Tax refund (exemption) for export goods is an integral part of the overall national tax system, and the establishment of its policy framework can not be separated from the basic principles established by the overall tax system, including the principle of tax efficiency, which mainly refers to the role of taxation in the effective operation of the economy; The principle of fairness, that is, the principle that taxation promotes the fairness of national income redistribution; Fiscal principle, that is, taxes should ensure the fiscal revenue of the national government; The principle of legality, that is, the determination of tax types should follow the legal way and method. However, due to its own limitations and emphasis, export tax rebate has its inherent principles, including:
(A) the principle of international practice, that is, the principle of fair tax burden
The so-called principle of international practice refers to some policies and measures implemented by a sovereign country to promote the development of its foreign-related economic and trade activities when it participates in international economic and trade activities and international division of labor. Due to the differences in politics, economy, history and tradition, the tax systems of different countries are also different. Some countries take direct tax as the main tax, some countries take indirect tax as the main tax, and some countries do not implement indirect tax system. The tax burden of the same commodity in different countries is also high or low. This kind of international tax difference will inevitably lead to different tax burdens on the cost of export goods for international trade, thus making it impossible for products of various countries to compete fairly in the international market. In order to eliminate this influence, it is necessary to refund (exempt) the indirect tax levied on export goods in China in accordance with international practice.
(2) The principle of territorial management
The so-called territorial management principle, also known as territorial principle, refers to a country's economic behavior within its territory (domain) and has the right to exercise jurisdiction in accordance with its own tax laws. This principle of determining jurisdiction by geographical concept is called the principle of territorial management. An independent sovereign country enjoys complete autonomy in taxation, including the right to levy taxes and the right to reduce or exempt taxes. For the exported goods, a country has the right to decide whether to refund or exempt the domestic tax paid for the exported goods of this project without harming the interests of other countries. This is a concrete manifestation of national sovereignty, and the international community must respect this. All countries in the world have formulated various turnover tax regulations according to the principle of territorial management. The exemption and exemption of value-added tax and consumption tax in China only applies to China, not to overseas countries. Therefore, the corresponding export tax rebate certainly applies the principle of territorial management.
(3) the principle of how much is refunded.
How much is levied and how much is refunded is to return all the circulating tax burden contained in the export tax rebate goods to the exporters, because if more is levied and less is refunded, the competitiveness of China goods in the international market will be affected, which is not conducive to the export of goods. On the other hand, if the levy is less and the refund is more, the export tax rebate will become a disguised financial subsidy and lose its original meaning. At the same time, it will also cause international trade disputes and be retaliated by foreign countries, which is also not conducive to China's goods export. Therefore, the establishment of this principle sets a limit on the number of export tax rebates. According to this principle, the actual tax rate may be lower or higher than the nominal tax rate.
(D) Macro-control principles
When the state formulates the tax refund (exemption) policy for export goods, it should not only conform to the international practice of tax refund (exemption) for export goods, but also reflect the national economic policy, that is, embody the principle of macro-control through the function of taxation. For example, for the export of goods purchased by small-scale VAT taxpayers, tax rebates are generally not given, but for some traditional goods purchased, considering their large proportion in exports and special factors in production and procurement, tax rebates are given to protect the production and development of traditional export goods in China; For precious commodities such as gold jewelry, jewelry and jade, designated enterprises can apply for tax refund, while non-designated enterprises cannot apply for tax refund after export, so as to adapt to the actual situation of export trade management at this stage and effectively prevent export tax evasion; For a small number of commodities that earn more foreign exchange through export due to large international and domestic price differences, commodities whose export is restricted or prohibited internationally, and commodities brought out of the country by individuals who are not included in the financial management of export enterprises, tax rebates are not allowed to adjust the profits of export commodities and prevent the outflow of resources.
Two, the characteristics of export goods tax refund (exemption)
(1) Tax refund (exemption) for export goods is an act of income refund.
Taxation is a compulsory, free and fixed way to raise funds from national income according to the law, and it is a form of participating in the distribution of surplus products in national income As a special tax system, the tax refund (exemption) for export goods is different from the general tax. It is a kind of income return behavior of returning indirect taxes collected by various domestic links to taxpayers after the export of goods, which is just the opposite of the purpose of raising funds through taxation.
(2) Tax refund (exemption) for export goods has a single regulatory function.
Tax refund (exemption) for export goods is a policy measure to enable China's export goods to participate in international market competition at tax-free cost. Compared with other two-way adjustment functions of encouragement and restriction and coexistence of income and relief, it has the characteristics of single adjustment function of encouragement and relief.
(2) Tax refund (exemption) for export goods belongs to the category of indirect tax, which is an international practice.
Countries that implement indirect tax system have different indirect tax policies, but as far as zero export tax rate is concerned, all countries are consistent. In order to implement zero indirect tax rate on export goods, some countries adopt tax exemption system, some countries adopt tax refund system, and some countries have both tax refund and tax exemption system. The purpose is to refund or exempt indirect taxes on export goods and participate in international market competition at the price of export goods without indirect tax burden. The specific tax refund (exemption) policy is closely related to the indirect tax system, and each country has its own specific provisions. Without a tax system, there is no specific basis for tax refund (exemption) of export goods.
