Departure tax refund refers to the policy of refunding value-added tax on goods purchased by overseas tourists at tax refund stores when they leave the country. This is a common practice in many countries to encourage inbound consumption.
In May of this year, multiple departments in China issued the "Notice on Strengthening the Optimization of Departure Tax Refund Measures and Expanding Inbound Consumption" (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice"), known as the "2.0 version of the optimized departure tax refund policy". Starting from July 1st, multiple exit tax refund 2.0 measures such as small-scale sampling system and paperless tax refund processing have been implemented, giving rise to a new wave of "buying in China".
Improve the coverage of tax refund stores
The departure tax rebate policy has been optimized this round, just over a year after the last one.
In April 2025, the Ministry of Commerce and six other departments issued the "Notice on Further Optimizing the Exit Tax Refund Policy and Expanding Inbound Consumption" ("Optimizing the Exit Tax Refund Policy 1.0 Version"). As a result, the annual sales of exit tax refunds in 2025 will nearly double year-on-year, and the annual sales scale is equivalent to the total of the ten years from 2015 to 2024 when the exit tax refund policy was launched. Within one year after the implementation of Policy 1.0, the number of people handling outbound tax refunds increased by 367% year-on-year, and the sales and refund amount of refunded goods increased by 90% year-on-year.
The primary task proposed in the 2.0 version of the policy is to continue improving the coverage of tax refund stores. The Notice clearly encourages more eligible stores to register as tax refund stores and scientifically optimize their store layout; At the same time, support the selection of a group of key commercial districts, scenic spots, markets, and ports with a large number of overseas tourists in various regions, and achieve basic full coverage of tax refund shops in key places.
Nowadays, tax refund shops with the words "Tax Free" can be seen everywhere in important commercial districts and scenic spots in China that foreigners often visit. In Sanlitun Street, Chaoyang District, Beijing, an Irish tourist showed reporters the "Buy in China" tax refund guide and duty-free shop list on his phone: "Any shop with the" Tax Free "logo can get a tax refund if you buy 200 yuan in the shop. You can find the store online wherever it is. You see, this bilingual form was used by me in Shanghai and was only updated in June of this year. ”
Improving the coverage of tax refund stores is also reflected in the shift of departure tax refund stores from offline to online.
Not long ago, the first online departure tax refund store in China was launched in Beijing, and the first batch of hotel scene departure tax refund centralized refund points in Beijing were also put into use. At the Ruishi Hotel in the Overseas Chinese Building in Beijing, an Indonesian tourist purchased goods with the "departure tax refund" logo through the JD APP, which were delivered to the hotel by JD Express, and completed the tax refund and enjoyed real-time payment at the newly established refund point in the hotel.
It is understood that the online departure tax refund store is jointly developed by Beijing's tax and commerce departments and JD Group based on the JD APP. Overseas travelers only need to purchase products with the exclusive "Exit Tax Refund" logo through the JD APP, enter relevant information such as ID number and entry date online when placing an order, and the system will automatically generate an electronic tax refund application form, significantly improving the shopping experience.
With the 2.0 version of the policy, there is no need to worry about losing paper tax refund application forms and sales invoices. Paperless processing has made tax refunds more digitized.
After entering the country, only one entry of information is required to generate the departure tax refund service code "One Code Pass", no longer afraid of "losing the ticket", "wasting the ticket", or "not stamping the seal" - according to the new policy, after the customs and agency enter the passenger's identity information, the system will automatically retrieve the tax refund application form and invoice information, no longer requiring paper documents to be provided. Recently, at the Bainaohui departure tax refund "buy and refund" centralized refund point in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, several Brazilian tourists successfully processed their first paperless tax refund in Guangzhou after purchasing Chinese made folding screen accessory sets, high-definition sports cameras, wireless noise cancelling headphones, smart wearables and other products.
Reduce the temporal and spatial constraints of 'buy and return'
After shopping at any tax refund store throughout the city, there is no need to wait for departure and queue up at the airport. You can apply for tax refunds nearby during the shopping process... "The watch I bought today or the bookmark I bought at the Forbidden City yesterday can all be refunded, it's so convenient!" Recently, a Singaporean tourist experienced the speed of tax refunds at the "buy and refund" centralized refund point in Wangfu Central, Dongcheng District, Beijing, and praised the "one-stop tax refund for the whole city".
The Notice clarifies that the "buy and refund" service will be further optimized, and the "buy and refund" cross regional mutual recognition will be promoted. Passengers who handle the "buy and refund" business can complete the departure tax refund business at the cross regional port, and the requirement for the "buy and refund" departure period in various regions will be uniformly extended to 28 days, greatly reducing the time and space constraints of "buy and refund".
This new model of "city wide tax refund and one-stop service" was first introduced by the Beijing tax department in May last year nationwide. The "buy and refund" limit has been increased from 50000 yuan to 220000 yuan, benefiting over 95% of tax refund passengers; Promise to extend the departure period from 17 days to 28 days; Taking the lead in promoting cross regional recognition between Beijing and Tianjin, breaking the restriction of only leaving the country at the place of issuance... In the first month of the new policy's implementation, the number of tax refund application forms issued for Beijing's departure increased by 225% year-on-year.
What is' buy and refund '? As a convenient measure for departure tax refund, "buy and refund" is different from the centralized application for tax refund at the departure port. Instead, overseas tourists sign an agreement and apply for credit card pre authorization when purchasing tax refund items at the "buy and refund" store, and apply for the same amount of RMB (i.e. "prepayment") as the tax refund on site, thereby pre empting the tax refund process to the shopping site.
