HomeAboutTrip ItinerariesContactSubscribe to RSSGuide to Getting
VAT Tax Refunds on Your Shopping in Seoul, SouthKoreaby Zhiqiang
& Tingyi on August 18, 2014 18 comments39 people like this. Be
the first of your friends. Like LikeShopping in Seoul, South Korea
is not exactly cheap (except for skincare products from local
Korean brands) but there is a way that you can get more bangfor
your bucks claiming VAT tax refunds from your shopping in Korea.
You can enjoy 10% tax refund when you spend more than 30,000 Korean
won(KRW) (about 30 USD or 38 Singapore dollars) from any shop in
South Korea with Tax Free logos the more notable ones are Global
Blue Tax Freeand the Orange Global Tax Free logos. This applies
anywhere in South Korea e.g. Seoul, Jeju and other parts of the
country as long as the shop has thelogos shown in the picture
below.I will be sharing with you a guide to claiming tax refund not
just via the traditional way of claiming tax refunds at airportbut
how you can also save a lot of time claiming tax refunds in
Downtown Seoul while your shop.Even when you buy Korean snacks e.g.
Lotte cookies, Korean ramen from supermarkets like Big C, you can
also claim for tax refund if you spend more thanKRW 30,000 (Korean
won). Simply proceed to the Information Counter for help on
claiming tax refund.You will not get paid your 10% VAT tax refund
on the spot. You will have to ask the cashier for a tax refund slip
typically provided in a white and blueenvelope (Global Blue Tax
Free) or in a white and orange envelope (Global Tax Free). The tax
refund slips and receipts are typically written in Korean butyou
can easily deduce how much tax refund you are eligible for. So Step
1 to claiming your 10% tax free is to get your tax refund
slip.Before you get too excited about tax refund claims do note
these conditions for tax refunds.You must have spent at least
30,000 Korean won (inclusive of tax) at a shop participating as
Global Blue or Orange Global Tax Free. Whatever you boughtmust have
been purchased within 3 months of your departure from Korea.You
must be an foreign visitor who has been residing/visiting in Korea
for less than six months or is an overseas Korean (holder of Korean
passport andpermanent resident) residing in/visiting Korea for less
than 3 months or is a Korean student studying abroad for three
years or more.These persons are not eligible for tax refund claims:
U.S. Armed Forces in Korea, diplomats in Korea, foreigners without
passport, those who overstayedtheir visa, foreigners working in
Korea.Processing Tax Refund Claims in Incheon International
AirportThe typical way to claim your tax refund is via the customs
office at the airport. Your purchased goods will be subject to
examination so dont pack yourpurchased items in your check-in
luggage yet. Look for the Tax Refund/Customs Declaration counter in
the Incheon airport (if you are flying back toSingapore from
Seoul). Typically there are quite long queues ensure that you have
filled up all particulars on the tax refund slip and that your
purchasedgoods are easily accessible for inspection (if needed).The
aim is to get the coveted All Goods Exported stamp on your tax
refund slip. We were lucky that we need not display our purchased
goods it willbe very troublesome to show all the facial masks and
skincare products for verification. I think the customs officers do
random checks.You can check-in to your airline first just inform
the check-in staff that you have tax refund items in one of your
bags to be checked in. They will do whatthey usually do with
checked-in luggages e.g. stick on the baggage claim labels and
return the bag to you. You will need to bring this bag to the
custom officeto get your All Goods Exported stamp. Once you have
gotten the custom stamp, deposit your bag at the oversized baggage
counter next to the customcounter.So to recap: Step 2 get your All
Goods Exported stamp at the customs office/counter at the
airport.There are airport staff around the customs office to assist
you with your tax refund after you have gotten the stamp of
approval from the customs officers. Wehad to scan our receipts
using Tax Refund machines not quite sure what this step is all
about just follow instructions from the staff. You will still not
getyour money here. Proceed to check-in your luggages and go to the
secured airport area after clearing immigration.At Incheon airport,
the gate to take note of within the secured airport area is Gate
28. This is where the Global Blue Tax Free and Global Tax Free
officesare located at. You will typically have tax refund slips
from both companies if you do a lot of shopping in Seoul. Do note
that Global Blue Tax Free officewill not process your tax refund
slips from Global Tax Free (the orange one) so if you have a mix of
both tax refund slips you will need to re-queue at theother office
after you have completed with one. Do note that if you dont have
the All Goods Exported stamp on your tax refund slip, you can
forget aboutclaiming your tax refunds.Claiming your tax refunds via
the Global Blue Tax Free and the Orange Global Tax Free at Gate 28
is not the only way some receipts are eligible for auto-tax refunds
via Tax Refund machines in the airport try to scan your receipts to
see if your receipts are eligible. I think this is what the above
Step 3 is about to check the eligibility for such auto-tax refunds
before you clear immigration.Do note that the tax refund process at
the Incheon airport can involve quite a lot of queuing so get to
the airport early if you intend to do tax refund claims.For
international flights by non-Korean carriers e.g. Singapore
Airlines, you will still need to take the shuttle train to the
other terminal to catch your flight sodo budget some time to do
these tax refunds if you plan to do so at Incheon Airport.If you
are leaving the country from an airport/port that does not have a
tax refund counter or got your documents stamped but did not have
the time to visitthe tax refund counter or are traveling at a time
when the counter(s) is closed, drop off your tax refund slips at
the Refunds Box. The tax refunds will be sentdirectly to your
credit card-linked bank account.There is another way to settle your
tax refunds even before going to the airport and skip all the
queuing and waiting at the airport.editor ratingMore Details More
DetailsProcessing Tax Refund Claims in Downtown Seoul e.g.
