The tourist tax refund: three things you have to do
The refund is a three-step errand that people fail at the last step, in the airport, with the goods already checked in. Knowing the order in advance is most of the work.
What you do
- Show your passport at the shop. The regulation requires the seller to confirm who is buying from a passport before issuing anything, so a photo of it is not the same thing.
- Take the sales confirmation the shop gives you and keep it with the goods, not in the bottom of a suitcase.
- At departure, present the confirmation together with the purchased goods to customs at the airport you are flying out of. This is the step that completes the refund, and it is the step that fails.
Refunded at the till, or at the airport
Some purchases are discounted on the spot rather than refunded later, and the regulation puts two ceilings on that: the transaction including tax must be under one million won, and the running total of such purchases since you entered the country must not exceed five million won. Above those, the refund happens at the airport instead. Goods have to leave the country within three months of purchase.
We do not print a minimum purchase amount. A figure is widely repeated, but we could not find it in the text of this regulation, and a number we cannot source is a number we do not print. Ask at the counter — the shop knows its own threshold.
The practical consequence of step three: anything you expect a refund on should stay in your hand luggage until customs has seen it. Refunds are lost in checked bags more often than in paperwork.
Where this comes from
Every number on this page was read at the source rather than in a summary. Where we could not read it at the source, the page says so instead of guessing.
Questions people actually ask
- Where does the Korea tax refund actually happen?
- At customs, on your way out — not at the shop. The shop issues the confirmation; customs is where the goods and the form have to be seen together, which is why the goods cannot already be checked in.
- What are the immediate-refund limits?
- Under one million won for a single transaction including tax, and no more than five million won in total since you entered the country. Purchases above those are refunded at the airport instead.
- How long do I have to take the goods out of Korea?
- Three months from the date of purchase, under the regulation. For a normal trip that is not a constraint, but it matters if you buy on one visit and leave on another.
