Guidance to Exit Tax Refund Services in Chengdu

With China’s move to relax and optimize its free-visa transit policies for overseas visitors, which highlights the extension of the duration of visa-free transit to 240 hours, a growing number of overseas tourists have chosen to come to Chengdu to appreciate the natural beauty and local cuisine of the city, taking advantage of the policies.

The city has so far 429 authorized shopping outlets of departure tax refund, a 34% increase year-on-year, including 49 on-the-spot refund outlets. At IFS in downtown Chengdu, for instance, eligible overseas visitors are able to get the refund at the designated points at the mall upon showing the receipts and the refund application forms, and do more purchasing with the refund in cash.

According to Chengdu Municipal Tax Service of the State Taxation Administration, Chengdu is to put into service the on-the-spot refund practice at more shopping outlets in the city, and SKP has been designated to be the next site, after IFS, to open the points for collective refunds.

1.Requirements

Applicants of the on-the-spot refund must meet the requirements as follows：

1. The purchases by the individual must have happened on the same day and at the same shopping outlet, with the amount of the purchases NOT less than RMB 500 and up to the restriction ceiling;
2. The purchased goods for tax refund are not used or consumed;
3. The overseas purchaser commits to departing from the local port with the purchased tax-refund items—either carried personally or checked in as accompanying luggage—within the specified time after the purchase, and the purchaser must have been in the country for no more than 183 days since entry;
4. The purchaser must be the holder of credit cards with pre-authorization guarantee.

2.Procedures to apply for the service

1. The purchaser must obtain the ordinary value-added tax (VAT) invoices and the exit tax refund application forms for overseas visitors;

2. The purchaser must use his/her credit cards to apply for pre-authorization guarantee and fill in the Notification on the Rights and Liabilities for Exit Tax Refund to obtain cash in RMB with the same amount of the VAT refund for the purchased goods;

3. The purchaser must have a check by the Customs on the purchased goods, the VAT invoices and the exit tax refund application forms for overseas visitors;

4. The purchaser must obtain the confirmation that is processed by agencies in charge of refund services at the exit port or submit the relevant documents to the post box set up at the exit port responsible for the on-the-spot refund.

If a purchaser who has used the on-the-spot refund service departs after the designated deadline or fails to meet its conditions, the agency will deduct the previously refunded VAT from the purchaser's credit card via a pre-authorization operation. Purchasers who meet the eligibility criteria can then apply for a tax refund through the regular departure tax refund process.

Source: HomeinChengdu