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SOUTH KOREA. The Korean Ministry of Strategy and Finance is to announce a +50% increase in the inbound duty free allowance for returning Koreans, The Moodie Report can confirm. Local media first carried the news earlier this week.
A senior Korean airport retail source told The Moodie Report today: “It is reliable information. Government is supposed to announce in the early [part of next] month officially. If there is no important turnaround, it will be active from the beginning of next year.”
The allowance would then be raised to US$600. It is the first time in 26 years that the amount has been changed; in that time Korea’s per capita income has grown by 5.7 times, according to the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics & Trade.
As reported, the Korean government had been considering a proposal to double the allowance, to US$800. But a government official told local business media Maeil that the ceiling had been deemed too high.
The allowance is understood to be separate from limits on duty free liquor, tobacco and fragrances. According to the Korea Institute of Public Finance the US$400 limit is the third lowest among the 32 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
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How the news was reported by Korean business media Maeil (translated by Google) |
