China's Export Tax Rebate

Export Tax Refund (ETR) has been being the focus concerned by the Government and enterprises since 1994, when the new tax system began to run. The Government had to lower the rates of ETR in 1995 and 1996 respectively because the refund cheating was rampant then. Lowering the rates of ETR can lessen the burden of public finance, but at the same time, it increased the costs of exports and the goods became less competitive internationally. After 1998, Government raised the rates of ETR successively to expand the export trade and to stimulate the domestic economy. The rates of ETR change so frequently that the export enterprises cannot plan their production in the long run and the seriousness of tax law is destroyed. That means that our government hasn't found the inherent law of ETR. This dissertation manages to analyze the theory of ETR and probe into the reforming train of thought of ETR system in China, based on the practices of ETR in our country and the experiences of other countries. This dissertation is divided into four chapters. Chapter I: Theory of Export Tax RefundThis chapter is divided into four parts. Part one gives a definition of ETR and clarifies the relationship and differences of ETR, Zero Export Tax Rate (ZETR) and the export tax exemption. Part two analyzes the origin of ETR from a theoretical point. The existence of ETR lies in international trade. Comparison superiority and scale economy make trading between countries profitable. International trade is the transnational flow of goods and services, and based on double tax jurisdiction, the export and import countries will both levy a tax on it inevitably, which can result in a double tax. To solve the problem of double tax, the export country must refund the export tax as a result of international taxation harmony. Part three states the principle of ETR. Part four specifies the relationship between the ETR and the foreign trade system. In this part, several current foreign trade systems are introduced and some possible ways to achieve the non-tax export under these systems are compared. A possible best way is then discussed. Chapter II: International Experiences In Export Tax Refund This chapter mainly introduces and summarizes the experiences in the ETR of a few countries, which provide counterparts for China's ETR reform. The chapter is divided into four parts. Part one and Part two introduce the practices in the ETR in France, British and Greece. Korea is implementing a consuming-typed value-added Part threesummarizes the international experiences drawn from the countries analyzed above. It shows that the non-tax export is a basic policy of all countries and the ZETR is a basic way to achieve this. The international experiences in the ETR are then drawn to the well-developed taxation system, advanced management mechanism and a strong back-up support system. Chapter Ⅲ: The History, Existing State And Problems of China's Export Tax Refund System This chapter is divided into three parts. Part one reviews the history of China's ETR. Part two summarizes the main contents of the existing ETR. Part three analyzes the problems of the existing ETR, including that the policy of ETR changes too frequently, and the ETR system itself lacks in necessary harmony with related economic policies, etc. Chapter IV: A Train of Thought on the Reform of Export Tax Refund in ChinaThis chapter is divided into two parts. Part one discusses several principles which should be followed on the reform of ETR in China: it should be beneficial to promote exports, to consummate the value-added tax system and to push forward the development of the agent system in foreign trade, etc. Part two proposes a reform scheme on the ETR mechanism. Based on the principle of the ETR reform, it is suggested that the standard ZETR should be the direction of China's ETR reform. Some pre-conditions, advantages and disadvantages of the ZETR are analyzed respectively. As a conclusion, the reform on the ETR should be taken by step...