The Exit Tax Rebate Policy Brings Huge Business Opportunities To Hainan'S Clothing Industry

The first day of 2011, a couple in Sanya summer Department Store Russian couple shopping, bought a total of more than 8700 yuan silk And clothing. Occasionally, they were told that they could apply for tax refund at the time of checkout, but they did not know that they could apply for tax refund when shopping in the mall. Under such circumstances, the Russian couple "incidentally" refunded taxes and became Hainan“ Tax refund for outlying islands ”The first pair of beneficiaries of the formal implementation of the policy.

Although the news about Hainan's "tax rebate for departure" has been widely hyped, many overseas tourists in Sanya still do not know much about it.

Indeed, relative to the late arrival of the policy, the relevant departments are also very cautious about the release of the exact "departure tax rebate" designated stores.

Even the Summer Department Store knew that it had become the only designated exit tax rebate store in Sanya the day before New Year's Day. The first batch of designated stores were finally announced. Sanya Summer Department Store became one of the only three designated stores in Hainan and the only one in the famous tourist city Sanya. The other two designated stores are Minsheng Department Store and Shengsheng Department Store in Haikou.

According to the tax rebate guidelines, the Russian couple should issue a tax rebate application form at the issuing point on the first floor of the mall with their valid entry ID cards, sales invoices and tax rebate items after purchasing goods; Since then, when they leave, they will carry out customs inspection at Sanya Phoenix Airport. It is understood that there are currently two tax refund agencies in Hainan Province, namely Meilan Airport in Haikou and Phoenix Airport in Sanya; Finally, they should show their valid ID cards for entry, boarding passes for departure flights, application forms for departure tax refund of overseas passengers signed and sealed by the customs and sales invoices, and apply for tax refund to tax refund agencies set up in the airport isolation area. The tax type of tax refund is VAT, and the calculation formula is the amount of ordinary sales invoice (including VAT) multiplied by 11%. According to this formula, Russian couples can get tax refund of more than 900 yuan or equivalent foreign currencies as long as they pass the two links of customs verification and confirmation and agency tax refund.

This policy, which only applies to foreigners, has made domestic Hainan tourists indifferent. In fact, no matter Sanya or Hainan as a whole, the market for domestic tourists is the most exciting. Among the 21 categories of tax rebates, clothing, shoes, hats, jewelry and other clothing accessories rank first. As the time was short after being informed, the most prominent publicity of Summer Department Store for "departure tax rebate" was to hang two red banners on the square outside the mall, which read "Warmly celebrate Summer Department Store becoming a pilot store for departure tax rebate". In the mall, only the "Overseas Travelers' Guide to Exit Tax Refund for Shopping" is placed at the receiving point of the tax refund application form, which is obviously not "powerful". He Zhongwu, the on duty manager of Summer Department Store, said, "There are many overseas tourists who do not bring their passports when they buy goods because they do not know that they can refund taxes." Since New Year's Day, when it was announced that they had become a designated store for tax rebate, many inbound tourists were unable to apply for tax rebate application forms because they did not know the policy and did not bring their passports when they bought things. On the contrary, many domestic tourists take the initiative to go to the application form issuing point and ask when domestic tourists can be tax-free.

On the evening of January 3, there were 12 application forms for departure tax refund issued by Summer Shopping Mall, 11 of which were Russian tourists. Nevertheless, the attraction of departure tax rebate for Russian tourists is obviously limited. "It is more important for us to focus on domestic high-end consumption," said He Zhongwu, assistant general manager of Summer Mall.

On the way from Sanya Yuya Avenue to Dadonghai, local women sometimes hold roses. When they meet domestic tourists, they continue to "rush" like strangers; If the foreigners with yellow hair are coming, they will conditionally stretch out bright flowers and repeatedly say "hello". Experience tells them that the business of flowers lies with these "foreigners". However, these local flower sellers have not realized that the bosses in luxury stores are not looking forward to these "overseas" markets. In Dadonghai District of Sanya, although foreign tourists can be seen everywhere, it is still difficult to compare with the large number of domestic tourists. In Hainan as a whole, the proportion gap between overseas tourists and domestic tourists is even greater. In 2010, the proportion of inbound tourists in Hainan was still very small. According to the statistics of Hainan Tourism Administration, from January to November 2010, Hainan received 23.19 million overnight tourists, an increase of 11.6% year on year, while after a year-on-year increase of 20.3%, the number of inbound tourists was still only 595600, accounting for less than 3%.

