About nine years ago, South Korea has started a very little known program that allows foreign visitors to claim the VAT tax back from their hotel stays at very select properties throughout the country.
In the beginning the list was rather insignificant but most recently it has grown to the point where it’s worthwhile to have a closer look at it.
Last week, I stayed at two hotels that participated in the tax refund scheme, the Holiday Inn Express Seoul Hongdae and the RYSE Autograph Collection 5 Minutes down the street.
While the Holiday Inn Express stay was paid by points, the RYSE was a cash&points reservation that included a VAT portion and that was eligible for refund.
The amount of money, however, that I received back was small and had a shocking admin fee:
This is almost criminal! Same as the VAT Refund options in the city (I bought some clothing items but they can take that VAT off directly in the store).
The hotel tax has to be refunded at the airport and only INSIDE the departure area at a manual counter. Not at one of the many machines. Despite the option on the form that it could be refunded to a credit card, only cash was offered for this. So I got my 9,000 KRW back in small notes that I spent on food prior to my flight to Rome.
You find the tax refund counter here:
The list for the eligible hotels subject to tax refund are changing quarterly as it seems.
Here is the most recent list published in December 2024.
(I have a technical issue to paste it here due to the format the Korean Tourism Bureau uses. I’ll work on it later and then try to add a pdf).
The hotels include the aforementioned Holiday inn Express in Seoul, the RYSE, various Lotte and L7 hotels plus many others including local Korean brands.
There is really no rhyme or reason why some participate and others don’t or how these hotels are selected. Is this something the property has to sign up for? Is it difficult to get approved?
I also wish this would be better communicated. I only got this info after I asked about the ‘Tax Refund’ sign on the counter – an odd thing to see at a hotel.
Conclusion
You can now get your VAT back when staying at select hotels in South Korea, and the list of eligible hotels is expanding. Based on historical patterns, the hotels seem to change 3-4 times per year.
I used it this week for the first time, just to try, and well, it was okay. The admin fee for the refund was extremely high, about 40% of the total. That’s nuts!
I hope more hotels will eventually participate in this scheme. Out of the six hotels I stayed at this week only two participated. My total refund: 9,000 Won.
Have you used this refund scheme before? Please comment below!
