Money / Tax-free shopping
Japan tax-free shopping changes in November 2026
Japan's refund system principally follows when the tax-free shop hands the goods to the eligible purchaser. Your order, payment or departure date alone does not decide which process applies.
Japan-side verdict
The 15-second answer
The principal transfer point is when the tax-free shop hands the goods to the eligible purchaser. Goods handed over through 31 October 2026 use the current purchase-time exemption process; goods handed over from 1 November 2026 normally use tax-inclusive purchase, Customs departure confirmation and a shop-operated refund that is generally processed afterward. A shop may advance that refund at its own risk, subject to the narrow midnight exception below.
Conditions that change the answer
- Best for
- Visitors buying tax-free before or after the November 2026 system change.
- Skip if
- You need an individual eligibility, Customs or refund result. Ask the responsible shop, Customs or authority.
Choose by traveller type
- Decision map
- Before buying: purchaser documents + goods-handover lane + purchase rules + shop refund terms | At departure under the refund-method lane: Customs before any baggage check-in | After confirmation: export the goods without delay; shop/refund handling remains a separate rail
- What general information cannot confirm
- An order, payment date, departure date, receipt screenshot or airport listing cannot establish the shop-to-purchaser handover, every midnight-exception condition, the Customs result or the refund rail.
15-second answer
Use goods handover, not only your departure date
If columns are cut off, scroll sideways. Keyboard: focus the table, then use Left/Right Arrow keys.
| Handover timing | Process to follow | Key Unknown |
|---|---|---|
| Through 31 October 2026 | Current purchase-time exemption process. | Individual eligibility and Customs inspection result. |
| 00:00–01:00 on 1 November 2026 | The old process can apply only when every stated accounting condition is met. | The shop's continuously applied accounting basis and 31 October treatment. |
| From 1 November 2026 | Tax-inclusive purchase and departure confirmation. The refund is generally processed afterward by the shop or its operator, but the shop may advance it at its own risk, unless the narrow exception above is fully confirmed. | Shop method, timing, fee, currency and outcome. |
| Handover or exception facts unconfirmed | Unknown. Ask the shop for the missing fact before selecting a lane. | Do not select a lane from the traveller's itinerary. |
The principal transfer point is when the tax-free shop hands the goods to the eligible purchaser. Order, payment and departure dates alone do not establish that event. A qualifying shop-arranged direct-shipment transaction may use a separate export-exemption scheme. Confirm its conditions with the shop; ordinary courier or EMS shipment does not establish that lane. The midnight exception is not a general overlap period or a shop's free choice. If handover or every exception condition is not confirmed, the lane remains Unknown.
Before totals
Check purchaser status and documents before totals
A JPY 5,000 amount test is not the first gate. The shop must confirm that the purchaser is in an eligible nonresident category and has the document combination required for that category. The official lists establish general routes; they do not decide an individual transaction.
On a narrow screen, swipe the table sideways to see all three columns.
| Document lane | General official check | Do not assume |
|---|---|---|
| Current-system foreign-national nonresident | A qualifying status includes Temporary Visitor, Diplomat or Official. The shop verifies the purchaser from the passport or prescribed information. Most eligible foreign-national routes require less than six months since entry. Diplomat, Official and U.S. military routes are exceptions to that time condition. | When re-entry permission was used, the official current flow checks the first or original landing date, not the re-entry date. A foreign passport, tourist itinerary or entry date alone does not establish eligibility. |
| Current-system returning Japanese national | Confirm less than six months since temporary return and two continuous years of address or residence outside Japan. Bring the passport and a Residency Certificate or an officially issued copy of the Koseki no Fuhyō (Family Register Attachment). The National Tax Agency includes officially issued electronic Residency Certificates and their printouts. Required recency and recorded details still apply; a casual photo or photocopy of a paper document is not the same as an official electronic certificate. | A Japanese passport alone is not enough. |
| Foreign-national list for purchases made on or after 1 November 2026 | The revised document list covers named statuses and landing permissions. Most listed foreign-national nonresidents must confirm less than six months since entry. Diplomats, official personnel and U.S. military members are excluded from that time condition. The required passport or permit combination varies by route. A dual national must use the passport presented at entry; the procedure depends on that passport. For the ordinary Short-Term Stay branch, less than six months since entry is not enough by itself: the person must also be within the permitted-stay deadline. | Six months is not a universal shortcut. When re-entry permission was used, the official flow checks the first or original landing date, not the re-entry date. If an approved period-of-stay extension stamp is present, the updated status and permitted-stay deadline control. For a 90-day Short-Term Stay extension application awaiting a decision, the narrow official treatment lasts until the application decision or two months after the original permitted-stay deadline, whichever is earlier. Do not generalize that treatment to another status or extension. Special-landing rules also remain separate. |
| Returning-Japanese list for purchases made on or after 1 November 2026 | Confirm less than six months since temporary return and two continuous years outside Japan. Bring the passport plus a Residency Certificate, a copy of the Koseki no Fuhyō or a My Number Card. The My Number option includes its smartphone-based digital credential, must be valid and must show that the holder moved abroad without a later domestic-move entry. | For the revised supporting documents, honseki is not required to be shown. The shop still checks document recency, validity and recorded information. |
Before checkout
Compare the purchase rules for your handover lane
If columns are cut off, scroll sideways. Keyboard: focus the table, then use Left/Right Arrow keys.
