Tax-free refund FAQ

Japan is switching from an instant store discount to a "pay first, refund later" system. You pay the full tax-included price at the register. After customs confirms you're taking the goods out of Japan, the shop (or its refund agent) refunds the consumption tax. The general/consumable category split, the ¥500,000 consumables cap, and special packaging rules are all abolished.

Source: MOF/NTA/METI/JTA joint proposal (PDF, Jan 2025) · FY2025 tax reform outline.

Yes. The consumption-tax exemption still exists — you just receive it as a refund after the airport check instead of as a discount at the register.

Source: Joint proposal PDF.

10% of the pre-tax price for most goods, or 8% for food, drink and similar reduced-rate items — minus any handling fee. Use the calculator to see your exact estimate.

Source: standard/reduced consumption-tax rates; JTA tax-free site.

¥5,000 tax-excluded, per store, per day. This is unchanged. Because the general/consumable split is gone, you now simply add up everything you buy in one shop on one day to reach ¥5,000.

Source: Joint proposal PDF, p.8.

No upper cap. The old ¥500,000/day consumables limit is abolished, so there's no maximum. Note that purchases of ¥1,000,000 or more (pre-tax) trigger a serial-number reporting rule — see the high-value page.

Source: Joint proposal PDF, p.8–9. See high-value guide.

Foreign visitors (short-term, non-resident travelers). You'll present your passport at purchase and again at the airport kiosk. Goods bought for resale or business use don't qualify.

Source: Joint proposal PDF.

Practically all consumer goods you carry out of Japan — clothing, electronics, watches, bags, cosmetics, food, and so on — as long as you meet the ¥5,000 minimum and export them within 90 days. The old rule requiring "goods for ordinary living use" and the store's category judgment are removed.

Source: Joint proposal PDF, p.8.

Gold bullion and similar precious-metal bullion remain excluded. Goods bought for resale or business use are also not eligible. The government has said more items could be added to the excluded list if abuse occurs.

Source: Joint proposal PDF, p.8.

Before checking bags, go to a tax-free kiosk in the departure area and scan your passport. The kiosk shows a GREEN result (done) or RED (proceed to the customs counter to show your goods). Once export is confirmed, your refund is processed.

Source: Joint proposal PDF, p.14.

The kiosk decides whether a customs inspection is needed. GREEN = no inspection, you're finished and can head to your gate. RED = go to the customs counter so an officer can confirm you're carrying the tax-free goods out.

Source: Joint proposal PDF, p.14.

No receipts needed — Japan's tax-free purchase records are fully digital, so (unlike Europe) you don't scan receipts into the machine. Your items may be inspected if you get a RED result, so keep them accessible.

Source: Joint proposal PDF, p.14.

Yes. Keep your tax-free purchases in your carry-on. If you check them into the hold before customs confirmation, your export can't be verified and you won't get the refund. This is a practical necessity of the new confirm-then-refund flow.

Source: derived from the customs-confirmation requirement, Joint proposal PDF, p.14.

The government says kiosks will be placed nationwide, focused on high-traffic airports — Narita, Haneda, Kansai, Chubu/Centrair, Fukuoka, New Chitose, and Naha are named as major traveler airports. Unconfirmed Exact locations and the number of kiosks per airport have not yet been published.

Source: Joint proposal PDF, p.15.

It's being considered. The proposal mentions online processing via Visit Japan Web in dedicated Wi-Fi areas and integration with auto-check-in machines at major airports. Unconfirmed This has not yet been officially announced — timing and which airports are covered are still being worked out.

Source: Joint proposal PDF, p.15.

Unconfirmed There is no officially stated processing time. The government's plan is to prevent congestion by installing "sufficient" kiosks and by studying online processing (Visit Japan Web) and auto-check-in integration — but none of that has been quantified. Realistically, expect queues in the first weeks after the November 1, 2026 launch and arrive at the airport earlier than usual if you're carrying tax-free purchases.

Source: Joint proposal PDF, p.15 (congestion-prevention measures; no time estimates given).

You must leave Japan and have customs confirm the export within 90 days of the purchase date. Miss it and the exemption fails — you effectively keep paying the tax. This single 90-day window replaces the old 6-months (general) / 30-days (consumables) split, and is judged per purchase record.

Source: Joint proposal PDF, p.9.

Unconfirmed The official documents say the refund is paid by the shop or a refund agent it appoints — but they do not specify the payment method. Credit-card refunds, bank transfers, app payouts, and airport cash pickup are all being discussed as likely options, and each shop or refund operator will decide what it offers. This has not yet been officially confirmed, so ask the store at the time of purchase.

Source: Joint proposal PDF, p.7, 13 (refund by shop or approved transmission operator; no method specified).

