2026 Export Tax Refund Decryption Software: How Should Enterprises Adapt to Policy Changes?

Last week,General Manager Yan of a Shanghai-based electronic accessories export enterprise was still troubled by "three rejected tax refund declarations" — the first two rejections were caused by inconsistent commodity codes on the customs declaration and the invoice,and the third was because the decryption software had not been upgraded to support national cryptographic algorithm,and the tax system directly intercepted the declaration data.It was not until he contacted Supervisor Wu from Zhongshen that he learned that the 2026 policy for export tax refund decryption software has new changes: not only the encryption standard needs to be upgraded,but a pre-verification function has also been added.

1.The Core of 2026 Export Tax Refund Decryption Software Policy Boils Down to 3 Key Points

Many enterprises believe that "decryption software" is just "a tool to unlock tax refund data",but in the *Notice on Export Tax Refund Data Security and Process Optimization* jointly released by the State Taxation Administration and the General Administration of Customs of China in 2026,the requirement for decryption software has been upgraded from "capable of decryption" to "secure + efficient".Supervisor Ding,a tax refund expert from Zhongshen,sorted out the 3 key points:

• MandatoryUpgradeofNationalCryptographicAlgorithm:AllexporttaxrefunddecryptionsoftwaremustadoptSM2/SM4nationalcryptographicalgorithmstoreplacetheoriginalgeneralinternationalencryptionstandards.Simplyput,dataisencryptedwithaChina-developedmethodduringtransmissionandstoragetopreventillegalaccessfromoverseasentities.
• Pre-positionedPre-verificationforDeclarationData:Thedecryptionsoftwareaddsanew"pre-declarationpre-verification"module.Afteranenterpriseuploadstaxrefunddata,thesoftwarewillautomaticallycomparethreecorepiecesofinformationfromthecustomsdeclaration,value-addedtaxinvoiceandforeignexchangecancellationcertificate:commoditycode,quantityandamount.Anyerrorwilltriggeradirectpop-upprompt,soenterprisesdonotneedtowaitfortaxreviewtogetarejecteddeclaration.
• Cross-regionalDataInterconnectionintheYangtzeRiverDelta:ForforeigntradeenterprisesundertheYangtzeRiverDeltaintegrationinitiative,thedecryptionsoftwarecanautomaticallyconnectcustomsdatafromfourregions:Shanghai,JiangsuProvince,ZhejiangProvinceandAnhuiProvince.Forexample,ifaSuzhou-basedenterpriseclearscustomsforexportinShanghai,itnolongerneedstotraveltotheotherlocationtoprintthecustomsdeclaration;thesoftwareretrievesthecross-regionaldatadirectly.

2.After the Policy Change,Is It an Opportunity or a Challenge for Enterprises?

General Manager Yan’s experience is actually a microcosm of many enterprises — after the policy adjustment,opportunities and challenges coexist:

1.Opportunities: Faster Tax Refund,Lower Risks

In addition,cross-regional data interconnection in the Yangtze River Delta is particularly beneficial for foreign trade enterprises around Shanghai.For example,if a Hangzhou-based garment enterprise exports through Shanghai Port,it previously needed to travel between the two places to complete procedures.Now the decryption software directly retrieves customs declaration data from Hangzhou Customs,cutting 2 steps from the declaration process.

2.Challenges: Increased Costs,More Complex Operations

• Softwareupgradecost:Someolddecryptionsoftwaredonotsupportnationalcryptographicalgorithms.Enterpriseseitherpayforupgradesorreplacewithnewsoftware,andtheupgradecostforasinglesetofsoftwarerangesfrom2000to5000RMB;
• Increasedoperationaldifficulty:Thepre-verificationmodulerequiresenterprisestoinputaccurateinformationsuchascommoditycodeandforeignexchangeamount.Manyfinancialstaffofsmallandmedium-sizedforeigntradeenterprisesarenotfamiliarwithpre-verificationrules,whicheasilyleadstomisoperation;
• Strictercompliancerequirements:TheStateTaxationAdministrationrequiresenterprisestostoredecryptedtaxrefunddataforatleast5years,andthedatamustbestoredwithnationalcryptographicalgorithms.Someenterprises’serversdonotsupportnationalcryptographicstorage,sotheyneedtopurchaseadditionalencryptedstorageequipment.

3.How Does Zhongshen Help Enterprises Capture Policy Dividends?

General Manager Yan later cooperated with Zhongshen,mainly because he valued the company’s capability of "policy implementation + practical operation service".Supervisor Wu told General Manager Yan that Zhongshen has done three targeted things for the 2026 decryption software policy:

Besides the services listed above,Zhongshen also did one more thing for General Manager Yan: sorted out the enterprise’s tax refund data from the past year,found 3 declarations that were rejected due to ambiguous commodity codes,corrected them in advance through the pre-verification function,and these 3 tax refunds arrived 5 days earlier than originally expected,which just fit the enterprise’s raw material procurement cycle.

4.One Practical Suggestion for Foreign Trade Enterprises

In the end,Supervisor Ding reminded General Manager Yan that the core of 2026 export tax refund decryption software is not "changing software",but "using the right software".His suggestion for all foreign trade enterprises is:

Complete a decryption software compatibility diagnosis within this month: Ask a professional agency to check whether your software supports national cryptographic algorithms,whether the pre-verification function works normally,and verify whether your customs declaration and invoice information comply with pre-verification rules.If you only find problems when you start declaration,it will not only delay your tax refund,but also may damage your enterprise’s tax credit rating.

General Manager Yan later completed the diagnosis following this suggestion,and found that although his software already supported national cryptographic algorithms,the commodity code matching rule setting in the pre-verification module was incorrect,and the issue was fixed the same day.Now his enterprise’s tax refund cycle is stable at around 5 days,3 days faster than before,and capital turnover efficiency has improved significantly.