400 SZ shops now offer departure tax refunds

Over 400 stores in Shenzhen now offer departure tax refund services following the introduction of the policy at the city’s airport in 2016, according to the local commerce bureau.

Well-known Shenzhen products, such as electronic consumer goods and home furnishings, are gaining popularity among overseas tourists at these stores.

Wenjindu Checkpoint in Luohu District is Shenzhen’s first land crossing to offer a departure tax refund service for overseas travelers. Photo from Shenzhen Satellite TV

Tourists shopping at Shenzhen’s departure tax refund stores can claim refunds on purchases from 500 yuan (US$68) to 110,000 yuan. For goods with a 13% value-added tax, the tax refund rate is 11%, minus a 2% agency fee, resulting in an actual refund of 9%.

International travelers and those from China's Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan who stay on the mainland for no more than 183 consecutive days are eligible for a tax refund. They can receive value-added tax refunds immediately in renminbi cash after producing sales invoices and filling out an application form. Compared to the traditional way of processing refunds at the departure port, this service enables refunds to be used for additional purchases.

In the first 11 months 2024, the sales of goods eligible for departure tax refunds in Shenzhen reached 320 million yuan, with refunds totaling 28.75 million yuan, an increase of 11.8 times compared to the same period in 2023.

Earlier this week, in a bid to further tap into the spending potential of international tourists, the city announced that its first downtown duty-free store will open at the UpperHills shopping mall in Futian District later this year.

The duty-free store will be accessible to both domestic and international travelers departing the country by air or sea within 60 days. Travelers can make purchases at the store and collect their items at their point of departure. It will primarily offer a range of easy-to-carry consumer goods, including food, clothing, bags, shoes, jewelry, crafts, electronics, perfumes, cosmetics, and liquor.

In December, Wenjindu Checkpoint in Luohu District became Shenzhen’s first land crossing to offer a departure tax refund service for overseas travelers, making Shenzhen the first city in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to offer such services across land, sea, and air terminals.