Self-service departure tax refund machines

Receipt of tax refunds via all channels are available

Offers flexible language selection in 13 languages

Tax refund credited to digital Chinese Yuan(e-CNY) wallet within 3 minutes

Source：南方+客户端

On March 30, under the guidance of the Shenzhen Tax Service, State Taxation Administration and the Shenzhen Branch of the People's Bank of China, self-service departure tax refund machines have officially been launched at Luohu Port and Shenzhen Airport. A self-service machine can process tax refunds quickly and easily.

At 9:00 a.m., two self-service departure tax refund machines officially came into service at the departure tax refund service hall of Luohu Port. They are the first batch of outbound tax refund self-service machines independently developed by the Shenzhen Branch of Bank of China, integrating identity verification, document verification and fund settlement.

Source：南方+客户端

The launch of self-service departure tax refund machines is expected to play a significant role during peak tax refund periods, both on regular days and during holidays, according to Wang Haiwei, Deputy General Manager of the Personal Finance Department at the Shenzhen Branch of Bank of China, who also leads the equipment's research and development.

Ms Ou, the first traveller from the Hong Kong Tourist Area to try out the self-service departure tax refund machine received her refund credited to her account in just 2 minutes and 23 seconds. "It's really fast and convenient. The whole process is with Cantonese, which was very thoughtful," she said.

Source：南方+客户端

It is reported that in addition to supporting tax refund methods such as bank card transfer and third-party payment, this device innovatively adds an "e-CNY wallet" refund channel. In other words, after completing the tax refund process, overseas travellers can choose to receive the refund directly in the form of an e-CNY card of the equivalent value, avoiding the inconvenience of handling change and allowing them to use the refund immediately. Inbound travellers can make further purchases or take public transport within the country without needing an internet connection, simply by tapping the card to pay.

At around 9:30 am, Mr Li, a citizen of Hong Kong, received the first e-CNY card dispensed by the self-service machine. "I've heard it can be used not only for shopping but also for paying on buses by tapping the card. I'm really looking forward to trying it out," he said.

Source：南方+客户端

According to Shenzhen Customs, in the first two months of this year, the authority handled 19,000 outbound tax refund verification services, with the value of applications reaching 310 million yuan—an increase of 10 times and 1.7 times respectively compared with the same period last year. Sun Xudan, Level III Principal Staff Member of Luohu Customs under Shenzhen Customs, told reporters: "We have multilingual staff providing barrier‑free, full‑coverage services such as consultation and guidance. In addition, we continue to improve the efficiency of tax refund verification. For ordinary goods, the customs verification process takes only two minutes."

Driven by the sustained momentum of the outbound tax refund policy, Shenzhen's inbound consumption market remains very strong. In 2025, Shenzhen processed a total of 68,000 outbound tax refund transactions, a 13‑fold increase compared with the previous year. The total value of tax refunds rose by 2.4 times, while the value of "immediate purchase and immediate refund" transactions increased nearly 40‑fold. Tax refunds covered more than 160 countries and regions.