Tourist Refund Scheme

Department of Home Affairs

About this app

This is the Department of Home Affairs' Tourist Refund Scheme (TRS) Mobile application (the app).

The app will allow you to enter the information that is required to lodge a TRS claim. The app will save the information to your mobile device, allowing you to edit the claim over multiple sessions.
When you have finished entering your information it will be stored in a QR code on your device. This QR code is your TRS claim code. You must present your TRS claim code to an officer at the TRS counter on your departure from Australia.

If you successfully enter your claim details using this app, processing your claim at the TRS counter when you depart should be faster and you may be able to use a dedicated queue to lodge your TRS claim.

Ratings and reviews

The app may work but the claim outlet at Sydney airport is so badly manned that it's a guaranteed no go for those who successfully put in an online claim. The queue is meant to defeat your attempt at an honest way to get GST back. Total waste of time for legit claimants.

Not applicable for tourists who have spent on goods that are under $1000 AUD. Not to mention that most businesses outside of Australia don't have an ABN. The requirements for the refund to work are simply too difficult to meet. Thus rendering this app useless for many, I'd dare say most tourists. The lack of popularity of this scheme is a testament to this. Please correct me if I'm wrong, I'm receptive to insights I'm unaware of. Cheers

The recent update invalidated the invoices already captured and caused an error in the application. The only way around it was to delete everything and start again. Was this upgrade tested where data already existed?

What’s new

This latest version contains a number of improvements and bug fixes.