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Money & shoppingJapan is changing how tax-free shopping works for tourists. Purchases made on or after 1 November 2026 use a new refund method: you pay the full price including consumption tax at the shop, show your passport, and get the tax back only after Japan Customs confirms at your departure airport that the goods are leaving with you. Purchases made up to 31 October 2026 still use the old over-the-counter system, and there is no overlap period. Here is how the new system works, what stays the same, what disappears (sealed bags, the consumables cap), and how to avoid losing your refund at the airport.
Published October 16, 2026 · Last updated
You pay the tax first. Tax-free shops now charge the tax-inclusive price. The 10% consumption tax (8% on food and non-alcoholic drinks) is refunded later, by the shop or the refund company it uses, not by customs.
Minimum spend stays at ¥5,000. Purchases must total ¥5,000 or more, excluding tax, at the same shop on the same day. There is no longer a separate threshold for consumables and general goods.
No upper limit, but you must carry it out. The old ¥500,000 cap on consumables is abolished. The only practical limit is what you can personally take out of Japan when you leave.
No more sealed bags. The general goods vs consumables split and the special tamper-evident packaging are both gone.
90 days to leave. You must present your passport and goods to customs at departure within 90 days of the purchase date. Buy something on 1 November and the deadline is 30 January.
Who qualifies: Foreign visitors on short-term status such as Temporary Visitor, plus Japanese nationals who have lived abroad for two years or more (with proof). Work and student visa holders living in Japan do not qualify.
Not eligible: gold and platinum bullion and coins, and anything that is already exempt from consumption tax.
1. At the shop. Look for the 'Japan Tax-Free Shop' sign, pay the full tax-inclusive price, and show your physical passport. The shop sends your purchase record to the National Tax Agency's system electronically, linked to your passport. If you came through an automated immigration gate, ask an officer for a landing stamp on arrival, since some shops still check for it.
2. Choose how to be refunded. The law leaves the payout method to each shop. Depending on the store, refunds can go back to your credit card, to a bank account, through an app or e-wallet, or as cash at a refund counter at your departure airport or port. Not every shop offers every option, and some refund companies deduct a handling fee, so ask at the till what you will get back, how, and when. Cash at departure is the fastest; card and bank refunds can take days or weeks after you leave.
3. Keep everything together. Keep the receipt and every item on it. Customs checks receipt by receipt: if even one item from a receipt is missing at departure, none of the items on that receipt qualify.
4. At the departure airport, before check-in. Go to a tax-free procedure terminal in the international departure lobby with all your tax-free goods, including what is in the suitcase you plan to check in, and scan your passport. Green means you are done. Red means you take the goods to the customs inspection area. At Narita, Haneda, Kansai, Chubu, New Chitose, Fukuoka and Naha you can also complete the check on Visit Japan Web inside the designated Wi-Fi zone of the departure lobby instead of queuing at a terminal.
5. Then check in. You cannot do the procedure after your bag is checked, and airlines will not pull it back for you. Neither the airline nor customs compensates you for a missed flight, so allow extra time, especially at peak hours.
6. Get paid. Once customs confirms the export, the shop or its refund operator pays you by the method you chose. If you fly domestically first, do the procedure at the airport you actually leave Japan from.
The new rule is simple: you only get the refund for goods you still have at departure. You can wear the sneakers or use the camera you bought, as long as they leave Japan with you.
Food, drinks, cosmetics and medicine that you eat, drink or use up in Japan are no longer eligible. If you have consumed part of a purchase, don't run the terminal check for that receipt; tell a customs officer at the counter instead. Because there is no sealed bag any more, nobody stops you opening a box of matcha Kit-Kats, but those items lose their refund.
Shipping goods home separately no longer counts. Since 1 April 2025, tax-free items you post abroad or send through a forwarding agent after purchase are not tax-free; the goods must leave with you. The exception is direct shipping arranged at the shop itself at the time of purchase, which is treated as an export sale.
Big-ticket items take a little longer at the till: for anything priced at ¥1,000,000 or more (before tax), such as a luxury watch or jewelry, the shop must record extra details like model number and serial number. It is a record-keeping rule, not a purchase limit.
Anything bought up to 31 October 2026 is handled under the current system, even if you fly home in November:
Tax comes off at the till (or at a department store's tax refund counter on the same day), with the same ¥5,000 minimum.
General goods (clothes, electronics, watches, knives) can be used in Japan. Consumables (cosmetics, snacks, sake, medicine) are capped at ¥500,000 per shop per day and packed into a sealed bag that must stay closed until you leave Japan. If you mix general goods and consumables to reach ¥5,000, the whole basket is treated as consumables and sealed.
At departure, scan your passport at the customs kiosk before passport control. Keep sealed bags unopened; opening them can mean paying the tax at the airport.
Electronics megastores (Bic Camera, Yodobashi Camera, Yamada Denki): camera bodies, lenses, memory cards, gaming consoles and audio gear. They often run tourist coupons on top of the tax refund, so check the store's foreign-visitor page or ask at the tax-free counter.
Don Quijote ('Donki'): open late or 24 hours in Shibuya, Shinjuku and Dotonbori, with dedicated tax-free registers. Remember that snacks you eat before the flight no longer count toward your refund.
Department stores (Isetan, Mitsukoshi, Takashimaya): most already used a central tax refund counter, so the switch feels familiar: pay full price, show your passport, and confirm how the refund will reach you.
Because customs may ask to see anything on your receipts, do the tax-free check before you check in, with your suitcase still in hand. Once you are cleared, cosmetics, perfume and bottles of sake over 100ml still have to go in checked luggage to meet cabin liquid rules.
Budget for Japan's other departure cost too: the international tourist tax rose to ¥3,000 from 1 July 2026 (see Japan departure tax 2026).
For more Japan logistics, plan your routes using our 3 Days in Tokyo Itinerary Guide, check bullet train luggage restrictions in Do You Need to Reserve Luggage Space on the Shinkansen in Japan?, and review our guide to What Is the Dress Code at Temples and Shrines in Japan and South Korea?.
The refund method applies to purchases made on or after 1 November 2026. Anything bought up to 31 October 2026 follows the old system, where tax is removed at the till. There is no period when both systems run side by side.
Pay the tax-inclusive price and show your passport at the shop. At your departure airport, before check-in, scan your passport at a tax-free terminal (or use Visit Japan Web at major airports) within 90 days of purchase. After customs confirms the goods are leaving, the shop or its refund operator pays you by card, bank transfer, app, or cash at the airport, depending on what the shop offers.
Yes. You need to spend ¥5,000 or more, excluding tax, at the same shop on the same day. The separate ¥500,000 upper limit for consumables is abolished from 1 November 2026.
Not for purchases from 1 November 2026: the sealed packaging and the split between general goods and consumables are abolished. Food, drinks or cosmetics you consume in Japan simply lose their refund. Sealed bags from purchases made up to 31 October must stay closed until you leave.
Customs checks each receipt as a unit. If any item on a receipt is missing at departure, none of the items on that receipt qualify for the refund.
No. Do the passport scan at the tax-free terminal before check-in, with all your tax-free goods, including those in the suitcase you will check. Checked bags cannot be retrieved for the customs inspection.
Entry rules change, and they depend on your nationality — always confirm the current requirements on the official government site before you book or apply. Only use official government (.gov) portals; ignore look-alike agency sites.
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