Duty-free shop or department store: which one, and how each works

면세점과 백화점: 무엇이 다르고 언제 어디를 쓰나

Reviewed 2026-10-19 · Written from the public sources listed below

Korea has two ways for a visitor to shop without paying Korean tax: a duty-free shop, where tax is never added to the price, and the tax refund at ordinary shops such as department stores, where you pay the full price and get the tax back. They are separate systems with separate rules (Korea Tourism Organization, pages updated Oct 2025).

Duty-free shops

Duty-free shops do not apply taxes to the retail price. You find them inside major international airports and ferry terminals and downtown, and they are generally run by large department store chains such as Lotte, Shilla and Shinsegae.

Downtown, you do not leave the shop with what you buy. At the till you show your passport and a copy of your boarding pass and get an exchange voucher, and you collect the goods at the airport on your departure date. The service only works within a set period before your departure date; the Korea Tourism Organization's shopping page gives it.

Goods bought duty-free are not eligible for a tax refund. Duty-free also does not mean free of customs: if you fly back into Korea, the Korea Customs Service counts goods bought at downtown and departure duty-free shops toward the traveler allowance and taxes the amount over it. Its page has the current figures.

Department stores and the tax refund

At a department store you pay the price with tax included and claim the tax back. Department stores and large supermarkets were the first to offer the immediate refund, where the tax comes off at the till. Shops in the scheme show a "Tax Refund" or "Tax Free" sign.

Downtown refund booths only process refunds for their own company. Who qualifies, the purchase limits and the airport steps are in “Tax refunds for visitors: on the spot or at the airport”.

Which one to use

A downtown duty-free shop suits shopping you can leave until the airport: you need your passport and boarding pass with you, and the goods wait for your departure day. A department store suits shopping you want to carry away now: you pay with tax, then get it back at the till where the store offers the immediate refund, or later with a refund slip.