On February 9, 2026, the Ministry of Finance, the General Administration of Customs, and the State Administration of Taxation jointly issued Announcement No. 16 of 2026, officially introducing preferential tax policies for cross-border e-commerce export returns.
This is another concrete measure taken by the state to accurately reduce the burden on the cross-border e-commerce industry. It focuses on solving the long-standing problems in the industry such as high return shipping costs and cumbersome procedures. It is a real benefit to merchants engaged in cross-border exports.
In recent years, the scale of the cross-border e-commerce industry has continued to expand, and overseas orders have continued to grow. However, unsalable, buyer returns, and overseas rejections have also increased.
It is easy to export goods, but it is expensive to return them to China. Import duties, value-added tax, and consumption tax are superimposed, which often eats up most of the profits. Many small and medium-sized sellers have no choice but to abandon the goods or bear high taxes and fees when encountering returns. The operating pressure is very obvious.
The introduction of this new policy is aimed at this pain point, so that sellers who operate in compliance with regulations will no longer bear an excessive burden when returning goods.
The implementation period of this policy is clearly from January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2027. The applicable scope covers the current mainstream export models of cross-border e-commerce. The corresponding customs supervision codes are 1210, 9610, 9710, and 9810, including common forms such as direct mail, overseas warehouses, B2B, and B2C. Most formal cross-border e-commerce merchants can be included in the policy coverage.
The core content of the policy can be summarized in the most straightforward way: eligible goods, due to unsaleability or buyer returns, will be returned to the country in their original condition within 6 months from the date of export, excluding food products, and are exempt from import duties, import value-added tax, and consumption tax.
Export duties paid at the time of export can be refunded, and value-added tax and consumption tax paid shall be implemented in accordance with the relevant regulations on the return of domestic goods.
Among them, the 1210 bonded e-commerce model, the time is calculated from the date of departure from the zone, and you can enjoy the discount if you return the goods to within 6 months.
Merchants need to pay special attention to the fact that if the relevant goods have been processed for export tax rebate before, the refunded tax must be paid according to regulations when returning the goods, and then rely on the “Certificate of Tax Paid/Non-Refunded for Export Goods” issued by the tax department to handle tax exemption and tax refund related procedures. The process is clear and closed-loop.
Regarding the determination of “return in original condition” that many sellers are concerned about, the policy also provides standards that are consistent with actual operations: the minimum form of the product is basically the same as when it was exported, and no processing, modification, or accessories are added. Normal unpacking, inspection, installation, and debugging are not considered to have changed the original state; the product is not used in principle, and quality problems can only be discovered after trial, or the situation of the customer returning the product after normal trial is also within the scope of approval.
In terms of the handling process, the policy has also been simplified.
If the goods are returned due to slow sales, the company only needs to provide a self-declaration; if the goods are returned because of the buyer, the platform’s return record, rejection record, return agreement and other materials can be used to handle the matter.
Enterprises are responsible for the authenticity of materials, and customs and taxation departments handle tax exemption procedures in accordance with regulations to reduce unnecessary materials and processes and improve processing efficiency.
At the same time, the policy also makes it clear that any illegal activities such as tax evasion and tax fraud will be dealt with in accordance with relevant laws and regulations. This also means that policy bonuses are provided to businesses that operate in compliance with regulations. As long as they declare truthfully and operate in a standardized manner, they can enjoy the benefits normally.
Overall, the new policy has wide coverage, strong discounts, and clear implementation standards. It not only directly reduces merchants’ return costs and goods losses, but also improves capital turnover efficiency and reduces the pressure of small and medium-sized sellers to go overseas and try and make mistakes.
In the current foreign trade environment, the country continues to introduce policies to support new cross-border e-commerce formats, which will help the industry develop more standardized and steady, and also give sellers who operate pragmatically more confidence.
In the two years from 2026 to 2027, merchants engaged in cross-border e-commerce exports can sort out their business models, time nodes and required materials in advance. When encountering eligible returns, they can handle them according to formal procedures to minimize costs and enjoy policy dividends.
