The Tourist Refund Scheme office is operated by the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service and is located at T1 (International) Departures.
TRS is open to all overseas visitors and Australian residents, except for operating air crew.
To claim a refund you must:
- spend $300 or more (including GST) in a single business;
- purchase goods no more than 60 days before departing Australia;
- wear or carry the goods on board as hand luggage (unless they are liquids, gels or aerosols or oversized or bulky goods which the airline require to be checked in) and present them along with your tax invoice, passport and international boarding pass to the TRS facility;
- have paid for the goods yourself; and
- have an original tax invoice for the goods.
Claims are only available up to 30 minutes prior to the scheduled departure of your flight. To make sure you have enough time to make your TRS claim, you should complete your departure immigration clearance at least 90 minutes before the scheduled departure time of your flight.
For more information visit the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service website.
NEW Mobile and Web TRS Applications
The Customs and Border Protection mobile and web TRS applications (apps) allow you to enter the information required to lodge a TRS claim.
Using the apps you can enter:
- your travel details;
- details of the goods for which you are claiming a refund of Goods and Services Tax (GST) and/or Wine Equalisation Tax (WET); and
- how you prefer to receive your TRS refund.
Your information will be stored in a QR code and you must present this code, along with your purchased goods and original tax invoices, to the TRS facility at Cairns Airport on your departure from Australia.
If you successfully enter your TRS claim details using the apps, you will be able to use a dedicated queue at the TRS facility and processing your claim should be faster.
Visit the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service TRS apps page to access the applications.