Key takeaways
- The battery rebate fell from 13% to 9% on 1 December 2024 and to 6% on 1 April 2026, and ends on 1 January 2027. Solar cells and modules lost theirs on 1 April 2026.
- The notice lists 22 battery tariff lines, among them lithium-ion accumulators (8507.60), vanadium flow batteries (8507.80.30) and battery parts (8507.90). Production-line machinery and power converters are not on the lists.
- The rate that applies is set by the export date on the Chinese customs declaration. A cabinet ordered in 2026 but declared for export on 2 January 2027 gets no rebate.
- Once a rebate is cancelled, the export is taxed like a domestic sale. By our estimate the exporter's VAT cost rises from about 7% to about 11.5% of the FOB price, so a cabinet at US$40,000 FOB would cost about US$1,800 more if the supplier passes it all on.
- Get the planned export declaration date and the price for a 2027 export in writing. If you assemble packs locally, only the imported cells carry the higher cost; the line equipment does not.
What changed, and when
China refunds VAT to exporters at a rate set for each tariff line. For batteries that rate has come down in three steps:
| Exported (date on the customs declaration) | VAT export rebate on batteries | Set by |
|---|---|---|
| Until 30 November 2024 | 13% | Earlier rules |
| 1 December 2024 to 31 March 2026 | 9% | Notice 2024 No. 15 |
| 1 April to 31 December 2026 | 6% | Notice 2026 No. 2 |
| From 1 January 2027 | None | Notice 2026 No. 2 |
Notice 2026 No. 2 of the Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration is dated 8 January 2026 and was published the next day. The same notice ended the rebate on solar cells and modules, and on a list of chemicals, plastics, glass and ceramics, from 1 April 2026. It left the export treatment of consumption tax unchanged.
Which products are covered
The battery list (annex 2 of the notice) has 22 tariff lines:
- Primary cells and batteries (heading 8506), including lithium primary cells.
- Nickel-metal hydride accumulators (8507.50).
- Lithium-ion accumulators (8507.60). This covers cells, modules and packs, and the storage cabinets and containers declared under this heading, as lithium-ion storage systems usually are. Check the code on your supplier’s export declaration.
- Vanadium redox flow batteries (8507.80.30) and other accumulators (8507.80.90).
- Parts of accumulators (8507.90).
Not on either list: power conversion systems and inverters (8504.40), and machinery in chapter 84, such as module and PACK assembly machines, laser welders and test stations. Their rebates did not change with this notice.
What it adds to the price
A rebate cut does not raise the price by the full rebate rate. What changes is the VAT cost the exporter carries, and it depends on how China taxes the export:
- While a reduced rebate applies, the exporter writes off VAT equal to the export revenue multiplied by the difference between the 13% VAT rate and the rebate rate.
- Once the rebate is cancelled, the export is taxed like a domestic sale: VAT is due on the export price, treated as including tax.
For a manufacturer exporting its own products, without bonded imported materials, that gives these approximate VAT costs as a share of the FOB price. This is our calculation, not a figure from the notice:
| Exported | Rebate | Exporter’s VAT cost, share of FOB price |
|---|---|---|
| Until November 2024 | 13% | About 0% |
| December 2024 to March 2026 | 9% | About 4% |
| April to December 2026 | 6% | About 7% |
| From January 2027 | None | About 11.5% (13/113) |
So a system exported in January 2027 carries about 4.5% of its FOB price more in VAT than one exported in December 2026, and about 7.5% more than one exported in 2025. Trading companies that buy from a factory and export use a different calculation, but the direction is the same.
A worked example. Our 2026 budget for a 100 kW / 215 kWh cabinet is US$30,000–45,000 FOB China. At US$40,000, the extra VAT cost from January 2027 is about US$1,800. If the supplier passes all of it on and nothing else changes, the same cabinet costs about US$41,800 when it is declared for export in 2027.
Whether suppliers pass it on in full is another matter. After the notice, Fu Qiang of Roland Berger estimated that storage battery prices could rise 2–4% after the April cut, and that increases across battery categories could reach 6–9% once the rebate is gone. SVOLT’s chairman said every point of rebate that is not passed on comes straight out of profit. Lithium prices and competition between Chinese suppliers will move prices as much as the rebate does.
A separate change inside China. Since 1 September 2026, China charges a 2% consumption tax on lithium-ion batteries, rising to 4% on 1 September 2027; sodium-ion and solid-state batteries are exempt until the end of 2028. Exports keep their consumption-tax exemption or refund, so this tax should not appear in an export price. It matters if you buy batteries for use in China.
What to do if you are buying storage from China
- Plan by the export declaration date. Ask the supplier for the planned date of the Chinese customs declaration, in writing. Leave time for production, the factory test, Class 9 dangerous-goods packing and the booking: a system that misses 31 December 2026 by a day loses the rebate.
- Get the 2027 price in the contract. If delivery could slip into 2027, agree now whether the price changes and by how much, rather than discovering it on the final invoice.
- Do not buy early for a site that is not ready. Weigh the saving against storage, insurance and financing costs, and check when the warranty starts.
- Look again at assembling locally. When you import cells and assemble modules and packs yourself, the higher export cost applies to the cell value only. Enclosures, wiring, thermal parts sourced locally and your assembly labour carry none of it, and the line equipment is not affected by the notice. See the module and PACK lines and what a storage PACK line costs.
How we quote storage around the change
Our budget prices for storage cabinets and containers are FOB China and hold until 31 December 2026. Ask for the planned export declaration date with any storage quote and we put it in the proforma, together with the price if the export falls in 2027. Every system runs a factory test before it is crated, which you can watch live or on video; see factory acceptance and payment terms.