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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
World
Shahana Yasmin

South Korea to drop cosmetic surgery tax incentives that have fuelled wave of medical tourism

South Korea says it will stop providing tax incentives for foreign patients who undergo cosmetic surgery, ending an offer that helped turn Seoul into one of the world’s busiest hubs for medical tourism.

The special 10 per cent value-added-tax (VAT) refund was introduced in 2016 and designed to draw international patients to approved clinics for cosmetic and dermatological procedures.

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