By Nick Lung     Photo：Markus Winkler，Link：unsplash

According to Article 57 of the Customs Act: For export products within three years from the day after the export is released, those who apply for re-shipment of imported products for reasons of return will be exempted from tariffs on finished products.

Application method
For the re-shipment of imported goods for exported products, the taxpayer needs to provide a copy of the original export declaration at the time of customs declaration which shall be processed after verification by the customs.

Precautions for customs clearance
1. For the re-import of export products, if the declaration of the commodity of the goods is too general or the commodity, cargo number, specification, brand, and net weight of the goods are not the same with the import declaration, the customs will not write off the tax exemption.

2. Proactively declare to the customs for "other declaration items," including the following

• (1) The original date of export, (2) the number of the export declaration and (3) the status of the declaration in the column of "Applying for Raw Material Tax Refund."
• (1) For some reasons, the returned goods will not be re-exported or (2) shipped back for refurbishment and maintenance and will still be re-exported.
• Items shipped back for repair and maintenance.

3. For re-shipment of imported goods for repair or maintenance, the original exporter or the original manufacturer may declare the import.
4. The export product is a whole finished product. If the re-importer is part of the components, the manufacturer must provide reasonable explanations and proofs (such as the packing list or the components specified in the catalog, etc.). These shall be confirmed by the customs because only the parts and components of the original exported finished products will be granted tax exemption for verification and write-off.
5. If the taxpayer cannot find a copy of the original export declaration at the time of customs declaration, and the batch of goods will be re-exported after refurbishment and maintenance:

According to the relevant documents, apply to the customs for the Collateral/Affidavit release of imported goods but it is necessary to indicate on the export declaration form after the refurbishment and when doing the export declare the original export declaration number and the re-shipment import declaration number, after completing the export customs clearance procedures, apply to the customs to return the custody and get back the original payment.