Before You Go · Money back at departure

China Tax Refund: Do You Qualify — and How Do You Claim It?

Rules checked: Sep 2026

You may qualify if…

You are an overseas visitor (≤183 consecutive days in mainland China). You spend at least ¥200 in the same participating store on the same day. Goods stay unused and leave China with you.

Route 1 — refund at departure

Buy at a participating tax-refund store. Keep everything unused and verify at customs on the way out. Claim through the refund agency within 90 days of the invoice.

Route 2 — instant refund (即买即退)

Participating stores only: you take an advance at purchase and still complete departure verification. Deadline: 28 days — since 2026-09-01, at any departure port nationwide.

Rates, not promises

13% VAT → 11% refund rate; 9% VAT → 8% rate. The refund agency subtracts a service fee, so the rate is not your guaranteed net amount.

01 Answer first

The one-pass answer

Eligible overseas visitor + at least ¥200 same-day same-store + unused goods + goods leave China with you + within your route's deadline. Fail any of those and there is no refund on that purchase.

Route 1 — refund at departure: standard route, 90 days from the invoice, verify at customs, claim via the refund agency.
Route 2 — instant refund (即买即退): participating stores only, advance at purchase, 28 days to complete departure verification — nationwide at any port since 2026-09-01.
Never mix the deadlines: 90 days belongs to the standard route; 28 days belongs to the instant route.

02 Eligibility

Do you qualify? The full checklist

Each row is labelled by what kind of condition it is — policy, store, route, port or instant-only.

Condition	Type	What it means
Visitor status	Policy condition	Foreign national, or a Hong Kong / Macau / Taiwan compatriot, who has stayed in mainland China no more than 183 consecutive days before departure.
Qualifying store	Store-dependent	Purchased at a participating tax-refund store. Confirm participation with staff or the official platform before you count on the refund.
¥200 threshold	Policy condition	At least ¥200 in qualifying goods, at the same store, on the same day, for the same traveler. Receipts cannot be combined across stores or days.
Qualifying goods	Policy condition	Personal-use goods that are unused and not consumed. Services, meals, hotel stays and similar consumption do not qualify.
Goods leave with you	Policy condition	You carry the goods out of China personally or check them as luggage — they must depart with you, not ship separately.
Departure deadline	Route-dependent	Standard route: depart within 90 days of the invoice. Instant-refund route: within 28 days. The two deadlines are different — check which route your purchase used.
Departure-port processing	Port-dependent	Verification happens at your departure port. Availability and the exact processing point vary by port — check your port’s guidance before you fly.
Instant refund extra requirements	Instant-refund only	Instant refund exists only at participating stores, requires a signed agreement and a card pre-authorization, and can be recovered if you miss the departure conditions.

03 Two routes

Which refund route applies to you?

TenPayGo is not a third route. Its September 2026 rollout can hand users into tax-refund services through Shenzhen partners, but the purchase still follows either the standard departure route or the instant-refund route below.

Refund at departure

Deadline: 90 days from the invoice

Who: Any purchase at a participating tax-refund store that did not take the instant advance.

Flow: Keep goods unused and documented → verify at customs on departure → collect the refund from the refund agency.

Instant refund (即买即退)

Deadline: 28 days — nationwide at any departure port since 2026-09-01

Who: Only at participating instant-refund stores; you receive an advance at purchase.

Flow: Sign the agreement and accept the card pre-authorization → keep goods unused → complete customs verification on departure → advance is settled; miss the conditions and the advance can be recovered.

04 Actions

What to do — at purchase and at departure

At purchase

Confirm the store participates in tax refunds — and, if you want the instant route, that it offers 即买即退.
Ask the cashier to record the refund application for that sale and confirm the invoice details (date, store, amount, items).
If taking an instant advance, read and sign the agreement; note the card pre-authorization.
Keep goods unused with packaging intact, and keep every receipt and refund record accessible.

Before and at departure

Allow extra time at the port: verification queues plus your normal check-in.
Pack goods so you can present them quickly — accessible in carry-on or checked luggage.
Have ready: passport, boarding pass, invoices, the refund application record, and the card used for any pre-authorization.
Present goods and documents at the customs/refund verification point; then complete the refund with the agency (counter or online).

Paperless processing (online verification of refund records and invoices) has been available since 2026-07-01, but some counters may still run paper workflows. Check your departure port before you fly.