Third, the role of import and export tax.
(1) Tax refund (exemption) for export goods is a powerful measure to encourage domestic goods to participate in international competition.
The function of zero tax rate is to avoid double taxation of export goods. The basic principle of value-added tax is that the tax is ultimately borne by consumers. The final consumer of exported goods or services is the buyer of the importing country, and the importing country should levy taxes on such buyers. If the export tax rate is not zero, it will inevitably lead to repeated taxation. At the same time, zero tax rate is an important measure to promote the development of international trade. Zero tax rate not only exempts the value-added tax in the final export stage, but also exempts the exported goods or services from paying any tax through tax refund. Entering the international market at a price excluding tax will improve the competitiveness of domestic products. Of course, when other turnover taxes are levied, export tax rebates can also be implemented, but it is difficult to achieve accurate tax rebates. Therefore, the implementation of export tax rebate policy conforms to international practice and is of great significance to promoting the development of China's market economy and the process of China's integration with the international economy.
(2) Import and export tax policy is an important economic means for the state to adjust the macro-economy, which effectively promotes the healthy and stable development of the national economy.
Taxation is an important economic lever to regulate the national economy. With the acceleration of international economic integration and China's accession to the WTO, the international trade economy, as an important part of the national economy, is growing rapidly, and its pulling effect is becoming increasingly significant. Therefore, under the condition of market economy, how to adjust the import and export tax policies in time and effectively promote the healthy and stable development of the national economy has become an important part of the government's macroeconomic management. From the historical process of the export tax refund (exemption) policy introduced in the next section, we can see that the import and export tax has different regulatory effects on the national economy in different periods. Especially in recent years, the economic soft landing policy and proactive fiscal policy implemented by the state have made major adjustments to import and export tax policies in time, which have played a very important role in increasing foreign exchange reserves, curbing inflation, stabilizing the economic situation, resisting the Asian financial turmoil and stimulating economic growth.
The full implementation of import and export tax policies has promoted the development of China's foreign trade.
China's export tax rebate enables export goods to enter the international market at duty-free prices, enhances the competitiveness of export goods, mobilizes the enthusiasm of foreign trade enterprises for export, and the export trade volume has increased substantially year after year. Moreover, because export tax rebate depends on the processing degree of export goods, it greatly promotes the optimization of export commodity structure and greatly improves the quality of export trade. From 1993 to 1997, China's manufactured goods exports developed rapidly at an average annual rate of 18.5%, and the proportion of the total exports rose from 1993 to 1997. The export of primary products grew at a low speed, with an average annual growth rate of 7. 1%, and its proportion dropped from 18.2% in 1993 to 13.5438+0%. Among the industrial manufactured goods, due to the high degree of processing, the preferential tax refund policy was implemented, and their exports developed significantly, with an average increase of 24.9% from 199 1 997. The proportion of mechanical and electrical products in the total export increased from1991to/kloc-. Therefore, the export tax rebate policy has become one of the most important means to regulate export trade in China and plays an important role in the development of foreign trade.
(four) to cooperate with the reform of foreign trade system and promote the import and export enterprises to improve their economic benefits.
Since the reform of economic system, the reform of foreign trade system has been at the forefront. The State Council decided to levy the tax payable on imported goods and refund the tax payable on exported goods to enterprises, which drew a clear line between the state and enterprises, broke the "big pot" system, promoted the transformation of foreign trade enterprises to the management mechanism of self-management, self-financing, self-development and self-restraint, and gradually established a modern enterprise system. Under the new foreign trade system of implementing the joint-stock system and agency system of foreign trade enterprises and developing the self-import and export of production enterprises, the survival of enterprises is closely related to economic benefits. According to statistics, the total profit of the national foreign trade system in 1993 was 10897 billion yuan, and in 1994 it was190.7 billion yuan. In recent years, due to the adjustment of national policies, profits have declined, but foreign trade enterprises have always started from the principle of efficiency, made great efforts to tap their internal potential, made full use of existing tax policies and other related policies, and greatly reduced costs, so as to continue to grow and develop in the increasingly fierce international and domestic competition.
(five) the implementation of preferential import and export policies, encourage the introduction of advanced technology and equipment, and promote the upgrading of industrial structure.
Since the implementation of China's preferential policies for imported equipment, although the import tax exemption policy has been adjusted many times, the technological transformation and the tax reduction and exemption policies for foreign-invested imported equipment are basically stable. 1997 alone, the import value that enjoys tax reduction or exemption amounts to more than $20 billion, and the import value-added tax and consumption tax are reduced or exempted by about 30 billion yuan. The implementation of the import encouragement policy has kept the import of scarce resources and materials, high-tech and complete sets of equipment related to the national economy and people's livelihood and industrial and agricultural production and construction growing rapidly, effectively controlled the phenomenon of blind import and promoted the upgrading of industry and product structure.
To sum up, the development of foreign trade has penetrated into all fields of the national economy and played an obvious role in promoting the development of the national economy. As an important part of macro-control policy, import and export tax policy plays an increasingly important role in promoting the development of foreign trade.