MyeongdongThere are various locations in Seoul where you can get
your tax refunds processed for Global Blue and Orange Global Tax
Free tax refund slips (see tablebelow).You will need to present:(1)
All your receipts and tax refund slips;(2) Your passport; and(3)
Your credit card. Your name in the passport must match that of the
credit card.You are not required to bring your purchased goods.Your
credit card will be charged with the same amount as the tax refund
eligible to you as a guarantee.The payment will be cancelled once
the stamped taxrefund documents arrive at the respective tax refund
agency within a certain period of time.You will be refunded in
cash.The staff will stamp CASH PAID at all receipts and return the
receipts to you.You will still need to present your receipts and
tax refund slips and your purchased goods for customs inspection at
the Incheon airport (see Step 2 above). The customs officers will
stamp ALL GOODS EXPORTED on these receipts and will not return the
tax refund slips to you.The customs office will sendthese stamped
receipts/tax refund slips back to Global Blue or Orange Global Tax
Free.You must complete this step and ensure that you dont end
upwith the stamped tax refund slips (these slips should go direct
to the tax refund office).If you miss this step, you will forfeit
the guarantee charged to yourcredit card plus penalty fees (about
15%).Do note that Global Blue accepts MasterCard credit card but
Orange Global Tax Free does not accept MasterCard (VISA credit card
is ok).By claiming tax refund downtown in Seoul, you save time on
queuing at the airport.You also get extra cash to spend with the
tax refund!Do note that whileyou can process most of your tax
refund slips downtown, there are still some tax refund slips that
require you to claim directly at the airport e.g. handwrittentax
refund slips.More info here:Global Blue Korea: +82-2-776-2170 /
www.global-blue.comGlobal Tax Free Korea: +82-2-518-0837 /
www.global-taxfree.comAgent Location Opening HoursGlobal BlueWoori
Bank, Myeongdong Branch (located across Myeongdong Theatre)Mon-Fri:
09:00 17:00Sat-Sun, Holidays: 10:00 17:001F Lotte Department Store,
Flagship Store, MyeongdongMon-Fri: 10:30 20:00Sat- Sun, Holidays:
10:00 20:3010F Hyundai Department Store, SinchonMon-Fri: 10:30
20:00Sat- Sun, Holidays: 10:00 20:30Global Tax Free2F Olive Young
Flagship Store, Myeongdong (located next to Seoul Royal Hotel)
Mon-Fri: 10:00 22:00Main Building 1F, Shinsegae Department Store,
MyeongdongMon-Fri: 10:30 20:00Sat-Sun, Holidays: 10:00 20:30B1 and
5F, Doota, Dongdaemun Mon-Fri: 10:30 23:00 Shopping online is one
way you can avoid all these hassle of claiming tax refunds for
example with online fashion and beauty retailer Zalora you can
findwatches online for women right now there are over 99+ designs
to choose from!Do note these conditions for tax refunds in South
Korea (you can claim up to 10% VAT tax refunds!) You must have
spent at least 30,000 Koreanwon (inclusive of tax) at a shop
participating as Global Blue or Orange Global Tax Free. Whatever
you bought must have been purchased within 3months of your
departure from Korea. You must be an foreign visitor who has been
residing/visiting in Korea for less than six months or is
anoverseas Korean (holder of Korean passport and permanent
resident) residing in/visiting Korea for less than 3 months or is a
Korean student studyingabroad for three years or more. These
persons are not eligible for tax refund claims: U.S. Armed Forces
in Korea, diplomats in Korea, foreignerswithout passport, those who
overstayed their visa, foreigners working in Korea.39 people like
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}{Korea} Our 6 days itinerary to Seoul | IdelishMay 23, 2015 at
2:24 am{ 17 comments read them below or add one } 1 Helen September
12, 2014 at 2:48 pmWow, thank you for such great advice and
wonderful explanation. This is bar far the easiest and best
explanation that is logical and good to read! Imso glad you told me
about this process. So many people should know about this.I want to
confirm, for the purchases, do i have to make purchases using
Credit card in order to claim tax refund? Can I pay in cash and get
the receiptand still get refund? Does cash payment work for Seoul
city claims?Thank you!Reply 2 Zhiqiang & Tingyi September 12,
2014 at 3:16 pmHi HelenYou do not have to make purchases with
credit card to claim tax refund. You can pay in cash and request
for the tax refund slips and receipts (ifyou spend more than 30,000
KRW at a shop where tax refund is available).Not sure what you
meant by your last question but yes you can pay in cash and enjoy
tax refunds if you are eligible.Reply 3 Simon October 29, 2014 at
4:34 pmHi,I have already left Korea but forgot to claim for my tax
refund at the airport. Can I still claim for my tax refund from
overseas? If it is still possible toclaim for my tax refund from
overseas, how do I do so?Thanks.Reply 4 Zhiqiang & Tingyi
October 29, 2014 at 4:45 pmDid you get a customs stamp on your
refund forms? If no, then there is no way you can get tax refunds.
