Taiwan the land of normcore
They probably mean non resident tourists who also get tax rebates…one hopes.
Sounds like a passive aggressive misstatement “only for foreigners”.
This is conclusive proof of “foreigner privilege.”
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Agreed. This is likely the paltry VAT rebate offered if you leave the country and present a receipt for “luxury” goods bought in Taiwan. I bought an LV bag once (hey, I worked 12 hour days for that) and went through the hassle of the rebate forms, finding out later that I couldn’t receive the VAT rebate since I was returning to TW within a month.
Do they have ‘foreigner’ sizes? Would be ridiculous if not!
If they did, they wouldn’t have to try so hard to attract foreigners.
They have, they just don’t have american sizes.
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Taken out of context, this is quite interesting.
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They mostly have tiny people sizes only.
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Hmm, that’s little too “niche” for me.
That’s weird. I’ve bought stuff before leaving Taiwan and still gotten the rebate multiple times, even though I would return less than two weeks later. Though it wasn’t near the price of an LV bag.
How did they know you were returning to Taiwan within a month?
How they knew my return date was my stupid honesty in response to their question. Haha!
As far as others being able to receive the VAT refund and return without issues, I could hazard a guess that they actually don’t care enough to check. The whole concept of the rebate is that the VAT is to charge locals for importing luxury goods, but that as non-citizens, those with foreign passports (likely visiting, but that’s an assumption), would be willing to spend more. Saw a Japanese dude in Ferragamo with a stack of stuff. He liked a pair of shoes and says he’d buy two pairs, that were so cheap compared to Japan. In 新光三越，they’ll take you up to a VIP room to process your VAT application, which can only be redeemed at the airport. I guess my Chinese sucked so bad at that time that they assumed I was a tourist.
My guess, they don’t really follow through on the law due to the overriding law of 麻煩. For example, last time I came back to Taiwan, I flashed my ARC card and got into one of the three empty “citizens only” stations while at least 100 Asians waited in one or two open lines for “foreigners.” Ha ha. I got some strange looks, but hey, we are residents. I’m pink-skinned, by the way.
If they want, they can probably pull up your ARC or APRC, even if you are only showing passport for VAT, or it may be already displayed when they input your passport number. Questions are just to see if you are lying.
I always go no question. Well, only when I have my e-gate inactive for some reason.
First time I’ve asked, actually. I suppose it’s policy. It should be policy. Just to illustrate the chaos of the airport for those who wait in the foreign line. Likely that they get rushed through a bit more.
I always go through an empty “resident” lane.
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This has been allowed by law for a number of years now.