"At present, there are not many foreigners in Hainan, 97% of whom are Chinese." Xia Feng, director of the Hainan Development Institute of the China (Hainan) Reform and Development Research Institute, said frankly, "so more policies need to be introduced in succession, and the focus and interest should be the policy of 'tax exemption on outlying islands'." In fact, the speed of tax exemption on outlying islands, before the official implementation of the tax rebate policy, The first duty-free shop in Hainan, the Sanya duty-free shop of China Exemption Group, started business in Sanya in September 2009.

Near Dadonghai in Sanya, this duty-free shop of China Exemption Group looks magnificent, and the international famous brands in the shop are dazzling. It is understood that the prices of the goods in this store are 10%~40% lower than those in general domestic franchised stores.

Such preferential margin is obviously attractive to many domestic consumers. However, as it is only aimed at foreigners, overseas Chinese and compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, this luxury store has been operating poorly since its opening. It is reported that the store lost 8.568 million yuan in the year of opening.

After the official implementation of the departure tax rebate policy, Sanya duty-free shops continued to maintain quiet luxury. During this period, a domestic tourist mistakenly thought that he could leave the island duty-free, so he went to the store to ask. The receptionist explained to the guest: "You mean 'tax exemption on outlying islands'. As far as we know, this policy has been implemented, but the specific implementation time is still uncertain. You can call first next time."

It is said that the tax exemption in outlying islands may be implemented after the Lunar New Year, and the first designated store is most likely the Sanya duty-free store under the China Exemption Group.

What Hainan lacks is popularity. Although tourism has brought a lot of fame to Hainan, the benefits are small. Sanya has few tourists in the off-season, and the service industry is not very convenient. In any coastal tourist city at home and abroad, service industry and tourism shopping are powerful profit points, but they do not rely on tax rebates and exemptions to stimulate consumption.

What is important is whether there is a convenient payment system, and whether currencies and credit cards of various countries can be used in Hainan? For example, when leaving the country for tax refund, can consumers enjoy the convenience of picking up goods and completing customs clearance in a short time? The tax exemption policy can be expanded and characterized only if it is supported by the relevant financial insurance, soft environment of services, logistics and transportation, etc.

Lv Yong, Deputy Director General of the Department of Finance of Hainan Province, said that Hainan would introduce powerful companies to build large duty-free shopping malls, introduce discount stores of international famous clothing brands, and maintain a 30% - 70% discount for years in the tax exemption policy for outlying islands that will be implemented as soon as possible; The construction of large golf courses and other leisure facilities will attract domestic high-end income people to spend and spend their holidays in Hainan.

Li Xuerong, a senior researcher of CIC Consulting, said that in most European countries, North America, Japan, Thailand and Singapore in Asia, there are tax rebates ranging from 6% to 20% for their goods, and in some European countries, the tax rebate rate is even as high as 15% to 20%. Obviously, Hainan's 11% tax rebate rate is not a "paradise" for overseas tourists, not to mention the strong competitive pressure of Hong Kong, a shopping paradise.

Liu Longheng, director of the Tax Law Research Center of Peking University, believes that there is still room for the tax rebate rate to increase in the future. "Compared with the tax rate of 17%, the tax rebate rate of 11% is not high, and there is still room for upward adjustment in the future, for example, 12% or more is possible."

Xia Feng, director of the Hainan Development Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Reform and Development, said, "To gradually build Hainan into a world-class shopping center, tax exemption is only the most basic step in tourism and tourism shopping."

At present, overseas tourists in Hainan spend less than 20% of their total consumption on shopping. After the departure tax rebate business, the proportion of shopping consumption is expected to reach 40%. Different from the duty-free shops that mainly sell imported goods, Chinese products account for the majority of tax rebates, which undoubtedly brings good news to Chinese clothing brands.

The timely launch of the "tax exemption on outlying islands" by Chinese people will provide more opportunities for well-known clothing brands at home and abroad to promote brand image, solve the inventory of discount goods, etc., and also bring more expectations to Hainan's tourism industry.