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Frequently Asked Questions of Hang Seng Prestige World MasterCard – Overseas Shopping Tax Refund Service (A)

About Online Tax Refund Service

1.

Q:

Which countries are covered by Online Tax Refund Service?

A:

The Online Tax Refund Service coverage spans over 420,000 merchants in 29 European and Asian countries. Countries covered by Transforex Currency Exchange Co., Ltd. (“TransForex”) are: Central Europe: Germany, Austria, Poland, The Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia Eastern Europe: Croatia, Estonia, Lithuania Southern Europe: Italy, Cyprus Western Europe: the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Spain, Portugal, Ireland Northern Europe: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Latvia Asia and other countries: Republic of Korea, Turkey Before shopping, please make sure that the merchants display the logos of eight designated tax refund organizations and reach the minimum purchase amount of the particular country for online tax refund service.

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Q:

Why is Japan not covered by Online Tax Refund Service?

A:

Generally, tourists are required to apply for tax refund in major shopping malls, department stores or apply instant refund at individual merchant during checkout in Japan. Thus, Japan is not covered by this Online Tax Refund Service.

Q:

What is the minimum purchase amount required for tax refund?

A:

According to tax policy in different countries, the minimum purchase amount required for tax refund varies across countries. Since tax refund policy may vary from time to time, customers are suggested to check with the updated tax refund policy before travelling or inquire the respective merchants before payment.

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Frequently Asked Questions of Hang Seng Prestige World MasterCard – Overseas Shopping Tax Refund Service

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Q:

What documents are required to upload for online tax refund application?

A:

When customers apply online tax refund, please upload the tax refund form(s) with customs stamp and relevant sales receipt(s) in image format*. Before uploading the tax refund documents, please ensure all the required personal information are filled in. To avoid inconvenience and extra courier cost owing to wrong documents provided, please check carefully and ensure the uploaded tax refund documents are correct to facilitate the service provider, TransForex, for preliminary validation. *The tax refund documents must be uploaded in jpg, bmp, png or gif format. The maximum file size for each document is 5Mb. Customer can upload a maximum of 10 files at once. Please merge various sales receipts into a single file before uploading if customers need to upload a large amount of tax refund documents.

Q:

How to contact TransForex for documents collection after completing the online tax refund application?

A:

After completing the online tax refund application, customers will receive an email on preliminary validation of the application from TransForex within 1-2 working days. Simply contact S.F. Express to courier the above documents to TransForex by choosing “Paid by Addressee”. TransForex shall bear all the courier fees for the first time of document collection.

Q:

After completing the online tax refund application and receiving the preliminary validation email, what documents do the customers need to submit?

A:

Please mail the below documents as early as possible to TransForex after completing the online tax refund application and receiving the preliminary validation email, so to avoid expiry of documents during processing: a) Original copy of completed tax refund application form b) Original copy of sales receipts Please contact S.F. Express to courier the above documents to TransForex by choosing “Paid by Addressee”. TransForex shall bear all the courier fees for the first time of document collection. If customers fail to send the complete and correct set of documents, TransForex shall not bear the courier fees for subsequent delivery, and shall deduct the courier fees (about HKD61) from customer’s tax refund amount. If the documents are still incomplete or incorrect for the second time, TransForex shall not accept the tax refund application. TransForex’s Recipient Address: Transforex Tax Refund Department, 28/F, Tower A, Tianjin Centre, No. 219 Nanjing Road, Heping District, Tianjin, PRC S.F. Express’s Customer Service Hotline and Office Hour: Hotline: (852) 2730 0273

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Frequently Asked Questions of Hang Seng Prestige World MasterCard – Overseas Shopping Tax Refund Service Office Hour: Monday to Friday 08:00 – 20:30; Saturday, Sunday and Public Holiday 08:00 – 20:00

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Q:

Does the document collection service by S.F. Express cover outlying islands?

A:

Yes, but one extra working day would be required for document collection from outlying islands. If customers fail to send the complete and correct set of documents in the first time document collection, and require re-submission of documents, courier fees (about HKD61) would be deducted from customer’s tax refund amount; documents collected from Hong Kong's Remote Areas will be subject to HKD30 service charge on top of the standard courier fees. For further information on the definition of Remote Areas, please contact S.F. Express’s Customer Service Hotline (852) 2730 0273 or visit its webpage www.sf-express.com (http://www.sf-express.com).

Q:

What information needs to be filled on the tax refund application form?

A:

After making your purchase, customers are required to fill in the following customer information in English: passport number, name, correspondence address, postal zip code and city, country etc. Please also sign on the corresponding space of the application form. Please avoid making changes on the application form for tax refund.

Q:

Is the Online Tax Refund Service still valid if the tax refund form is without customs verification stamp?

A:

No. Only application form with customs verification stamp are deemed eligible for tax refund, thus please make sure the application form has been stamped by customs before departure.

Q:

Is the Online Tax Refund Service still valid if the tax refund application form or sales receipt is lost?

A:

No.

Q:

How soon should the customers obtain the customs verification stamp after the purchase is made?

A:

Generally, customers should obtain the customs verification stamp within three months after the purchase. Please be reminded that the stamp must be obtained before departure.

