This file photo, taken July 18, 2022, shows South Koreans and foreigners awaiting to enter a duty-free store in Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 5 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea plans to raise the limit of the duty-free allowance for inbound travelers to US$800 per person from the current $600, the finance ministry said Friday.
Currently, international arrivals — both Korean nationals and foreigners — can receive tax exemptions for the purchase of items worth up to $600 per person.
The government has decided to raise the threshold in a bid to take into account an increase in income levels per capita and better support the tourism industry hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. The limit was last raised in 2014.
The revised enforcement rules of the Customs Act also calls for allowing international arrivals to bring in two bottles of alcohol from the current one bottle.
Currently, the limit of the duty-free allowance for alcohol is set at a 1-liter bottle valued at $400 or less. The threshold will be raised for the first time since 1993.
After a two-week notice period for the public, the revised rules will go into effect before the Chuseok fall harvest holiday set for Sept. 10-12.
(Yonhap)