Unconfirmed There is no official timeline in the government documents. Travel-industry estimates suggest roughly 1–2 weeks for credit-card refunds and 2–4 weeks for bank transfers (varying by country and bank), but these are estimates, not official figures. The actual timing will depend on the shop and its refund agent.

Source: no timing stated in the joint proposal PDF; estimates from secondary travel-industry coverage.

Sometimes. The law itself sets no fee — but under the current system some department stores deduct a service fee of about 1.55% of the pre-tax price (Takashimaya, Mitsukoshi-Isetan and others), while standard shops typically charge nothing. Unconfirmed Whether the 1.55% carries over to the new system, and what each shop or refund operator will charge, has not yet been officially confirmed.

Source: Takashimaya refund procedure (EN); no fee rules in the joint proposal PDF.

Two deductions can shrink the refund below the headline rate: a handling fee (about 1.55% of the pre-tax price at some department stores) and currency conversion — if the refund is converted to your home currency at a poor rate, you can lose another 3–5%. Also remember the tax is 10% of the pre-tax price, which is about 9.1% of the tax-included price you actually paid. The calculator shows all three effects.

Source: fee example from Takashimaya; DCC concern from secondary coverage.

Choose JPY. If a refund (or purchase) is converted to your home currency at the point of transaction — called Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) — the exchange rate is typically 3–5% worse than your card network's rate. On large purchases that quietly costs more than the handling fee. Let your own card issuer do the conversion.

Context: DCC risk raised in secondary coverage; refund methods themselves are unconfirmed in primary sources. See why this hits high-value buys hardest.

No confirmation, no refund. If customs can't confirm you're exporting the goods — because they're in checked luggage, already consumed, no longer with you, or you missed the 90-day window — the exemption doesn't take effect and the shop does not refund the tax. You simply keep the tax-included price you already paid; under the new system there is no extra penalty bill at the airport.

Source: Joint proposal PDF, p.14.

The old system. Purchases made through October 31, 2026 are sold tax-free at the register under the current rules (general/consumable categories, ¥500,000 consumables cap, sealed packaging). There's no refund to collect for those purchases — the discount already happened in the store.

Source: effective date in the FY2025 tax reform outline; joint proposal PDF.

You pay the full tax-included price at the register, then collect the refund after the airport customs check. Upsides: no category split, no ¥500,000 cap, no sealed packaging, and consumables can be used like any other purchase (just don't consume them before you leave — export must be confirmable). Downsides: you front the tax, and fees/refund method depend on the shop.

Source: Joint proposal PDF, p.8.

Each purchase follows the system in force on its purchase date. Bought October 20? Old rules — tax already deducted, nothing to do at the airport for it. Bought November 3 on your next trip? New rules — kiosk confirmation, then refund, within 90 days of that purchase. The airport procedure on any given departure depends on when each item was bought.

Source: Joint proposal PDF; effective-date rules in the FY2025 tax reform outline.

No — it's a hard switch on November 1, 2026. There is no period where both systems apply to new purchases. Unconfirmed Fine-grained operational details for the days around the switch (e.g., store system cutover) are expected in ministerial ordinances and Q&A that have not yet been published.

Source: Joint proposal PDF, p.17 (schedule); transition fine print pending.

Under the current system, major department stores process tax-free at a dedicated counter and deduct a service fee of about 1.55% of the pre-tax price. Unconfirmed Their fees and refund methods under the new system have not been announced yet. Expect them to use refund agents, and check the counter's terms when you buy. The calculator has a department-store preset with the 1.55% estimate.

Source: Takashimaya refund procedure (EN).

For items priced at ¥1,000,000 or more (pre-tax), the shop must report the item's serial number, brand, and model to the National Tax Agency. It's an anti-fraud measure (preventing item swaps before export) and doesn't change your refund amount — just expect extra details recorded at purchase, and carry that exact item through the airport check. Unconfirmed The detailed reporting format is still to be published in official Q&A.

Source: Joint proposal PDF, p.9. Full walkthrough: high-value guide.

Same flow as everything else: pay tax-included, confirm at the airport, get the tax back. Big electronics chains are typically standard shops with no handling fee under current practice, so you tend to keep close to the full 10%. A body and lenses bought in one store on one day are combined toward the ¥5,000 minimum. Unconfirmed Each chain's fees and refund methods under the new system are not yet announced.

Source: minimum-spend aggregation, joint proposal PDF, p.8; zero-fee practice is current observation, not regulation.

Yes — if the seller is a licensed tax-free shop. The old requirement that goods be "for ordinary living use" (which complicated some secondhand purchases) is abolished under the new system. The refund math is identical: 10% of the pre-tax price, minus any handling fee, subject to the ¥5,000 minimum and the 90-day export rule. Note that a vintage watch at ¥1,000,000+ pre-tax also triggers the serial-number rule.

Source: requirement abolition, joint proposal PDF, p.8. See secondhand & vintage guide.