How Japan's tax-free refund works from 1 November 2026
The shop no longer takes the tax off at the register. You pay the full price, show your passport to Customs when you leave Japan, and the shop pays the tax back. Here is the whole process, with the official source for each rule.
What changes on 1 November
Until now, a tax-free shop removed the consumption tax at the register after checking your passport. Under the refund method, the shop sells at the tax-inclusive price. You then complete a customs confirmation when you leave, within 90 days of the purchase, and the shop returns an amount equal to the tax.[source] The change applies to sales from 1 November 2026.[source] This site covers only those sales.
The practical result: you now carry goods that you have already paid full price for, and the refund depends on one step at the airport. Skip it or fail it, and there is no refund.[source]
Who qualifies
The refund is for non-residents in Japan for a short time. The National Tax Agency lists who counts as an eligible purchaser.[source]
| Passport | Qualifies |
|---|---|
| Foreign | Temporary visitors (短期滞在, tanki taizai), diplomatic and official statuses, certain landing permits (cruise tourism, port of call, transit, crew, emergency, distress), and US forces members under the SOFA. Work, study, spouse and permanent-resident statuses are not on the list. |
| Japanese | Non-residents who have lived abroad continuously for two years or more by their last entry, shown with a My Number Card recording the move, a residence certificate (在留証明, zairyū shōmei), or a copy of the family-register supplementary record (戸籍の附票の写し, koseki no fuhyō no utsushi).[source] |
Everyone must also be inside six months of entering Japan, or of returning for Japanese nationals. Diplomatic, official and US forces statuses are the exception.[source]
What qualifies
You need to spend ¥5,000 or more before tax at one shop on one day. Different counters of the same shop on the same day add up.[source] Gold and platinum bullion and coins are excluded, and so are goods on which no consumption tax is charged.[source] Consumables you use up in Japan cannot be confirmed.[source]
You also have to be able to carry the goods out of Japan yourself. The Tax Agency says tax-free goods are limited to quantities you can take with you at departure.[source]
The process, in order
- At the shop. Show your passport. Keep every receipt. Ask how the refund will be paid and whether you need to register a payment method, because each shop or its refund provider decides.[source]
- In Japan. Keep the goods in their boxes and bags. Do not eat, drink or use up consumables.[source]
- At your last airport or seaport. Before you check any bag, scan your passport at the tax-free terminal in the departure lobby. Green means you are done. Red means an officer looks at the goods. Read the airport page for the detail.[source]
- After you leave. The shop or its provider pays the refund after Customs confirms the goods. The law does not set the method or the timing.[source]
The deadline is 90 days, counted from the day after purchase. A purchase on 1 November 2026 must be confirmed by 30 January 2027.[source]
Five ways a receipt fails
These come straight from the Tax Agency's Q&A. In each case the result is the same: no refund for that receipt.
- One item is missing. Customs confirms a receipt as a unit. One missing item voids every item on that receipt.[source]
- The bag is already checked. The customs step has to come first.[source]
- The goods were posted or sent ahead. A postal receipt does not substitute for the goods. Luggage delivery to the airport has the same effect, because the goods are not with you at the terminal.[source]
- Something was used up. Food, drink, medicine and cosmetics you consume cannot be confirmed.[source]
- The window closed. Day 91 is too late.[source]
What if the item is too big to carry?
Some shops offer a different route. At the register you sign a shipping contract with a licensed international freight forwarder, and the shop hands the goods over there. That is an export exemption under another rule, with no ¥5,000 minimum and no airport customs step for those goods.[source] Not every shop offers it, so ask before you buy.
What we could not confirm
Several travel sites describe a national website or QR code that travelers must register with, and others say the shop does it for you. We found nothing about it in the Tax Agency's Q&A or the Tourism Agency pages. The Tourism Agency says the shop explains refund-method registration when you buy.[source] Follow the shop's instructions and keep what it gives you. We will update this page when an official source settles it.
Ready to try it on your own receipts? Open the checker.