New policy simplifies Sanya's departure tax refunds

With the rollout of the new departure tax refund policy, Hainan province's inbound tourism sector is set to experience a major surge in shopping.

The measures, issued by the Ministry of Commerce along with five other departments, officially went into effect on July 1. Under them, customs no longer require physical refund application forms and sales invoices for verifications.

Sanya Airport Customs, which is part of Haikou Customs, processed 150 tax refund requests on July 1 — with the total value of refunded goods hitting 162,200 yuan ($23,892) and the refund amount itself reaching 20,100 yuan.

Sanya Airport Customs has focused on two main changes: Implementing random inspections for small-value refund applications and ensuring paperless processing.

They've coordinated with commerce and tax departments, completed system adjustments, streamlined processes, upgraded equipment and trained staff members in advance to ensure a smooth transition and operations.

In the early hours of July 1, a Russian tourist visited the tax refund counter at Sanya Airport Customs.

Customs officers quickly accessed the necessary information from the system to complete the online review in under a minute.

This was the first tax refund processed by Sanya Airport Customs under the new policy.

A key highlight of the new policy is the widespread adoption of a paperless tax refund process.

Once tax refund stores finalize sales, then purchase details, invoice information and tax refund applications are uploaded in real-time to an electronic system — creating standardized electronic data.

Customs officers can scan or input the traveler's tax refund service code, passport number or application number, and the system automatically retrieves the data for an online confirmation.

This process ensures a single entry of information, multi-party sharing and full traceability.

Under the new policy, for tax refund applications with sales amounts under 10,000 yuan, a random selection will undergo physical verification.

For travelers, this means that most who are carrying small-value tax refund items enjoy a quick and seamless departure.