How is the amount of the tax refund calculated?
Published: October 18, 2026
Sources & Verification
Primary Source
State Taxation Administration — Official document ↗
CPG Analysis
AI-assisted summary of the official source linked above, pending human review.
Verification
AI-assisted summary · generated Oct 18, 2026 · pending human review
This summary was generated by AI from the linked official source. It has not been reviewed line-by-line by a human editor.
⚡ Impact at a Glance
Who is affected
Retail, consumer goods, luxury goods, tourism and duty-free, tax refund agency services
Cities / Agencies
Nationwide (departure ports and departure tax refund pilot regions) · State Taxation Administration
What to do now
Confirm the VAT rate applicable to each tax-refundable item and apply the matching 11% or 8% refund rate, deducting the agency service fee, when preparing or verifying refund claims.
Source & verification
STA · AI-assisted summary · generated Oct 18, 2026 · pending human review
Executive Summary
This guidance explains how the refundable VAT amount is calculated for tax-refundable goods, a formula used in China's departure tax refund scheme for overseas visitors. Refunds are based on the invoice amount including VAT, multiplied by a refund rate of 11% for goods taxed at 13% or 8% for goods taxed at 9%, minus the service fee charged by the refund agency. It matters because it sets the exact cash amount a departing shopper or refund agent can expect, so retailers and refund agents must apply the correct rate to avoid over- or under-claiming.
Key Points
The refund base is the sales invoice amount of the tax-refundable goods, including VAT — not the pre-tax price and not the tax amount itself.
For goods subject to the 13% VAT rate, the applicable tax refund rate is 11%, a spread of 2 percentage points retained in China.
For goods subject to the 9% VAT rate, the applicable tax refund rate is 8%, likewise a 1 percentage point spread.
The service fee charged by the tax refund agency for processing the refund is deducted from the calculated refund, so the customer receives less than the gross formula result.
The formula is: tax refund = invoice amount (VAT-inclusive) × refund rate − refund agency service fee.
The calculation method has applied since 1 April 2019 and remains the standing basis for computing refunds on tax-refundable goods.