05 Money

What you actually get back

Formula: Net refund = invoice amount × refund rate − refund agency service fee
Goods under 13% VAT → 11% refund rate
Goods under 9% VAT → 8% refund rate

Refund estimator

Estimate your gross and net refund

The refund rate is applied to the invoice. It is not the percentage of the price that ends up in your hand.

The estimator applies the agency fee rate to the purchase amount, then subtracts that fee from the gross refund.

Purchase amount (¥)

Refund rate11%Goods under 13% VAT8%Goods under 9% VAT

Agency fee (% of purchase amount) optional

Refund agencies set their own service fee, and the rate is not fixed nationally. Leave this blank if your agency has not quoted one.

Gross refund: ¥110.00
Agency fee: Not applied
Estimated net refund: Net refund depends on the refund agency fee.

Shanghai’s current official example uses a 2% refund-agency fee, which leaves roughly 9% net at the 11% refund rate and 6% net at 8%. That is a local example, not a national rate.

Worked example: a ¥1,000 invoice at the 11% rate gives a gross ¥110. A 2% refund-agency fee on the purchase amount is ¥20, so the estimated net is ¥90. Fee rates vary — confirm the rate with the agency.

The rate applies to the invoice. It is not a guaranteed net payout, and services, meals and hotel stays never qualify.

06 Volatile

Re-verify these before you fly

Is the store still listed as participating? (official platform: taxfree.mofcom.gov.cn)
Which route did the store register — standard or instant? That decides 90 vs 28 days.
Does your departure port use the paperless (no-paper) process, or should you allow time for paper counters?
High-value purchase (¥10,000 or more)? Expect item-by-item verification.
If you plan to use TenPayGo for tax-refund handling, confirm the feature is live for your city and purchase. Its September 2026 launch describes an in-app tax-refund handoff with ICBC Shenzhen and partners; it does not replace the national eligibility or customs rules.
Deadlines, thresholds, rates and port coverage can change — re-check before you fly.

Threshold, refund rates and service fees can change. So can the 90-day and 28-day deadlines, the ¥10,000 inspection threshold, paperless rollout, and store and port coverage. This page was checked Sep 2026.

Common mistakes

Combining receipts from different stores or days to reach ¥200 — not allowed.
Using the goods (or removing packaging) before departure — goods must stay unused.
Assuming every tax-refund store offers instant refund — many do not.
Assuming small sales (under ¥10,000) are never inspected — they face proportional/random inspection.
Confusing the deadlines: 90 days is the standard route, 28 days is the instant route.
Expecting 11% back as a fixed amount — the rate depends on the VAT category and the agency fee is deducted.
Assuming TenPayGo makes any purchase refundable or removes departure verification — it is a service handoff, not a third tax-refund route.

Common questions

Can I get the refund on hotel stays or meals?

No. Only qualifying personal-use goods bought at participating tax-refund stores, meeting the ¥200 same-store same-day rule, can be refunded. Services and consumption in China do not qualify.

Can I combine receipts from several stores to reach ¥200?

No. The threshold applies per traveler, per store, per day. Receipts from different stores or different days cannot be pooled.

Do I always get 11% back?

No. The refund rate depends on the VAT category (13% VAT → 11%; 9% VAT → 8%), and the refund agency subtracts its service fee from the calculated amount. Treat the rate as applied to the invoice, not as your net cash.

What changed in 2026?

From 1 July 2026, customs and refund agencies can verify refund records and invoices online — full no-paper processing. From the same date, refund sales below ¥10,000 moved to proportional/random inspection instead of universal item-by-item checks. Sales of ¥10,000 and above still require item-by-item verification. From 1 September 2026, instant refunds can be completed at any departure port nationwide.

Does instant refund mean I skip the departure steps?

No. Instant refund only moves the money earlier. You still complete customs verification on departure within the instant route’s 28-day window. If you fail the conditions, the advance can be recovered through the pre-authorization.

Can I use TenPayGo for my China tax refund?

Possibly as a convenience layer, but it is not a third refund route. As of September 26, 2026, TenPayGo says it is working with ICBC Shenzhen and other partners to provide an in-app handoff to tax-refund services. The normal rules still decide whether you qualify: participating store, unused qualifying goods, the applicable 90-day or 28-day deadline, and departure verification. Because the announced tax-refund integration is tied to Shenzhen partners and is still rolling out, confirm live availability in the app rather than assuming nationwide coverage.

How do I find participating stores?

Use the national departure-tax-refund information platform (taxfree.mofcom.gov.cn) and ask store staff. We deliberately do not keep a store directory here — coverage changes and only the official platform is authoritative.

Official sources and updates

Useful links

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