Customs authorities across Guangdong verified 186,000 departure tax refund applications from January to July, with declared sales totaling 1.69 billion yuan ($250 million). The figures rose 6.4-fold and 1.2-fold, respectively, year on year. Electronic products and clothing were among the most popular tax refund items.
Guangdong upgraded its tax refund procedures on July 1, introducing random checks for small-value applications and paperless processing, while expanding verification services.
Under the new system, applications worth less than 10,000 yuan no longer require individual physical inspections. Instead, customs authorities inspect a proportion of them at random.
Guangdong added three departure ports and four verification service points in July, bringing the total number of ports offering tax refund verification services to 13. Customs handled 27,000 applications worth 260 million yuan during the month, up 4.2 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively, from June.
Guangzhou Customs has equipped airport checkpoints with real-time translation devices supporting more than 120 languages. Remote visual verification terminals have increased processing efficiency by 30 percent.
Shenzhen Customs now offers tax refund services at six departure ports, one of the highest numbers among Chinese cities. Paperless procedures have shortened processing times, with random checks completed in as little as 20 seconds.
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Tax refund upgrade makes shopping easier in Guangdong
Reporter | Dai Bosi
Photo | Guangdong Sub-Administration of the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China (GACC)
