How Korea’s tourist tax refund works
Prices in Korean shops include 10% VAT. Visitors who take goods out of the country can get most of it back at stores displaying a Tax Free or Tax Refund sign. Enter each receipt above and the calculator sorts them for you.
| Rule | Current limit |
|---|---|
| Minimum per receipt | ₩15,000 including tax — smaller receipts don’t qualify, and you can’t add two small receipts together |
| Instant refund at the store | Receipts under ₩1,000,000, up to ₩5,000,000 in total per trip |
| Everything else | Claim at the airport or port kiosk, or a city refund counter, before you leave |
| Export deadline | Take the goods out of Korea within 3 months of purchase |
Why the refund is less than the VAT
The VAT inside a price is price × 10 ÷ 110, about 9.09%. Refund operators deduct a handling fee approved by the National Tax Service, so what reaches you is lower and depends on the operator’s refund table — usually somewhere around 6–8% of the price. The calculator shows the VAT as the maximum and that range as an estimate.
What doesn’t qualify
- Hotels, restaurants, cafés and transport — services you use in Korea, not goods you take home.
- Goods you have already used or opened in a way that suggests consumption in Korea may be refused at customs.
- Cosmetic surgery and dermatology: the special VAT refund for foreign patients ended on December 31, 2025. Bills to bring it back have been proposed but had not passed as of August 2026.
Keep your passport and receipts together, and leave time at the airport for the refund kiosk. To see the amount in your own currency, use the currency exchange rate calculator.