Shanghai's commerce commission outlined a three-year action plan with 16 measures across four areas - expanding outlets, adding categories, improving convenience and optimizing the environment - to build a benchmark city for departure tax refunds. A year after the State Council's policy and the national tax administration's instant-refund announcement, Shanghai's 2025 departure refund sales rose 80% year on year, nearly half the national total. Instant-refund applications grew 14.7 times and instant-refund sales 9.7 times; the city added more than 1,200 refund stores for a cumulative total above 2,100, and has built 25 citywide refund counters, 17 centralized counters and several single-store counters.
The Qingpu district tax bureau noted the refund threshold dropped from 500 yuan to 200 yuan and the cash refund cap rose from 10,000 to 20,000 yuan, filling a gap for small purchases and unlocking high-end consumption. At Bailian Qingpu Outlets, a Singaporean tourist who bought a 300-yuan backpack received about 30 yuan back on the spot.
To improve convenience, the Shanghai tax bureau worked with commerce, customs and the municipal data group to launch a mobile refund service platform, piloted at selected stores in Pudong, Huangpu and Jing'an. It enables online handling of the entire process - store invoicing, customs verification and refund payout - bringing a paperless, visual and intelligent service experience. At Bicester Shanghai Village, the first mall with full online processing, staff no longer fill forms by hand; visitors scan a QR code, upload documents and receive the refund, and can track progress in real time.
Refund points have also been extended to hotels. The Jinjiang Hotel near Nanjing Road added a citywide instant-refund counter, letting overseas visitors submit documents at the business center and complete refunds on site, with goods verified at the airport on departure. A tax official said the department will keep optimizing refund processes and expanding service scenarios to support Shanghai's development as an international consumption center.