In Thailand, whether it's for shopping, dining or some entertainment, most stores charge a 7% excise tax (VAT) on behalf of the Thai authorities, and foreigners who enter or leave the country within 60 days of shopping can apply for a tax refund. Tax refunds in Thailand are now also based on a stepped refund, no longer the previous 7%. Remember to bring your passport with you when shopping.
:Conditions for tax refunds
1. Tourists (non-Thai foreign immigrants) must be in possession of a tourist visa in order to make purchases from stores labeled for tourist VAT refunds. They must spend no less than 2,000 baht at the same store on the same day and the total amount of purchases must exceed 5,000 baht.
2. Tourists must not stay in Thailand for more than 180 days.
3. When making purchases at designated stores, a yellow PP10 VAT refund slip (Tax Refund Slip, as shown below) must be obtained and filled out at the appropriate Customer Service Center.
Generally, the customer service or after-sales staff will help to fill out the tax refund slip and bind the small shopping ticket together, just keep it until the exit tax refund.
:Tax Refund Process
1. Take all your luggage to the Tax Refund Customs Office at Chiang Mai International Airport, take out your passport and the yellow form, and let the staff stamp it. Valuables purchased locally are best kept in an easily accessible location in your luggage. If the customs officers ask to inspect them, they are easy to find. In fact, they are usually not able to inspect them.
2. Customs officers check and stamp (must be stamped or no refund). After signing, the prerequisite preparations for the tax refund are completed, and then the boarding pass and customs clearance process is normal.
3. After the customs can go to the tax refund counter, the stamped documents, tax refund application form, passport to the counter check, directly on the spot tax refund. You can choose whether the cash refund is in Thai baht or Chinese yuan.
(The picture below is a simple process to help you memorize. If it's too much of a hassle for you, check out this chart.)
Methods of Tax Refund
There are three main ways to get a tax refund in Thailand: cash, credit card transfer, and bank draft. For tax refunds up to 30,000 baht, you can get cash back immediately: for amounts over that, pay by credit card or bank draft.
If - cash tax refund does not exceed 30,000 baht, you can choose this method.
The credit card transfer fee for -- is 100 baht plus an exchange fee charged by the bank.
Bank Draft - The handling fee for a bank draft is 100 baht, plus the bank's invoicing fee and postage charged by the post office.
(Note: For tax refunds over 30,000 baht, only credit card transfers or bank drafts are available;)
The complete tax refund ladder is attached.
Tips:
1. Because the tax refund process and queuing time at Thai airports is still quite long, you will be asked to look for your purchases according to the consumption list at regular intervals, so it is more reliable to go to the airport half an hour in advance.
2. Contraband, flammable and explosive goods, precious stones, etc.. Thai government regulations do not allow refunds.
3. Every day every place to open the tax refund documents. At the end of the day, gather all the tax refund documents together and return them to the airport so that you are only charged once for the processing fee.
Additionally, regarding shopping consumption, I recommend a few places for your reference:
If you buy clothes go to Sang Thai or Maya, buy dried fruits and flowers go to Valoro Market, buy wood carvings go to Bantawa Wood Carving Village, buy latex pillows, crocodile skin bags and skincare go to KP Affordable Specialty Chain, and buy souvenirs and souvenirs go to the Saturday/Sunday Night Market.