Previously, tax departments in various regions have been optimizing the "buy and refund" service for outbound tax refunds. According to Rong Hailou, spokesperson for the State Administration of Taxation, in the first half of this year, the number of overseas tourists who processed tax refunds for leaving the country increased by 366% year-on-year, and the sales revenue and tax refund amount of refunded goods increased by 69% year-on-year.
It is reported that during the process of promoting the pilot program of "buy and refund" nationwide, there have been issues such as the inability to recognize each other when leaving different places and the lack of unified requirements for departure deadlines in different regions. Due to the lack of mutual recognition of tax refund agencies in various regions, overseas travelers who complete tax refund procedures at their shopping destination must leave the designated port within the promised period. This also makes it inconvenient for some overseas tourists who travel across regions and provinces to receive tax refunds.
In order to provide more tax refund options for overseas travelers, some regions are actively promoting mutual recognition of departure ports in a larger area. The Beijing Tianjin Hebei region in the north, Hunan, Fujian (including Xiamen), Guangdong (including Shenzhen), Guangxi, Hainan and other five provinces and regions in the south, and Sichuan, Chongqing, Yunnan and other provinces in the western region, respectively implement cross provincial and municipal mutual recognition. Overseas passengers in these areas that have achieved mutual recognition of ports can enjoy the "buy and refund" policy for departure tax refunds while flexibly arranging their travel routes.
Beijing plans to have over 100 "buy and refund" stores and over 30 centralized refund points by 2027; This year, Shanghai will launch the 2.0 version of the fully self-service departure tax refund machine for overseas travelers to complete the "buy and refund" operation; Shenzhen is building a "buy and refund" network that includes 14 centralized refund points and 862 refund stores... According to expert analysis, the 2.0 version of the policy will unify and significantly relax the time limit for "buy and refund", leaving more ample room for travel arrangements and adjustments for tourists, further expanding the number of tourists who can enjoy tax refund dividends, and more suitable for overseas tourists who travel deeply, connect multiple cities, and have long-term business trips.
More momentum for inbound consumption
A series of convenient measures such as small-scale inspections, paperless processing, and optimizing the "buy and return" policy have been introduced and implemented, which will greatly enhance the enthusiasm of overseas tourists for consumption and make inbound consumption more sustainable.
For example, the quick receipt or even immediate receipt of tax refunds means that they can be immediately invested in secondary consumption.
Many countries have tax refund policies, but often they can only be processed after queuing up at the airport and leaving the country. In China, cash can be refunded on the spot for purchases under 20000 yuan. "In Xicheng District, Beijing, a Canadian tourist who was shopping for souvenirs in the alleys around Baita Temple told reporters that after receiving the cash, he and his companions tend to use it for further consumption on the spot or during the remaining journey. The tax refund received is in Chinese yuan, which is more convenient to spend before leaving the country than to exchange for local currency when returning home, "said the tourist.
Implementing a small-scale inspection system means that overseas travelers can buy happily, return with ease, and travel comfortably.
It is reported that after the policy version 1.0 was introduced in April last year, the volume of outbound tax refund business in China increased significantly. The number of tax refund transactions in the first quarter of this year increased nearly five times year-on-year, which puts higher demands on processing efficiency. To this end, the 2.0 version of the policy specifies that tax refund application forms with a sales volume of less than 10000 yuan will be subject to random inspection. Only the selected passengers need to undergo physical verification by customs, which is expected to significantly reduce the waiting time at ports and allow more overseas passengers to avoid waiting for port verification. The tax department will also support the implementation of the small-scale customs inspection method, optimize and upgrade the tax refund system accordingly, strengthen functional verification, and ensure the smooth and efficient operation of the inspection mechanism.
At the same time, the driving role of key cities such as international consumption centers will be further enhanced.
Optimizing the inbound consumption environment is an important part of the new policy 2.0 measures. The Notice requires that international consumption center cities and pilot cities for international consumption environment construction should increase their efforts in tax refund for departure, improve the level of payment convenience, and create a number of influential international consumption clusters.
In Tianjin, 115 transportation hubs and A-level scenic spots in the city have completed bilingual service upgrades. The core business district, food district, and scenic area shops have achieved full coverage of bilingual menus and signs. 629 external card POS machines are distributed in hotels, scenic areas, and supermarkets. Multilingual navigation, translation apps, and foreign service modules are available at any time, comprehensively solving the language, payment, and travel problems of overseas tourists, and safeguarding the landing of "buy and refund".
In addition, exhibition platforms such as CIIE, Canton Fair, and Consumer Expo will also add momentum to inbound consumption.
Building an exhibition tax refund service platform is one of the highlights of Policy 2.0. This notice specifies the establishment of departure tax refund service zones at important exhibitions such as the China International Import Expo (CIIE), China Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair), and China International Consumer Goods Expo (Consumer Expo) to provide convenience for customers' shopping and tax refunds.
Not long ago, the 9th CIIE had a 100 day countdown to its opening. Many exhibitors expect that the Shanghai tax department will set up a centralized refund point for outbound tax refunds at the exhibition site, which will provide convenient tax refund services. With the empowerment of the outbound tax refund 2.0 policy, it will further enhance the shopping experience of global exhibitors and stimulate the potential for inbound consumption.