China ends export VAT rebate on solar, batteries to follow in 2027

A joint announcement from China's Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration, published on 9 January 2026, removes the export VAT rebate on photovoltaic products from 1 April 2026: wafers, cells and modules, along with related raw materials such as conductive glass and quartz products.

For batteries, the rebate rate is cut from 9% to 6% from 1 April to 31 December 2026, before disappearing altogether from 1 January 2027. This measure extends the one dated 1 December 2024, which had already removed the rebate on aluminium and copper and lowered that for photovoltaics and batteries from 13% to 9%.

In China, this rebate offsets all or part of the VAT paid upstream by the manufacturer. Removing it does not change the price the factory quotes, but it reduces the factory's export margin, and this is generally passed on, in whole or in part, to the price negotiated with the foreign buyer. The applicable rate depends on the export date shown on the Chinese customs declaration.

All foreign buyers of solar panels, cells, batteries and the covered components are affected, whatever their country: Africa, the Middle East and Latin America, major importers of Chinese solar products, are on the front line.