Starting June 18, 2026, the policy measures jointly promoted by nine departments, including the Ministry of Commerce, officially enter the implementation stage. Non-heritage experience cultural tourism consumption has been included in the scope of outbound tax refund eligibility, and Luoyang Hanfu travel photography has become one of the first pilot scenarios. This change is worth continued attention from cultural tourism service providers, travel photography agencies, tax refund merchants, ticketing providers, and system service providers, because the rules adjustment has expanded from consumer incentives to merchant onboarding, ticket retention, and overseas service delivery links.

What implementation requirements are made clear in this rollout

The confirmed information shows that, starting June 18, 2026, the relevant policy measures will officially take effect and “non-heritage experience cultural tourism consumption” will be included in the scope of outbound tax refund eligibility. Luoyang Hanfu travel photography services have been included in the first batch of pilot scenarios. When overseas tourists spend 500 yuan or more with designated merchants in a single transaction, they can enjoy a 13% outbound tax refund and may also receive an additional “Gudu Night 8 PM” coupon subsidy. At the same time, the policy sets clear requirements for tax refund merchants: all tax refund merchants must connect to the National Outbound Tax Refund Supervision System and provide bilingual Chinese-English e-receipts.

Which business links are affected by the rule changes

The delivery chain for travel photography and cultural tourism services is beginning to be brought under tax-refund compliance requirements

From an industry perspective, the first to be affected are the operators providing Hanfu travel photography and non-heritage experience cultural tourism services. The reason is that once such services enter an outbound tax refund applicable scenario, the original business process, which focused on marketing and on-site delivery, must simultaneously consider tax refund qualification matching, consumption record retention, and bilingual invoice output requirements. For the relevant operators, the actual change is not only at the promotion level, but more importantly at whether service delivery can meet tax refund verification conditions.

System access and invoicing capabilities for tax refund merchants have become practical entry barriers

From an observational perspective, business entities recognized as tax refund merchants will directly face the requirement of system access. The policy has clearly proposed access to the National Outbound Tax Refund Supervision System and the provision of bilingual Chinese-English e-receipts, which means merchants must not only complete front-end sales, but also ensure that invoice information, electronic retention traces, and language versions meet implementation requirements. For ticketing, cash register, and digital service providers, this will also create practical demands for interface integration, document standardization, and delivery stability.

Overseas consumption organizations and channel partners need to reassess service combinations

For channel partners organizing inbound consumption, destination service providers, and related supply-chain participants, this change may affect product combinations and procurement arrangements. Because once “non-heritage experience cultural tourism consumption” is included in the tax refund scope, whether the related services are provided by designated merchants, whether they meet the single-transaction spending threshold, and whether they have standardized electronic invoices may all become key review items in product packaging, promotional wording, and delivery coordination. Analysis suggests that this type of impact will occur more in sales organization and contract performance coordination, rather than as a standalone promotional action itself.

Practical details that need more attention right now

First confirm whether tax refund merchant conditions are met

For business entities within the pilot scenario, what deserves more attention at present is whether they themselves have already met the system access requirements for tax refund merchants. If the merchant has not yet completed the relevant access procedures, there may later be a gap between the marketing commitment and tax refund redemption when actually receiving overseas tourists. Therefore, enterprises should place compliance preparation before promotional actions and focus on verifying whether the system, invoices, and process can form a closed loop.

Bilingual electronic receipts are more than just a service detail

Chinese-English bilingual electronic receipts have already been written into the implementation requirements, which means invoices are no longer merely consumption vouchers, but may also become key materials in the tax refund process. For operators, attention should be paid to whether the invoice information display is clear, whether the transaction content is identifiable, and whether electronic voucher retention is stable. If the implementation path is further refined later, invoice format and field completeness are likely to become key focus areas.

Promotional channels under stacked incentives need to remain cautious

Although the confirmed facts include the dual incentives of 13% outbound tax refund and the “Gudu Night 8 PM” coupon subsidy, enterprises still need to handle the description of applicable conditions, designated merchant scope, and single-transaction spending threshold carefully when promoting externally. Observationally, once this type of policy-based benefit enters market communication, the most likely problem is not insufficient demand, but inconsistency between front-end promotion and back-end execution conditions.

Continue tracking subsequent implementation paths

Because the input information does not provide more detailed implementation rules, enterprises should not currently turn the pilot effect, verification efficiency, or market conversion into predetermined conclusions. What is more appropriate to focus on is whether there will be clearer operational guidance, supplementary channels, or business instructions later, especially around designated merchant recognition, invoice standards, and further requirements for the system access process.

This looks more like an execution signal after a rule has been implemented

Analysis suggests that this piece of information is better understood as a clear signal that the rules have entered the implementation stage, rather than remaining at the level of principle statements. The reason is that the information not only mentions the expansion of the applicable scope, but also simultaneously provides pilot scenarios, spending thresholds, tax refund ratios, stacked incentives, and requirements for merchant system access and bilingual e-receipts. This shows that the market focus has already shifted from “whether it will be promoted” to “who can actually take it on and do it compliantly.” However, it remains impossible at this stage to infer broader implementation results from this alone, and subsequent coverage, execution efficiency, and industry feedback still need to be observed.

How should the significance for the industry be understood

Taken together, the core message released by this change is that non-heritage experience cultural tourism consumption has begun to enter a more standardized outbound tax refund implementation framework, and that the pilot has already landed in a service scenario such as Hanfu travel photography. For the industry, this is not just a consumption stimulus signal, but also a synchronised test of service trade, cross-border invoicing, supervisory access, and merchant fulfillment capability. At present, it is more appropriate to understand this as a rule change and implementation starting point that have already landed; as for later coverage, implementation efficiency, and industry feedback, continued observation is still needed.

This article basis and follow-up verification direction

This article was generated based on the user-provided news title, event time, and summary. The information used only includes: the policy will take effect on June 18, 2026; non-heritage experience cultural tourism consumption is included in the outbound tax refund scope; Luoyang Hanfu travel photography enters the first batch of pilot scenarios; spending 500 yuan in a single transaction at designated merchants qualifies for a 13% outbound tax refund and an additional “Gudu Night 8 PM” coupon subsidy; and tax refund merchants are required to connect to the National Outbound Tax Refund Supervision System and provide bilingual Chinese-English e-receipts. For such events, further verification usually still requires combining official announcements, information released by regulatory authorities, customs or trade authorities, industry association updates, and authoritative media reports. Because the input did not provide a specific official source link, follow-up attention should still be paid to policy details, implementation channels, invoice requirements, system access arrangements, industry feedback, and actual enterprise execution conditions.