If you shop tax-free in Japan on or after 1 November 2026, you pay the full tax-inclusive price at the till and get the consumption tax back later — after customs, at your departure airport or port, has confirmed that the goods are leaving the country with you.
That single change moves the moment of the exemption from the shop to the border, and it introduces several ways to lose the refund that did not exist before. The rules below are the ones a traveller has to act on.
Before and after
| Until 31 October 2026 | From 1 November 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| What you pay in the shop | Price with consumption tax removed | Tax-inclusive price |
| When the exemption is settled | At the till | After customs confirms the goods are leaving |
| Where you receive the benefit | Immediately, as a lower price | A refund from the shop, after confirmation |
| If you never take the goods out | — | No refund; tax is collected and penalties apply |
The Japan Tourism Agency describes the new arrangement as selling at the taxable, tax-inclusive price and refunding the consumption-tax amount once export has been confirmed at the airport or port.
The five things to do differently
1. Budget for the tax up front. You are paying 10% (8% on food and drink) more at the counter than you would have done in October, and you are getting it back at a later date by a method the shop chooses. Plan the trip’s cash around the gross price, not the net one.
2. Clear customs before you check your bags. The traveller FAQ is explicit that the customs confirmation has to be completed before baggage drop-off. This is the trap for anyone buying bottles, ceramics or anything else that travels in the hold: once the bag is on the belt you cannot present its contents, and the refund for those items is gone. Arrive earlier than you otherwise would.
3. Leave within 90 days of the purchase date. The National Tax Agency states that the confirmation has to happen at a departure within 90 days of purchase. A bottle bought on a spring trip and left with a friend until the autumn is not covered.
4. Ask how the refund will actually reach you — before you pay. Nothing in the consumption-tax legislation prescribes the refund method. The National Tax Agency lists bank transfer, card refund, app transfer and cash inside the departure port as possibilities, and the shop-facing FAQ confirms that a shop may also refund in the form of a voucher or points usable only at its own premises. A refund you can only spend in a shop you are leaving behind is not the same as your money back. This is now a question to ask at the till, in the same breath as the price.
5. Keep large purchases on separate purchase records. The check at customs is made per purchase record, not per item. If one item on a record cannot be confirmed, every item on that record loses the exemption. Splitting a large purchase across separate records limits the damage to one item rather than the lot.
Where the refund is lost
- Consumed in Japan. Food, drink, cosmetics and other consumables that you have used or eaten cannot be confirmed at customs, and the FAQ instructs you to tell a customs officer rather than attempt the terminal procedure.
- Not carried out by you. The quantity that qualifies is what you can carry out yourself at departure. Freight is a different arrangement and is not this scheme.
- Goods left behind, sold or given away in Japan. The consumption tax that was exempted is collected, and penalties can follow.
- Bags checked before the confirmation. See point 2 above. Nothing can be done about it airside.
What has not changed, and what this never was
It is consumption tax, and nothing else. Liquor tax, tobacco tax and customs duty are separate and are already inside the shelf price. A bottle bought at a tax-free shop in town is not “duty-free” in the sense the airside shop uses the phrase.
Your own country’s import allowance is a separate limit, set by your government. Clearing Japanese customs with six bottles says nothing about what you may bring home without paying duty there.
There is still a minimum purchase. Tax-free sales have a lower threshold applied by the shop per shop per day, and shopping centres may aggregate purchases made at several participating shops within the same complex. The shop applies this at the till; if you are close to the line, ask before you split a purchase between two counters.
Two things that are genuinely uncertain
Being straight about the limits of this page:
- The refund experience will differ from shop to shop, because the law does not prescribe it. Anyone who tells you exactly how long a refund takes in Japan is describing one retailer’s policy, not a national rule.
- The set of tax-free shops may change on the day. The National Tax Agency records that a tax-free shop which has not moved to electronic purchase records by 31 October 2026 loses its permit on that date. A shop that sold tax-free in October may not be able to in November.
This page carries the review date above and the sources it was written from. When the procedure moves, it is re-checked against those documents rather than against other people’s summaries.
If you are buying alcohol
The aviation rules are stricter than the tax rules and catch spirits buyers specifically — anything over 70% ABV cannot fly at all, and the ordinary ceiling is five litres a person. Those, and how the refund interacts with bottles that have to travel in the hold, are covered in buying whisky in Japan and getting it home.
If the same trip involves drinking rather than carrying bottles home, the Tokyo bar guides cover what a bar may add to your bill and what it has to accept when you pay.