• Home
• GOVERNMENT CXO
• E-GOVERNMENT
• CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT
• TAX AND REVENUE MANAGEMENT
• GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT
• GREEN GOVERNMENT
• GOVERNMENT DATA MANAGEMENT
• GOVERNMENT SECURITY
• GOVERNMENT CLOUD
• GOVERNMENT ANALYTICS
• GOVERNMENT GIS
• CONNECTED GOVERNMENT
• DIGITAL INCLUSION
• EDUCATION IT
• HEALTHCARE IT

Tax and Revenue Management

Chinese province starts visitor tax refund

By Jianggan Li | 6 January 2011

Foreigners and residents of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan who have not lived in China continuously for more than 183 days will be eligible for tax refund when spending more than RMB800 (US$121) with the same retailer on a single day.

After a purchase is made, the visitor will need to apply for a tax refund at one of the designated counters located in the premises of the retailer; before leaving the island, Customs will verify the application and the refund will be given by authorised agents located in the restricted area of the airport.

Hainan is located off the Southern tip of Chinese mainland.

In December 2009, the Central Government identified ‘Hainan International Tourism Island’ as a State Strategy, giving the province more autonomy in tourism-related policy making and a big boost in infrastructure development.

With a population of more than eight million, the Island received more than 13 million visitors during the first half of 2010.

Three department stores are designated as the first batch to offer tax refund services. Other retailers could apply to the National Tax Bureau in the Province for the status. The status will be granted if the retailer is deemed to have met a certain number of criteria set by the authorities.

Visitors can choose whether they want the refund to be made in cash (Chinese Yuan, US dollars, Euro or Japanese Yen) or through bank transfer.

A specific computerised system, called the Overseas Visitor Management Information System was developed by the Hainan Provincial Office of the State Aministration of Taxation (HPO-SAT), which manages the tax refund scheme.

Retailers are required to log onto the system to record applications and personal details of applicants; while authorised agents need to use the system to verify the status of the visitor and log the refund transactions.

All the information will be sent remotely to the database of HPO-SAT real time to ensure the process is smooth and accurate. All the required forms are printed centrally by the Tax Administration to minimise fraudulent claims.

It is understood that the information system is client-server based, with computers and the network of qualified retailers and tax refund agents required to meet a set of performance criteria.

Similar measures are expected to be rolled out for domestic visitors from other parts of China, though details including implementation date have not been revealed yet.

---