I agree. If TS can claim tax, then he deserves to keep it. I for one will not bother as the queue is too long especially with all the chinese sellers buying to sell in China. They buy 50+ phones at a time and can hog up the counters for 30 minutes or more. Average claim time is 10 minutes and usually queue is 30 people long. Impossible to claim before your flight unless you've got a long layover or your flight is at some ungodly hour and no one is at the airport. I'm bringing phones back for people as well and I don't bother claiming as I cannot guarantee I'll get the refund and I don't think it is fair for TS to absorb the difference if he fails to claim it.

TS, have you tried bringing phones back recently? I hope you're not travelling alone. The customs do ask how many you're bringing and if its past a set amount, they'll refuse entry and you'll have to go back out to check it in. I saw a few people getting turned away when I was travelling last week. Apparently some Chinese guy tried to bring 80 iPhones lol