energy preparation devices.
• Compression of Declaration Time Limit:Enterprises must complete the full set of tax refund material declarations within 90 days from the date of customs clearance of the equipment.

II. Key Nodes in the Full Process of Agency Tax Refund

Professional agency services can help enterprises reduce the processing cycle by 40%. The specific operational process includes:

• Phase 1: Preliminary qualification review
  • Verify whether the HS code belongs to the tax-free catalog.
  • Confirm that the equipment usage complies with policy requirements.
  • Review the completeness of technical clauses in the import contract.
• The second stage: Document preparation
  • Organize basic documents such as customs declaration forms,It is recommended to verify through the following methods:Prepare a bilingual (Chinese-English) equipment technical parameter comparison table.
  • Prepare the special VAT payment certificate for the import process.
  • Phase III: Declaration Tracking
• Pre-entry data validation via electronic port.
  • Dual-track progress monitoring by customs and tax authorities.
  • Activation of emergency response mechanisms for abnormal situations.
  • III. Common Tax Refund Operation Pitfalls for Enterprises

According to the General Administration of Customs statistics from January to June 2025, 31.7% of tax refund applications were rejected due to the following issues:

Document Time Conflict:

• The date of issuance of the certificate of origin is later than the customs clearance date.A discrepancy of more than 5% between the declared model and the physical inspection.
• Technical Parameter Deviations:Missing Usage Proof:
• Failure to provide on-site video records of equipment installation and debugging.Related-Party Transaction Risks:
• Transaction prices within the same group deviate by 15% from market prices.Enterprise Tax Refund Optimization Plan

Practical case: ANew energyA lithium battery

The enterprise achieved the following through professional agency services:Equipment ImportsDocument preparation cycle reduced from 45 days to 22 days.

• Successfully recovered 2.87 million yuan in overpaid taxes for the years 2019-2024.
• Established an intelligent tax refund management system, achieving a declaration accuracy rate of 99.2%.
• This enterprise through

The enterprise has passedThree-document verification method(Contract document, customs declaration form, acceptance certificate) resolves technical parameter disputes, adoptsTimeline management toolAvoids declaration overdue risks.

V. Criteria for selecting agency service providers

• Customs AEO Advanced Certification qualification(Mandatory)
• Minimum experience in handling 3 provincial-level key projects
• Capability for cross-departmental dispute coordination (customs, taxation, commerce)
• Provides full-process visual progress tracking system

It is recommended that enterprises pay special attention when signing agency agreementsliability allocation clauses, clearly defines the responsibility for late fees caused by documentation errors, and the service fee calculation standard for secondary declarations.