| Purchase check | Handover through 31 October 2026 | Refund-method handovers from 1 November 2026, outside the narrow 00:00–01:00 exception |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum and grouping | Under the ordinary rule, for the same eligible purchaser at the same tax-free shop on the same day, use tax-exclusive totals. General goods must total JPY 5,000 or more; the official category table does not set the JPY 500,000 consumables cap on them. Consumables must total JPY 5,000–JPY 500,000. | Under the ordinary rule, for the same eligible purchaser at the same tax-free shop on the same day, use one tax-exclusive total of JPY 5,000 or more. The minimum is calculated without the former category split. |
| Consumables and packaging | Consumables require the prescribed special packaging. Do not open or consume them in Japan. If general goods and consumables are each below JPY 5,000, the current rules do not combine them automatically. The shop may choose to treat and package the general goods like consumables; only then can it test the combined total in the consumables lane. | The category distinction, JPY 500,000 consumables cap and former prescribed special-packaging requirement are abolished. That does not make every box or bag irrelevant at Customs. Consumables used or consumed in Japan cannot receive Customs confirmation or a tax refund. |
| Quantity and excluded goods | Goods must meet the current eligible-goods rules. Goods clearly bought for business use or resale are excluded. Gold or platinum bullion and consumption-tax-exempt goods are not tax-free goods. | The quantity is limited to goods you can personally carry and take out of Japan at departure. Gold or platinum bullion, gold or platinum coins, and consumption-tax-exempt goods are excluded. |
A same-page scratchpad, not a tax or refund result
Collect the shop's refund terms before paying
Ask the responsible tax-free shop or procedure counter to confirm each field. Enter only what it tells you for the exact transaction; do not copy a term from another shop, receipt or traveller.
After recording the shop's terms
Choose the next move without assuming a refund
The official guidance says the shop or its refund service provider handles the refund and that methods vary by shop. Use the exact answers recorded above to choose one next action.
- CompareUse only confirmed terms for this transaction
If the shop confirmed the refund method or destination, currency, fee, timing and failure or correction contact, compare those exact shop terms before paying. A complete note does not guarantee or establish a refund.
- AskKeep every missing term unresolved
If any field is blank or unconfirmed, keep it Unknown and ask the shop or procedure counter. Customs confirmation alone does not fill in a missing payout method, fee, deadline or recovery route.
- SeparateKeep the separate payment decision distinct
Open the cash-or-card guide (opens in a new tab) for payment acceptance, cash access and dynamic currency conversion. This internal link is not an affiliate link and cannot confirm eligibility, Customs completion or a refund.
For goods handed over through 31 October 2026
Use the current purchase-time exemption process. Present your passport and purchased tax-free goods to Customs when you leave Japan. Customs inspects possession as necessary.
If you put tax-free goods in checked baggage, obtain Customs confirmation before handing that baggage to the airline. If you do not possess and export the goods at departure, Customs may collect the consumption tax.
For purchases from 1 April 2025, sending your own goods by international post or parcel no longer qualifies as the former separate-shipment route. A different shop-arranged direct-shipment lane may apply only when its conditions are met; confirm that lane with the shop.
This section is deliberately time-fenced to goods handed over through 31 October 2026. It does not describe later handovers except for the narrow midnight exception below.
For goods handed over from 1 November 2026
From 00:00 through 01:00 on 1 November 2026, the old process can apply only when the shop continuously applies its stated sales-accounting basis and records the sale as 31 October 2026. Outside that narrow exception, use the refund-system lane.
