Overseas tourist tax refund to expand to Guangdong

South China’s Guangdong Province will start giving overseas tourists refunds of goods and services taxes from July 1.
According to the Guangdong Department of Finance, overseas tourists will be allowed to claim value-added tax (VAT) refunds of purchases made in specific shops, at certain ports of departure.
Tourists from Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and foreign countries are entitled to an 11 percent rebate on goods bought at designated department stores, if they stay on the Chinese mainland for fewer than 183 days. Two percent of the VAT will be deducted as a handling charge, meaning this translates into a nine percent rebate.
The minimum purchase for the rebate is 500 yuan (75.20 U.S. dollars) at one store in one day. The refund is valid for purchases made within 90 days before departure.
The ports of departure covered by the refund scheme are Guangzhou Baiyun Airport, Guangzhou Nansha Port and Jiuzhou Port in Zhuhai City. The province plans to gradually increase the designated ports and stores.
A pilot tax refund program began on the southern island province of Hainan on January 1, 2011. Beijing and Shanghai rolled out the policy in July 2015. It has since expanded to more destinations nationwide.
Guangdong is a major destination for inbound tourists. Around 105 million tourists entered China through Guangdong ports in 2015, accounting for 78.5 percent of the figure nationwide.