Small Tax Refund
The Ministry of Strategy & Finance announced on Nov. 29 that foreign tourists in Korea can get an immediate tax refund at major downtown duty-free stores in Korea on certain conditions from next year.
Specifically, the rule is to be applied to foreign tourists in Korea who buy products worth one million won or less in total with an item priced at less than 200,000 won(US$172) and they can get an immediate refund at the stores with the value added and individual consumption taxes excluded. The price limits were fixed in view of the facts that 39 percent of foreign tourists in Korea record a purchase of less than 200,000 won(US$172) and 79 percent of the tax refunds during the first half of this year were for those purchasing products worth less than 200,000 won(US$172) in total.
At present, the number of smaller regional tax refund stores amounts to 10,774 but the tax refund is available only at certain places in airports. This has resulted in some inconvenience on the part of inbound tourists, causing them to stand in long lines in front of tax refund desks at airports.
At the same time, the Korean government is planning to opt for a selective instead of total inspection regarding items priced at over 50,000 won(US$43) and taken out of the country.