City continues to expand tax refund service for overseas travelers

Video and photos by Lin Songtao

As the Chinese city with the most customs ports offering the tax-refund-upon-departure service, Shenzhen launched an additional “instant tax refund” centralized service point in Kingglory Plaza in Luohu District yesterday, further streamlining the tax refund process for overseas visitors.

Currently, the complex has enrolled over 100 global luxury and lifestyle brands into this innovative program, spanning various retail segments including luxury brands, fashion retail, and tech products.

With this expansion, the city now boasts 12 centralized tax refund points strategically located across its key commercial districts and over 1,000 tax-free shops.

The Kingglory Plaza in Luohu District is home to Shenzhen’s latest instant tax refund service point. 

“Recently, we’ve launched an online tax refund self-service miniprogram, enabling overseas visitors to digitally process refunds through QR code scanning,” Liang Yiyan, a tax official with the Second Branch, Shenzhen Tax Service of the State Taxation Administration, told Shenzhen Daily.

“We have also deployed guidelines in 14 languages across all Shenzhen customs ports and ‘instant tax refund’ service points, enabling overseas visitors to instantly access native-language instructions,” Liang added.

Also on the day, the Shenzhen Tax Service, State Taxation Administration, in partnership with Alipay, launched a digital refund channel, enabling travelers to receive tax refunds through Alipay settlements in addition to bank transfers and cash.

Visitors can scan the QR code and access Shenzhen's digital tax refund channel. 

Official data show that from January 1 to June 10 this year, the sales revenue of goods eligible for tax refunds upon departure in Shenzhen increased by 2.45 times year on year, and the sales revenue of goods eligible for instant tax refunds was up by over 22 times year on year.

Shenzhen was among the first cities in the country to implement the tax-refund-upon-departure policy, beginning its pilot program in April 2016. The city further enhanced convenience by introducing the “instant tax refund” scheme in December 2023. 

Posters and signs promote the instant tax refund service to visitors at the Kingglory Plaza in Luohu District.

On Friday, Shenzhen designated the Futian and Shenzhen Bay checkpoints as new land-based duty-free customs ports for outbound travelers. The expansion brought the total number of duty-free customs ports in the city to five, including the previously operational Wenjindu Checkpoint, the Bao’an International Airport, and the Shekou Cruise Terminal.