Korea Tourist Tax Refund Eligibility Checker: Limits and VAT in Your Price
Tax Free refund threshold checker
Estimate only. Runs in your browser; nothing is sent or stored. Checks the limits published by VisitKorea (page dated 20 Oct 2025).
Thresholds used (VisitKorea): minimum KRW 15,000; immediate refund needs each transaction under KRW 1,000,000 and a total of KRW 5,000,000 or less; downtown refund needs a single transaction of KRW 6,000,000 or less; airport refund lists no maximum. VAT included in the price = price x 10 / 110, using Korea's 10% standard VAT rate. That is not your refund: refund operators' fees are not published on the official pages, so no refund amount is calculated.
Short answer: Enter one purchase and your trip total above. The checker compares them with the limits on VisitKorea’s tax refund guide (page dated 20 October 2025): at least KRW 15,000, and for the immediate refund a single transaction under KRW 1 million and a total of KRW 5 million or less. It also shows the VAT contained in the price. That VAT figure is not the refund you will receive.
What the checker tests
VisitKorea says non-residents who do not earn income in Korea can claim, including visitors staying up to six months. The same page lists these as not eligible: stays of six months or more, diplomats, US military personnel, people employed in Korea, and purchases under a company name or through an agent. The checkboxes in the tool mirror that list. The overseas-Korean rule (two years or more abroad and three months or less in Korea) is not in the tool; read VisitKorea if it applies to you.
Thresholds used
| Method | Minimum | Maximum stated by VisitKorea |
|---|---|---|
| Immediate refund (at the store) | KRW 15,000 | Single transaction under KRW 1,000,000; total KRW 5,000,000 or less |
| Downtown refund | KRW 15,000 | Single transaction KRW 6,000,000 or less |
| Airport refund | KRW 15,000 | No maximum listed |
VisitKorea writes the minimum as “the purchase amount of goods must be KRW 15,000 or more” and does not say whether that is per receipt or per transaction. The tool applies it to the single amount you enter. Stores and refund operators may use their own rules, so ask at the register.
The Korea Customs Service page checked does not state any minimum or limit. It lists the documents and items for the export check (passport, certificate of sale and the unopened, unused goods) and says duty-free items must leave the country within 3 months of purchase. VisitKorea says the same 3 months for goods.
The VAT inside your price
Prices in Korea normally include value-added tax. At a 10% standard rate, the VAT inside a price is the price x 10 / 110, which is one eleventh. For example:
| VAT-included price (KRW) | VAT inside the price (KRW) |
|---|---|
| 15,000 | 1,364 |
| 110,000 | 10,000 |
| 330,000 | 30,000 |
The 10% rate comes from the OECD’s Consumption Tax Trends profile for Korea. This guide could not find the rate stated on the English pages of the Korea Customs Service or VisitKorea, so treat it as a secondary-source confirmation. Most important: this is the tax in the price, not your refund. VisitKorea and the Customs Service pages do not publish the refund operators’ fees or the net refund percentage, so the tool does not estimate your refund, and This guide does not give any percentage.
Reading the results
- Immediate refund fails, downtown passes: your single purchase may be KRW 1,000,000 or more but at most KRW 6,000,000. Under VisitKorea’s figures you would not use the in-store deduction for that purchase, but a downtown refund may be open.
- Trip total over KRW 5,000,000: this only blocks the immediate refund route. VisitKorea lists no total cap for the other methods on the page checked.
- Everything passes: that means the amounts fit the published limits. It does not promise approval, since customs confirms the export and the operator processes the refund.
- Below KRW 15,000: the purchase misses the minimum for every method.
How to use the result
- Enter a single receipt and, if you made more purchases, the trip total.
- If a limit says it is not met, ask the store which refund method it offers. A purchase over the immediate-refund limits may still qualify for a downtown or airport refund under the limits in the table.
- Keep your passport, receipt or certificate of sale, and the unopened, unused goods ready for customs.
- Leave Korea within 3 months of purchase.
Limits of this tool
It checks numbers only. It cannot tell whether a store takes part in Tax Free, whether an item is excluded (VisitKorea lists banned goods, services customs cannot check, opened or used items and duty-free items), or whether your trip total includes purchases already refunded. It does not model accommodation refunds.
Quick checklist
- Do I stay under six months and not work in Korea?
- Is each purchase at least KRW 15,000?
- Am I within the limits of the refund method I will use?
- Are my goods unopened, unused and available for customs?
- Will I leave within 3 months?
This is an eligibility estimate, not tax advice or a refund quote. Confirm the rules with the store, the refund operator or the Korea Customs Service.
Sources
- VisitKorea (Korea Tourism Organization): Comprehensive Tax Refund Guide
- Korea Customs Service: Tax Refund (English)
- OECD: Consumption Tax Trends, Korea (VAT standard rate)