Global Taxfree

Global Taxfree Co., Ltd. is a South Korean tax refund company serving foreign visitors to Korea. Founded in December 2005 under the name Taxfreekorea Co., Ltd. and renamed in 2011, it presents itself as the first company in Korea to provide tax refund services to foreign nationals. Its operations cover value-added tax, special consumption tax and education tax refunds, processed through an electronic tax refund system the company developed in 2011 and for which it filed a patent application in 2010.

The company operates refund counters at airports, international passenger terminals and downtown locations including major department stores. Documented sites include Gimhae International Airport (from 2005), Incheon International Airport refund and guidance counters (2011), Incheon Port international passenger terminals 1 and 2, Busan Port international passenger terminal, and a dedicated tax refund guidance counter at Jeju airport (2012). In July 2013 it set up and operated refund counters across a total of 17 cities at major locations including leading domestic department stores.

Alongside refund operations, the company runs an advertising and content business: "GLOBAL TAXFREE 一起去吧" is a Korean general-information magazine distributed one-to-one to Chinese tourists who use the company's refund service, covering refund information, regional tourism content for Seoul, Busan and Jeju, and Korea tourism platform information. It is distributed through the company's downtown refund counters and airport and passenger terminal locations. The company also publishes consumer and merchant mobile applications, including GTF-Planet, GTF Passport, a merchant-facing app, and eTRS Singapore.