Recently, Mr. Calli Sezgin, a traveler from Türkiye, successfully completed his tax refund application through the “one-tap smart tax refund” service at the Insta360 store in Beijing Wangfujing Yintai in88, a shopping mall. From scanning the QR code and submitting information to receiving the refund, the entire process took less than two minutes. “Beijing speed is amazing!” exclaimed Mr. Calli Sezgin.
This is a snapshot of the further upgrade of Beijing’s instant tax refund service, which is the first of its kind to be fully implemented in China. Particularly since the State Taxation Administration rolled out the instant tax refund service nationwide in April 2025. The Beijing Municipal Tax Service has introduced a series of breakthrough measures, including “Tax Refund for All Beijing, One-Stop Service”, The aim was to continuously improve the tax refund experience for overseas visitors and boost the inbound tourism and consumption market.
“One-Tap Smart Tax Refund” Service Model Rolled Out at Initial Selected Locations
Recently, the Beijing Municipal Tax Service, in collaboration with relevant departments and commercial entities, launched the “one-tap smart tax refund” services first at selected departure tax refund stores, including those in the Palace Museum and Beijing Fun, as well as flagship stores of DJI at China World Mall and Insta360. Unlike the traditional counter-based processing model, this new service allows overseas travelers to complete the entire process through Alipay by scanning a QR code, including personal information collection, issuance of the tax refund application form, and processing of the instant tax refund service. Refunds are credited instantly on site, with the processing time per transaction significantly reduced from five to ten minutes previously to less than two minutes. This has effectively reduced counter queues, improved the processing efficiency and convenience, and substantially enhanced the accessibility of cross-border consumption tax refunds.
It is learned that the smart tax refund services have been initially deployed in popular consumption scenarios for overseas visitors, covering core cultural and tourism landmarks such as the Palace Museum and Beijing Fun, as well as technology consumption flagship stores including DJI at China World Mall and Insta360. The initiative deeply integrates efficient and smart tax refund services with Beijing’s profound historical heritage and charm of Chinese-style consumer brands.
“By the end of March 2026, our refund service point had processed 228 transactions, driving 5.1 million yuan in tax-refundable consumption and effectively unlocking the consumption potential of overseas visitors,” said Yin Xia, Deputy General Manager of WF Central. She noted that the “Tax Refund for All Beijing, One-Stop Service” model has broken through the traditional limitations of “claiming refunds where purchases are made” and “claiming refunds only upon departure”, truly enabling visitors to “shop and get refunds immediately, anywhere across the city”.
According to the Beijing Municipal Tax Service, Beijing, in line with the instant tax refund policy, pioneered the “Tax Refund for All Beijing, One-Stop Service” model nationwide. Building on the original instant tax refund services offered by designated stores, Beijing set up the first batch of centralized instant refund service points across three core commercial areas: Wangfujing, Beijing Financial Street, and China World Mall. The number of such points has now expanded to seven. After shopping at any designated store across the city, overseas visitors can present their refund application form and complete the process on site at a centralized refund service point, with refunds credited immediately. This has greatly enhanced overseas visitors’ sense of gain and overall experience, boosted consumption in commercial areas, and continuously strengthened the international appeal of departure tax refund stores.
Beijing’s Departure Tax Refund Application Forms Exceed 120,000
Liu Li, Director of the Second Branch of the Beijing Municipal Tax Service, stated that in October 2019, Beijing took the lead nationwide in launching the instant tax refund service for overseas visitors. After the service was rolled out nationwide last year, the Beijing Municipal Tax Service further introduced innovative measures such as “Tax Refund for All Beijing, One-Stop Service”, driving remarkable growth in departure tax refund services.
To ensure that the benefits of such services reach more overseas visitors, the Beijing Municipal Tax Service has actively implemented measures to “raise the refund cap and extend the departure window”, continuously improving travelers’ experience.
First, Beijing has substantially raised the refund cap. The daily cumulative cap for the amount of tax-refundable products has been raised from 50,000 yuan to 220,000 yuan. In other words, tax refund transactions involving goods valued at 220,000 yuan or below are now eligible for the citywide instant tax refund service, benefiting more than 95% of travelers applying for tax refunds in Beijing. Second, Beijing has extended the departure deadline for the instant tax refund service. Taking into full account the actual time needs of overseas visitors for tourism and business activities in Beijing, the departure deadline for the instant tax refund service has been extended from 17 days to 28 days. This provides travelers with greater flexibility in planning their itineraries and has thus significantly enhanced the policy’s applicability and convenience for travelers. It particularly benefits business travelers and in-depth tourists by allowing them to arrange their stay in Beijing at a more relaxed pace, while boosting related consumption and maximizing the policy benefits and consumption potential.
Liu Li noted that since April 2025, Beijing has issued more than 120,000 departure tax refund application forms, up 4.6 times year-on-year. Sales of tax-refundable goods have exceeded 1.8 billion yuan, representing 60% year-on-year growth, while the amount of tax refunds processed has approached 200 million yuan, up 58% year-on-year. Beijing has gradually established an instant tax refund service network comprising 58 service points, including seven citywide centralized refund service points, and covering over 1,600 departure tax refund stores.
“The Beijing Municipal Tax Service will continue to focus on making departure tax refund services more convenient and intelligent. We will also add more centralized refund service points across the city, explore new models such as online tax refund stores and paperless processing, and promote departure tax refund policies overseas, so that more overseas visitors can learn about and enjoy the tangible benefits brought by these policies,” Liu Li said.
