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Ningbo encourages tourists to claim tax refund for overseas purchases
- Details
- Category: Ningbo News
- Published: Tuesday, 15 April 2014 21:31
Global Blue, the leading international tax refund company, opened its branch office in Ningbo last month, which enables local citizens to claim tax refund for their purchases in Japan, Korea, Singapore and other Asian countries. With the European tax rebate service started two years ago, more overseas shoppers can enjoy tax refund service at home now.
According to Miss Xu, who has just applied for a tax refund for an OMEGA watch and handbags she bought in Milan, Italy, she can claim a tax refund of more than 12,800 yuan after the service fee the tax refund agency has charged her. This means she actually paid 79,000 yuan for her purchase of 90,000 yuan. The convenient tax refund service becomes a nice advantage overseas shopping offers to the consumers.
To encourage spending, some countries offer tax rebates for overseas tourists. With the tax-free shopping scheme, overseas tourists can claim certain tax refund for their newly purchased items. To qualify for a tax refund, a shopper usually has to present a customs certification and a tax free form.
Transforex, a foreign currency trading firm under Hainan Airlines, has formed a partnership with Global Blue, which means Ningbo citizens can have tax refund processed back for their overseas purchase marked with the logos of Global Blue, Premier TaxFree, Tax Free orldwide, InnovaTaxfree, and N. Tax Free SpA. Local citizens can claim tax refund in Ningbo-based tax rebate agent with their tax refund forms, the receipts and their ID.
In most European countries, visitors can enjoy a tax refund ranging from 7 to 25 percent. After costs of service fees, the actual refund can be 5 to 20 percent. However, many Chinese consumers gave up tax refunds after shopping in Europe because they are unwilling to go through the relevant procedures as they are too complicated and usually take too much time. Ningbo, a city with rising purchasing power, is no exception. Statistics from tourism authorities show that a total of 611,900 local citizens traveled outbound last year, with 6,356 passengers choosing England as their destinations, up more than 100 percent year on year. However, less than 100 citizens applied for tax refund since Ningbo launched its "euro tax rebate program" in March 2012. "The VAT on most taxable goods in the UK is 20 percent. Suppose each Ningbo tourist had spent 5,000 yuan in UK, they had given up 600 million yuan of tax rebate last year. That does not include tourists traveled to France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and other European countries," said Chen Yu, the manager Transforex's Ningbo Branch.
