Korea Tax Refund Calculator
What comes back on your shopping in Korea, and whether the store, a downtown counter or the airport pays it
Calculate your refund
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Where you collect the refund
Four places that hand the tax back
Some stores pay you at the register. Otherwise you collect it downtown or at the airport.| Where | When | What it takes |
|---|---|---|
| The store you bought from | Right at the register | Under 1,000,000 won per purchase, and 5,000,000 won total for your whole stay |
| Downtown refund counter | Any day before you fly out | Up to 6,000,000 won per purchase |
| Airport refund counter or kiosk | The day you leave | Customs confirms the goods are leaving with you, then the counter pays |
| Airport refund mailbox | The day you leave | Drop the stamped form in and the money arrives after you have gone |
One payment has to reach 15,000 won before any of this applies. The floor is per receipt, so two small receipts from the same shop do not add up to one refund. Only stores displaying a TAX FREE sign take part.
If something you bought is still in Korea three months later, anything you buy after that no longer qualifies for the refund at the register.
If the register did not hand the tax back, a downtown counter or the airport still will.
What the refund does not cover
What the refund does not cover
It covers goods you carry out of the country, not what you use up while you are here.| What you paid for | Refund |
|---|---|
| Cosmetics, clothes, bags and other goods bought in a store | Yes |
| Hotel nights | No |
| Restaurant and cafe bills | No |
| Subway, taxi, bus and train fares | No |
A restaurant bill well past 15,000 won still returns nothing. What you bought decides the refund, not how much you spent.
Add up the store receipts, not the trip, when you want to know what is coming back.
Why you never see the whole 10%
Why you never see the whole 10%
The tax already sits inside the price you paid, and the refund company keeps a service fee.- 1The price tag already includes the taxKorean prices are tax-inclusive, so the 10% sits inside what you paid instead of being added on top.
- 2The refund operator takes a service feeStore, downtown counter or airport - whoever pays you subtracts the fee first.
- 3You keep what is left3.3-8.2% of what you paidThe larger the receipt, the closer to the top of that range you get. Small purchases sit at the bottom.
Example
- You paid100,000 won
- You get back7,000 won
The fee takes a fixed slice, so the larger the receipt the better the rate you get.
What to do at the airport
Your airport run, in order
Customs comes first and the money comes second. The other way around sends you back.- 1Go to customs before you check your bagsOnce the goods are inside a checked suitcase customs cannot look at them, and without that look there is no stamp. Bring your passport.
- 2Get the export confirmedHand over the refund form, the receipts and your passport. Customs may ask to see the goods.
- 3Bring the form to a counter or a kioskThere are more of them past immigration, inside the duty-free area.
- 4Collect the refundCash or a credit card refund. If the line is long or the counter has closed, use the mailbox beside it.
A purchase over 6,000,000 won is never paid out early. Customs confirms it on the day you leave, and the airport counter pays you after that.
Keep the shopping where customs can look at it until the form is stamped.
FAQ ❓
Between 3.3% and 8.2% of what you paid, and larger receipts land nearer the top. The tax itself is 10%, but the company handling the refund keeps a fee out of it.
15,000 won on a single receipt. Smaller receipts return nothing, and you cannot add two of them together to reach the minimum.
No. Only goods you carry out of the country qualify, so nights, meals and transport fares are all excluded.
Yes, if you drop the customs-stamped paperwork into a refund mailbox at the airport, the money arrives after you fly. The customs stamp itself has to happen at the airport on your departure day.
Sources 🌐
- Special Taxation Rules for Foreign Tourists (Presidential Decree)Minimum purchase, in-store limits and advance refund cap (in force from 2026-01-02)
- Global Tax Free published rate table80 refund bands by purchase amount (checked 2026-08-24)
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