Italy's Export Tax Refund Policy

Italy's export tax rebate system (restituzione all'esportazione) is totally different from China's export tax rebate system. China's export tax rebate system is part of China's taxation system. In layman's terms, when an enterprise uses its products for export, the taxation department will return the value-added tax that it generates during the production process to the company. The current method generally uses " "First retreat" or "Exempt, credit, refund." Italy also has an export tax rebate in the sense of our country, but it is generally called "return of value added tax" (rimborso dell'imposta sul valore aggiunto). In Italy, the export tax refund system in the true sense is independent of the taxation system. In fact, it is implementing the EU's export subsidies policy on agricultural products.

I. Overview of the export tax rebate system The Italian export tax rebate system was established in accordance with the European Commission Decree No. 3665/87 of June 30, 1999 (hereinafter referred to as the decree). This decree was already numbered 800 on July 1, 1999. Replaced by the /1999 Act. The main purpose of the system is to provide export tax rebates for EU agricultural exporters, including Italy. The EU's export tax rebate measures are mainly designed to compensate for the differences between the cost or price of agricultural products produced in the European Union for export to third countries and the current costs or prices on the international market, thereby promoting the export of agricultural products of EU countries. Make its products more competitive in the international market.

Italy's export tax rebate is entirely the implementation of the European Union's Unified Agriculture Policy (PAC), which was established to guarantee the unified management of the EU agricultural product market, and used it to support, coordinate and replace the previous agricultural policies of the member countries. Under the guidance of this policy, in the process of implementing export tax rebates for various member states, different types of commodities can change their tax rebate rate according to the actual situation, and rely on the different rates of tax rebate to specifically adjust the export types of agricultural products. Encourage companies to export to which countries. The European Commission formulates tax rebate rates for different commodities based on its agricultural development strategies throughout the world, and according to specific circumstances, changes in time. Each member state implements a tax rebate for its own products based entirely on the tax rebate rate announced by the European Commission. Here are two simple examples to illustrate how this system works: First, Italian exporters can get 2% (average) export tax rebates for exporting sugar and 14% (average) for export wines. Export tax rebates encourage exporters to export more wine. Second, Italian exporters export their wines to the United States and receive a 4% export tax rebate. When they export wine to China, they can obtain The export tax rebate of 22% of total export volume encourages exporters to export more to China. The export tax rebate policy is to regulate the export types and export direction of agricultural products in accordance with the different tax rebate rates.

The Italian export tax rebate comes from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (I Fondi FEOGA, Fondo europeo di orientamento e garanzia), which was established in 1964. The fund is managed by the European Union and its expenditure is included in the EU's budget plan. The EU determines the share that each member country should pay based on the annual gross national product of each member country. Then the EU allocates funds to each member country in proportion.

The Special Fund for Export Tax Relief in Italy is managed by the Agricultural Office of the General Administration of Customs (S.A.I.S.A., il Servizio Autonome Interventi Settore Agricolo). All companies that require tax rebates must submit the export tax rebate application (hereinafter referred to as the application) and two standard declaration forms to the SAISA office. This is a necessary prerequisite for obtaining export tax rebates.

The products that currently enjoy export tax rebates are generally agricultural and sideline products such as rice, eggs, meat, olive oil, sugar, fruits and vegetables, and fruit and vegetable products.

Second, the method of export tax rebate The Italian companies receive export tax rebate in the following three ways:

1. Direct Tax Refund When an enterprise has exported for 12 months (excluding force majeure), it submits an application and two standard declaration forms to the SAISA office (one is a consolidated declaration for all products, and the other is for a certain A special declaration for a product will be eligible for tax rebate. If a company declares within 6 months after 12 months, it can only get 85% of the total tax refund. Article 49 of Decree No. 800/99 also stipulates that the SAISA office provides a grace period for enterprises to provide other documents relating to the export tax rebate, in addition to the delivery of the goods and the export contract must be provided on time. Businesses can submit applications and two standard declarations to SAISA offices in various ways (submitting, mailing, faxing, or sending e-mails), which is a prerequisite for enjoying export tax rebates.

Direct refund documents required:

Tax rebate application unified declaration special declaration 2. The early rebate company will first submit its application for obtaining export tax rebate to SAISA office. When the export declaration of the company is accepted by the customs, it can obtain a sum of money in advance. The maximum amount of this fund cannot exceed the total amount of export tax refunds it will receive. Specifically, an enterprise can obtain a sum of money by submitting its request for an export tax refund in advance and the necessary documents to the SAISA office. The most important point for tax refunds in advance is that companies must provide a mortgage guarantee at the same time that they submit an application. The mortgage amount is equivalent to 110% of the company's claim for export tax refund. This mortgage is to make up for the risk of the SAISA office paying the tax refund in advance. When the SAISA office received the relevant documents, one of his important tasks was to verify the authenticity of the documents submitted by the company.

Within 12 months after the company completes the export, the company may submit a request to cancel the mortgage to the SAISA office and submit two standard declaration forms. The SAISA office will verify the declaration within six months and the mortgage will be released. However, when the mortgage is returned, 15% of the total paid tax refund will be recovered (up to 10% depending on the situation).

If the company does not submit an application for the cancellation of the mortgage within the stipulated time or does not submit the application at all, the SAISA office has the right to recover part or all of the total refunded tax refund (up to 10% depending on the situation), or to confiscate its mortgage forfeiture. .

Documents required for early tax refund:

Advance tax refund application provides mortgage consolidated declaration form Special declaration form settlement 3. Pre-funded funding Pursuant to Decree No. 565/80, financial support for products that have not yet been exported is provided in advance. The practice is divided into two types: A: When a product that an enterprise prepares to export is being converted into a commodity under the supervision of customs, and the export date has been determined, the enterprise can obtain the refund amount in advance; B. When the enterprise puts its product or commodity In case of depositing in the Customs or Bonded Zone and having determined the date of export, the company can also obtain the refund amount in advance. (The EU's definition of "commodity" means that when agricultural products become so-called commodities, they have lost their characteristics as agricultural products, but the products come from agricultural products and can also enjoy export tax rebates (such as antibiotics or chocolate).

This way of providing advance funding can allow companies to obtain a sum of money in the name of export tax refunds when their products have not yet become commodities or are still in stock. When obtaining export tax rebates in this way, the company must fill out a special application form and relevant documents for advance funding, and provide a corresponding mortgage guarantee. The amount of mortgage provided by the company should be equal to the amount of export tax refund required by the company. %. This approach is to make up for the risks borne by the SAISA office in advance. During this period, the SAISA office will verify the documents provided by the company. When the company has truly completed the export, it has the right to submit a mortgage cancellation request to the SAISA office. It must submit an application for termination of funding to the SAISA office and submit the application and other relevant documents to the SAISA office within 12 months. When the mortgage is rescinded, the SAISA office will recover 15% of the total paid tax refund (up to 15% depending on the situation). If the company has not conducted the mortgage cancellation within the specified time limit, the SAISA office has the right to recover all the advance payment. Capital (up to 15% depending on the situation).

It should be pointed out that companies can submit their applications and declarations by submitting, mailing, faxing or sending e-mails.

Withdrawals required to fund the required documents:

Requests for Withdrawal of Funded Funds and Termination of Application Providing Collateral to Guarantee Unified Declaration Forms Special Declaration Forms To settle the above three types of tax refund methods, companies can make flexible choices according to their own needs. The first two are widely used today.