The implementation of the 2.0 version of the departure tax rebate policy has helped Guangzhou's inbound consumption accelerate (see picture)

The picture shows the customs officer handling the departure tax refund verification business for outbound passengers at the exit declaration desk. Photo by Guan Yue

With the continuous expansion of China's visa free "circle of friends" and the continuous optimization of departure tax refund policies, the enthusiasm of overseas tourists for inbound consumption continues to rise. According to Guangzhou Customs statistics, in the first half of this year, Guangzhou Baiyun Airport Customs has released over 80000 applications for tax refunds from overseas passengers, with a total amount of over 460 million yuan, an increase of about 9.1 times and 1.3 times year-on-year.

In May of this year, six departments including the Ministry of Commerce, the General Administration of Customs, and the State Administration of Taxation issued a notice on assisting in optimizing the measures for outbound tax refunds and expanding inbound consumption. They proposed eight specific measures, including increasing the coverage of tax refund stores, implementing small-scale inspections, optimizing "buy and refund" services, and promoting paperless tax refund processing. These measures were upgraded based on last year's policy and are known as the 2.0 version of the outbound tax refund policy, which further facilitates travelers in handling outbound tax refunds and optimizes the inbound consumption environment.

On July 7th, at the exit declaration counter of Terminal 2 of Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, Singaporean passenger Mera was processing her departure tax refund. Customs officers scanned the QR code of her tax refund application form with a scanner, and the system pop-up displayed "This application form is exempt from verification". The customs officer did not need to verify the physical object or sign, and the passenger successfully went to the tax refund window to complete the tax refund business.

According to policy regulations, starting from July 1st, a certain proportion of tax refund application forms with a sales volume of less than 10000 yuan will be randomly selected for physical verification. For tax refund application forms with a sales revenue of over 10000 yuan, physical verification shall be carried out on a per ticket basis.

After the implementation of the 'small-scale inspection system', passengers only need to complete on-site inspection and judgment when they arrive at the port to apply for tax refunds. Passengers who have not been selected for inspection can directly clear customs quickly, and the overall inspection efficiency of the customs has been more than doubled compared to before. Zhang Junkai, Deputy Director of the Travel Inspection Department of Guangzhou Baiyun Airport Customs, introduced that the customs have added prominent tax refund guidance signs throughout the T2 and T3 terminals of Guangzhou Baiyun Airport and provided guidance. For passengers who have not been selected for physical inspection, they will be guided to the subsequent process; For passengers who have been selected for physical verification, the physical verification process should be quickly processed to ensure smooth and orderly connection between various links, and to enhance the tax refund experience for passengers.

Previously, paper tax refund documents were difficult to keep, but now you can apply for departure tax refund services through your mobile phone, which is very worry free, "said Danishenko Natalia, a passenger from Kazakhstan. On July 7th, at the exit declaration counter in Terminal 2 of Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, she quickly completed the verification procedures by presenting the "Exit Tax Refund Service Code" on her mobile phone. This is her second trip to China this year. She bought some shoes and handbags in Guangzhou, scanned the code at the tax refund store to generate an electronic tax refund form, and then went to the airport customs window to scan the code for verification when leaving the country. She only used one code throughout the process, which is convenient and worry free.

We will move the departure tax refund verification point to the luggage check-in area in the departure hall, integrate the tax refund verification process into the passenger's luggage check-in process, and achieve one-stop verification and check-in. "Zhang Junkai introduced that in order to enhance the departure tax refund experience for passengers, the customs has strengthened the formation of a foreign language service team, equipped with multilingual translation equipment, to provide round the clock, multilingual tax refund processing and consultation guidance services for overseas travelers.

At present, there are over 1700 departure tax refund shops in Guangzhou, covering core consumer areas such as Tianhe Road commercial district. Next, Guangzhou Baiyun Airport Customs will further facilitate cooperation with local taxation, banking and other departments, strengthen data exchange, achieve real-time system operation and rapid item verification, make the shopping experience of overseas passengers before leaving China smoother, and help Guangzhou's inbound consumption revitalize. (Guan Yue/Text)