| 马述忠,王晔辰.海关高级认证、数字信任与企业出口退税合规[J].数量经济技术经济研究,2026,(6):137-162 | | 海关高级认证、数字信任与企业出口退税合规 | | Authorized Economic Operator Certification, Digital Trust, and Compliance of Corporates’ Export Tax Rebate | | | | DOI： | | 中文关键词: 出口骗税 海关高级认证 数字信任 伪报产品类别 | | 英文关键词: Fraud in Export VAT Rebates Authorized Economic Operator Certification Digital Trust Misclassification in Commodity Categories | | 基金项目: | | | 中文摘要: | | 企业出口骗税的防范与治理一直是国家税务机关和监管部门关注的重点问题。随着构建数字信任体系成为完善数字贸易治理体系的重要组成部分，“数字+信用”的监管模式为破解出口骗税治理难题提供了新的治理思路，海关高级认证也成为数字信任在贸易监管领域中一种可行的制度载体。本文基于企业税收调查数据、中国海关企业进出口信用信息公示平台数据和出口退税率文库数据，首次从信用认证的视角探究企业出口骗税行为的治理方案。研究结果表明，海关高级认证可以有效提升企业的出口额与退税额，并降低退税率。进一步分析发现，退税率下降并非源自商品退税率的变化，而是源自海关高级认证减少了出口企业谎报产品类别的行为。异质性分析表明，对于差异化产品出口企业、出口骗税泛滥的行业企业和制度环境相对不完善地区的企业，海关高级认证促进企业出口退税合规的作用更强。本文的研究结论为出口骗税治理提供理论支撑，也为将数字信任应用于其他领域开展税收监管提供参考。 | | 英文摘要: | | While export tax rebate policies have contributed significantly to the growth of export trade, they have also generated issues such as fraudulent tax rebate claims. This paper focuses on the role of the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) certification in promoting tax compliance among exporting firms. The AEO certification is a credit-based system supported by information technology, which can be considered as a possible institutional arrangement through which digital trust operates in trade regulation.
Taking the acquisition of the AEO certification issued by China Customs as a quasi-natural experiment, we combine data from China’s export tax rebate rate repository, customs declarations, and tax inspection records from 2007 to 2016, together with firm-level credit information published by China Customs. By identifying fraudulent behavior through the misclassification of product categories for tax rebate purposes, we empirically assess the impact of the AEO certification on firms’ compliance with export tax rebate regulations. Our findings are as follows: (1) The AEO certification significantly increased export volume and the total amount of tax rebates received, while reducing firms’ tax rebate rate. (2) The decline in the rebate rate was not due to changes in the statutory rebate rates applicable to products, but rather to adjustments in firms’ reported product composition. Specifically, the AEO certification discourages the export of high-rebate-rate products and encourages the export of low-rebate-rate products, thereby reducing fraudulent behavior in which low-rebate products are misclassified as high-rebate ones within similar product categories. This mechanism was found to effectively improve the accuracy and compliance of tax rebate declarations. (3) The compliance-enhancing effect of the AEO certification was more pronounced for those firms exporting a higher share of differentiated products, those operating in industries with frequent tax fraud cases, and those located in regions with relatively high institutional risk. This paper also has certain limitations. Due to data constraints, we were able to identify only potential non-compliance related to rebate rate declarations, rather than the overstatement of export values.
Our findings offer important policy implications. First, it is essential to continuously improve the regulatory framework based on a “credit and risk” model. Given the significant compliance effects of AEO certification, and considering the incentive and constraint mechanisms embedded in credit rating systems, China should further refine the stratified risk-based supervision framework. This includes the enhancement of the institutional benefits available to firms with high credit standings. Customs and tax authorities should regularly reassess the credit ratings of certified firms to prevent the abuse of trust resources and impose stricter audits and more frequent inspections on those firms with poor credit records, to increase the cost of non-compliance. Second, the application of next-generation information technologies—such as mobile internet, big data, cloud computing, and blockchain—should be actively promoted across all customs operations. In line with the “Three Smarts” cooperation initiative, customs governance should transition from experience-based to data-driven approaches, and from fragmented control to coordinated multi-stakeholder governance. By leveraging big data analytics, customs authorities are able to monitor abnormal firm behavior in real time and implement more targeted risk management measures. At the same time, a blockchain-enabled full-process traceability system for tax rebate data can strengthen the authenticity and immutability of information. Moreover, a unified regulatory system should be built on cloud computing platforms, to enable multi-party use of the same data and improve the precision and intelligence of policy implementation. Third, the successful experience of using a digital trust system to enhance compliance in export tax rebates should be extended to other areas of tax administration. Currently, China’s tax credit system is predominantly punitive, focusing on penalizing non-compliant behavior. Future reforms could consider introducing tax incentives for trustworthy firms and individuals, thereby reinforcing the principle of rewarding compliance and penalizing dishonesty. Such measures could also help encourage tax compliance across multiple tax categories, including value-added tax, consumption tax, and corporate income tax. | | 查看全文 相关附件： 下载数据代码附录 |
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