Tax-free shopping
Japan is replacing register-side tax exemption with an airport refund. Buy at full price, confirm the goods with customs at departure, get the consumption tax back. Here is the whole change, from official sources, checked September 27, 2026.
Show your passport at a licensed store and the 10 percent consumption tax comes off at the register. Consumables go into sealed bags with a 500,000 yen per-trip cap; the minimum is 5,000 yen before tax at one store on one day, per JNTO.
You pay the tax-inclusive price in store. At departure, before airline check-in and with the goods on you, present them and your passport at a customs terminal or via Visit Japan Web. Once customs confirms the goods are leaving Japan, the refund is paid by the method the store offers: airport cash, card refund, bank or app transfer.
The general-goods versus consumables split, the sealed bags, and the 500,000 yen consumables ceiling all go. The 5,000 yen pre-tax same-store minimum stays, and categories can now be combined to reach it. Consumables still must not be consumed inside Japan, and items over 1,000,000 yen get extra identification records.
Short-term visitors on temporary visitor status. Residents and long-term workers in Japan do not qualify, and Japanese nationals only if they have lived abroad for two years or more. Passport required at purchase, both before and after the switch.
Traveling around the switch date, keep every receipt and allow extra airport time for the customs confirmation. Budget cash flow for paying tax upfront from November. And have data working at the airport: the departure-lobby confirmation runs through terminals and Visit Japan Web on your phone.
No. From November 1, 2026 it changes shape: you pay full price in store and receive the consumption tax back at departure after customs confirms the goods are leaving.
5,000 yen before tax at the same store on the same day, unchanged by the reform, and categories can be combined under the new system.
Yes, at the register in both systems, and again at the customs confirmation when departing under the refund model.
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