If yes, you will have to check withGlobal Blue Tax Free
http://www.globalblue.com/ or Global Tax Free for tax refunds via
mailing the refund forms (with customs stamp) tothem.Reply 5 Simon
October 29, 2014 at 5:56 pmThanks Zhiqiang & Tingyi for your
response. No, unfortunately I did not get the stamp on my tax
refund forms. So I guess its a lost cause for me.Thanks
anyway.Reply 6 Andronico Sanchez December 11, 2014 at 2:13 pmwere
can i change my cheque here in Phillipines???Reply 7 Zhiqiang &
Tingyi December 11, 2014 at 3:08 pmyou cant get VAT Tax Refunds in
Philippines for your shopping in KoreaReply 8 Andronico Sanchez
December 11, 2014 at 3:19 pmI have the cheque from globalblue but i
dont know were can i change my cheque here in phillipinesReply 9
Zhiqiang & Tingyi December 11, 2014 at 3:20 pmGo to your bank
to cash itReply 10 Christine He December 29, 2014 at 9:33 pmhi, you
mentioned that Global Blue accepts Mastercard credit card and that
Orange Global Tax Free accepts Visa credit card. Does the global
blue oneaccept visa too?Reply 11 Zhiqiang & Tingyi December 30,
2014 at 2:57 pmHi Christine according to their website, they do
accept visa
http://www.globalblue.com/customer-services/tax-free-shopping/tax-free-shopping-faqs/How
can I get my refund back?Global Blue offers a wide range of refund
options:(a) Refund in cash or to credit card at one of the Refund
Offices located at major airports or by sending completed* Tax Free
Form to GlobalBlue:(b) Refund to credit card (Visa, Master Card,
Amex, Diners, JCB and CUP)Reply 12 Lester January 2, 2015 at 4:25
pmHi there,May i know if you have any idea of what time the Custom
Office, Global Blue Tax Free and Global Tax Free offices closes at
the airport?Reply 13 Zhiqiang & Tingyi January 3, 2015 at 9:46
pmFrom:
http://www.globalblue.com/customer-services/tax-free-shopping/refund-points/southkorea/incheon-airport/?_ga=1.156777211.1752162701.14202927001649
1361 20556 1194It states 7am to 9pm for Global Blue. You can search
online for opening hours of other tax refund offices.Reply 14
Angela April 26, 2015 at 8:33 pmHi, if i do tax refund in Myeong
dong, does this means that I can skip step 1 in the airport and
start from step 2?Reply 15 Zhiqiang & Tingyi April 26, 2015 at
11:06 pmJust to minimise confusion, step 1 according to this
article is collect the blue/orange tax refund forms from the vendor
that still needs to bedone. Step 2 (according to the article) is
still required. You need not do Step 3 and 4 (according to the
above article). Bottomline, you need to getyour goods inspected by
customs at the airport and submit your tax refund forms to
them.Reply 16 Joey June 11, 2015 at 11:24 amHi, I did a city refund
but missed out on getting one of the receipts stamped at customs.
Is it possible to get a friend who happens to be going to Koreato
get the stamp on my behalf? The difference between my arrival date
in Korea to my friends departure date from Korea is less than
2months.Reply 17 Zhiqiang & Tingyi June 11, 2015 at 9:17 pmyou
will need to call/email Global Blue or Global Tax Free to check on
this. I think there is a time limit before they check whether the
receiptshad been customs-stamped after which, they will charge your
credit card.ReplyLeave a CommentName *E-mail *Website You can use
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