The cost of 'invisible' and the dividend of 'unexpected' - Qingdao Customs implements precise measures to reduce inland waterway freight by 3.65 million yuan for enterprises

On the customs declaration form of Yantai Jinao Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd., a prominent deduction item has been added this year - inland waterway freight. This seemingly minor adjustment allows the company to save about 130 yuan in taxes and fees for each imported container, with an estimated reduction of over 300000 yuan for the whole year.

The customs took the initiative to deliver the policy to our doorstep and taught us step by step how to split the declared shipping costs, saving us a lot of tax and fee costs. This is really an 'unexpected' dividend, "sighed Sun Lei, the company's CFO.

Jinao Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd. imports over 2000 containers of mineral sand from abroad every year. When these goods are transferred through hub ports such as Qingdao and Ningbo, the freight generated by the domestic transportation section can be deducted from the taxable price according to regulations. However, in the early stages of policy implementation, most enterprises, including Jinao, were unable to enjoy the dividends.

International shipping companies usually only issue full freight invoices, and enterprises cannot distinguish between domestic and foreign transportation costs, so there is no basis for declaration, and it is difficult to implement policies, "explained Jiang Shangjie, Deputy Director of the Tax Collection and Management Department of Yantai Customs under Qingdao Customs.

This dilemma reflects the "last mile" problem of policy implementation. Li Changhong, the head of the Valuation Management Department of Qingdao Customs Tariff Office, recalled, "After the policy was issued for a period of time, only a few enterprises in Qingdao Customs District that met the conditions for inland waterway freight deduction successfully applied for preferential treatment, and the tax reduction was only 60000 yuan

In the face of the current situation of "not enjoying what should be enjoyed" by enterprises, Qingdao Customs has formed a special working group and, together with the business department, conducted in-depth research on shipping companies to ultimately clarify the standard freight range of intra provincial branch lines such as Qingdao to Yantai and Qingdao to Rizhao. At the same time, it has expanded to include routes from Ningbo to Qingdao and Dalian to Yantai, and prepared policy documents to inform enterprises of the required declaration materials and operational procedures in one go.

Jinao Environmental Protection accordingly decomposed the original "one ticket to the end" waybill into two sections: overseas transportation and domestic transportation, and successfully deducted taxes upon the first declaration. From policy blind spots to precise benefits, the previously 'invisible' costs have been waived, and we can now go into battle with ease, "said Sun Lei.

From January to November this year, Qingdao Customs deducted domestic freight of 30.74 million yuan and reduced taxes by 3.65 million yuan from 6578 sea freight domestic branch line customs declarations, an increase of 4.4 times and 3.2 times respectively year-on-year, benefiting 837 import enterprises, especially many small and medium-sized enterprises. (Li Changhong, Jiang Shangjie/text)