Starting June 1, Beijing has extended the departure window for the "tax refund upon purchase" service from 17 days to 28 days.

In early July, Alipay introduced its tax refund feature at Beijing's centralized "instant tax refund" locations. Overseas tourists can now receive their tax refunds directly in their Alipay wallets in real time, representing a significant upgrade to Beijing's departure tax refund services.

On July 6, an American tourist experienced this new service. After purchasing Chinese-made electronic devices worth over CNY 10,000, he went to a centralized "instant tax refund" spot and tried the "Tap" function of Alipay. He generated the tax refund QR code, and once the staff scanned his payment code and verified the information, more than CNY 1,000 of tax refund was instantly transferred to his Alipay e-wallet. The refunded amount could then be immediately reused for further purchases via Alipay's balance.

In addition to using the "Tap" function to bring up the Alipay payment QR code, overseas visitors can also choose to scan a provided code to access their refund interface or directly search for "Tax Refund for Visitors" (入境人士退税) on Alipay to call up their own payment QR code and complete the payment process. With this service now operational, overseas tourists can receive tax refunds without handling cash, which further improves their shopping and tax refund experience in Beijing.

(Source: Beijing Municipal Tax Service, State Taxation Administration)