Regarding export taxation

The technical term seems to be rebate.

Government ends VAT rebate on exports.(CHINA)

"The Chinese government has announced the removal of the 11% value added tax (VAT) rebate on urea and DAP exports from 1 January 2005."

Nitrogen & Methanol, January, 2005


"China's share in world exports increased from less than one per cent in 1980 to five per cent in 2002, making China the fifth largest export country in the world (see Table 1). To encourage exports, the Chinese government formulated and implemented a series of policies of which the export tax rebate is one of the most important. At the same time, however, this rebate scheme has become a heavy fiscal burden on the central government. Export tax rebate refers to the money the tax authority returns to exporting enterprises for the indirect tax they pay in the production and distribution process. It is commonly practised in international trade. To ensure fair competition, every country requires imported goods to be subject to the same tax rate as its domestically-produced counterparts. Therefore, regardless of whether export goods have been taxed by the exporting country, the importing country will still tax them. Thus, the main purpose of the export tax rebate policy is to avoid double taxation on export goods and to enhance a country's competitiveness in foreign markets. As far as WTO is concerned, the practice is not illegal. In fact, under both the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and the WTO, the export tax rebate is not considered a "subsidy" so long as the tax rebate does not exceed the amount of tax paid to domestic tax authorities."

Cui, Zhiyuan
China's Export Tax Rebate Policy
China: An International Journal - Volume 4, Number 2, September 2003

"The European Court of Justice has been asked to clarify whether UK mobile phone companies are due a VAT rebate on the £22.5 billion they spent on their 3G mobile phone licenses from the UK Government, according to the Financial Times.

The question referred to the Court of Justice in September is whether the price paid included VAT. If it did, then the 3G companies can reclaim VAT like any other business. If it does not, then the government is not due to pay the rebate. "

Financial Times (London)