Q:

Any handling fee for Online Tax Refund Service? Online Tax Refund Service is provided by TransForex and no handling fee will be charged. However, particular tax refund organizations will charge a handling fee, including:  Premier Tax Free and Tax Free Worldwide will charge a handling fee of 2.5 Euro per tax refund form

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Global Tax Free will charge 1% handling fee on the refund amount 

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N. TAXFREE S.p.A. will charge a handling fee of about 3 Euro per tax refund form Travel Tax Free will charge 6% handling fee on the refund amount (minimum 2.5 Euro) Detaxe S.A.S will charge a handling fee of 3 Euro per tax refund form

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Frequently Asked Questions of Hang Seng Prestige World MasterCard – Overseas Shopping Tax Refund Service

Customers may check the latest handling fee from the websites of below tax refund organizations: Premier Tax Free : http://premiertaxfree.com Tax Free Worldwide* : http://www.taxfreeworldwide.com/en/1-0.html Global Tax Free: www.global-taxfree.com Innova Taxfree Group: www.innovataxfree.com Tax Free Germany GmbH: www.taxfreegermany.de N. TAXFREE S.p.A.: www.taxfreeservice.com Travel Tax Free: www.traveltaxfree.com Detaxe S.A.S: http://www.detaxe.com/ *Tax Free Worldwide and Premier Tax Free has been merged into Premier Tax Free.

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Q:

During the transit or return to Hong Kong from another Eurozone country, what should customers do regarding obtaining customs verification stamp after purchase made in a Eurozone country?

A:

If customers transit in or return to Hong Kong from another Eurozone country, customers must first obtain local customs approval for luggage before check-in. For hand-carry items, customers may request the customs verification stamp at the airport of the last country visit. For example, if customers made a purchase in Italy and transited to France, customers must obtain the customs stamp for the check-in item in Italy and the customs verification stamp of hand-carry item at the airport in France.

Q:

After returning to Hong Kong, how soon should the customers apply for online tax refund?

A:

According to tax policy in different countries, the term of tax refund forms varies across countries. Generally, the term of tax refund forms counts from the date of purchase. Customers are advised to do so immediately after return to avoid expiry of documents during processing.

Q:

What should the customers do if he / she cannot access the Online Tax Refund Website?

A:

The website currently supports Internet Explorer versions 9.0 or above, Firefox and Chrome. Customers can consider updating their browsers before entering the website. Please select “Hong Kong User Login” after entering the website.

Q:

What should the customers do if he/she has enquiries on Online Tax Refund Service (including refund progress)?

A:

Customers can send an email to TransForex Customer Service Department ([email protected]) for enquiry. The office hour is from Monday to Friday, 9am to 7pm. TransForex will reply customer enquiry via email or hotline.

(B)

About Tax Refund Amount

1.

Q:

After completing online tax refund application, how soon the tax refund amount would be received?

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Frequently Asked Questions of Hang Seng Prestige World MasterCard – Overseas Shopping Tax Refund Service A:

After completing the online application and receiving a preliminary validation email, please submit the documents to TransForex. After validating the original copy of tax refund application documents, TransForex will transfer the tax refund amount into customer’s Hang Seng Prestige World MasterCard account within 3 to 5 working days. Reminder: Customers are responsible for the validity, completeness and accuracy of the tax refund application information. Otherwise, TransForex reserves the right to reverse the USD tax refund amount plus extra cash rebate (if applicable) previously transferred to Hang Seng Prestige World MasterCard account within 6 months from the date of the transfer. Please do not submit documents to TransForex if preliminary validation email is not received or the preliminary validation process is not passed.

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Q:

How to calculate the tax refund amount?

A:

All tax refund amount are calculated in USD. TransForex will send a confirmation email on total refund amount to be credited.

Q:

During the transit or return to Hong Kong from another Eurozone country, should the tax refund amount vary based on the departure country? How would the tax refund amount be calculated?

A:

Tax refund amount is calculated by the tax rate of the shopping country. The tax rate varies by different countries.

(C)

About Extra Tax Refund Rebate

1.

Q:

How can I get the extra 10% rebate?

A:

To be eligible for the extra 10% rebate on tax refund amount, the total tax refund amount must be USD325 or above. Tax refund amount together with the extra rebate will be credited to customer’s Hang Seng Prestige World MasterCard account.

Q:

Any upper limit on tax refund rebate?

A:

There’s no upper limit on tax refund rebate.

Q:

The extra cash rebate is calculated by each tax refund form or tax refund application?

A:

The extra rebate is calculated by each tax refund application and receipts from different designated tax refund organizations can be included.

Q:

In the confirmation email notifying customers on the total refund amount to be credited, will TransForex list out the detailed tax refund and extra rebate amount?

A:

Upon validation, TransForex will send a confirmation email on total refund amount to be credited. The email will list out the total tax refund amount and extra rebate amount (in USD) to be credited

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Frequently Asked Questions of Hang Seng Prestige World MasterCard – Overseas Shopping Tax Refund Service to customer’s Hang Seng Prestige World MasterCard account.

(D)

Others

1.

Q:

What should I do if I expect to make large amount transactions overseas?

A:

If customers expect to make large amount transactions overseas, please contact our 24-hour Hang Seng Prestige World MasterCard Customer Service Hotline 2998 8111 to request for an increase in credit card limit.

Q:

What should I do if I need to make cash withdrawal at Overseas ATMs?

A:

Customers can use his / her Hang Seng Prestige World MasterCard to withdraw cash from his / her Hang Seng savings account at Overseas ATMs. If customer has not linked Hang Seng savings account to Hang Seng Prestige World MasterCard, please visit any of our branches to subscribe the service. Besides, customers must activate the overseas ATM cash withdrawal function by setting the overseas ATM daily cash withdrawal limit and activation period in advance through the following channels.  Hang Seng Bank and HSBC ATMs in Hong Kong  Hang Seng Personal e-Banking  24-hour Hang Seng Prestige World MasterCard Customer Service Hotline 2998 8111  Branches of Hang Seng Bank

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