- Pay the tax-inclusive price at the participating shop.
- Keep all tax-free goods available for departure confirmation. Customs uses the shop-submitted electronic purchase record; a paper receipt is not a universal terminal requirement, though Customs may ask for supporting documents.
- Complete the applicable Customs confirmation within 90 days of the purchase date.
- Follow the shop or refund operator's stated refund terms.
Finish refund-method Customs confirmation at your final Japan exit point
This section applies to the refund-method lane for goods handed over from 1 November 2026, except when every condition of the narrow midnight exception above is confirmed.
If your itinerary connects a domestic flight to an international departure, complete the procedure at the final airport from which you leave Japan. Keep all tax-free goods with you until the procedure, including any required inspection, is complete. Do this before checking in any baggage.
- Green Result: no inspection is required; the Customs procedure is complete.
- Red Result: take all tax-free goods to the designated Customs inspection area.
Customs confirms the electronic purchase record, generally one sales transaction.
If all or part of a consumable has been consumed, do not complete the terminal procedure. Report the consumption to a Customs officer.
If another item is missing, the affected purchase record cannot be confirmed: if even one item in that purchase record is missing, none of the goods in that purchase record can be confirmed. The official guidance does not set one universal terminal step for other missing items. Ask Customs how to handle the affected record. Other purchase records do not automatically fail; each remains separate.
Customs decides the confirmation result; it does not choose or pay the shop's refund. The exact terminal and live interface, the queue, inspection selection, item treatment, corrections and the individual result remain Unknown until the responsible authority acts.
For refund-method goods, the shop or operator sets the refund terms
This applies to goods handed over from 1 November 2026 in the refund-method lane. Official material lists bank, card, app and departure-port cash as examples. It does not promise that every shop offers every method, or that a refund is instant, fee-free, returned to the original card or paid in one particular currency.
- refund method and destination;
- processing time and any cutoff;
- fee, currency and exchange-rate treatment;
- partial return or cancellation handling; and
- failed card, bank, app or cash handoff.
Keep a receipt-to-departure record without changing the transition rule
Start with the goods handover, not a shorthand purchase date
Keep the shop-confirmed goods handover with the transaction. Order, payment and departure dates alone do not establish the transition lane. The detailed handover table above, including its narrow midnight exception, remains authoritative; an ordinary trip-date checklist must not replace it. NTA Q19 distinguishes ordering or paying for made-to-order goods from their later handover.
Source: National Tax Agency: detailed refund-method Q&A, Q19
Connect the purchase record to the actual baggage plan
Keep the record and the goods you must present available through the relevant Customs procedure. Plan airport luggage collection before airline check-in, not as an exception to inspection. Use the existing Customs section for the exact transaction and route, and ask about missing or changed goods rather than infer an automatic substitute.
Follow Customs status and payout as different outcomes
Record what the shop or refund provider actually states about the destination, correction route, cutoff and payment status. Customs confirmation does not establish that the refund was sent or received. Keep the tax-inclusive amount in the budget until the money arrives, while retaining the existing section’s permitted advance-refund and contract-specific qualifications.
Close only the stage that has actually completed
A practical record names the transaction, handover, goods, departure point, Customs status, shop/refund-provider contact and next unresolved action. Keep passports, full payment details and private confirmation links out of public messages. This checklist does not determine eligibility, edit an official purchase record or provide a universal refund deadline.
These integrated steps were checked on ; this is not a full re-review of the article. Earlier source dates and rules remain attached to their original scope.
Sources for these steps
- National Tax Agency: detailed refund-method Q&A, Q19
Q19 (printed page 21) locates the tax-free sales procedure at goods handover, not the earlier order/payment of made-to-order goods. Only this bounded point was rechecked here; the original article retains its other detailed transition rules.
- Japan Tourism Agency: traveller refund-method guide
For the forthcoming refund-method process, goods and passport must be available before airline check-in and refund questions go to the shop; an individual result or payout is not established.
Keep transaction-specific Unknowns visible
- traveller, goods and participating-shop eligibility;
- goods-handover timing and every midnight-exception condition;
- purchase-record identity and whether it can be divided;
- the exact terminal and live interface support at the final Japan departure point;
- inspection selection and Customs outcome; and
- refund rail, timing, fee, currency and failure handling.
Keep payment choices separate with the cash-or-card guide, and use the arrival checklist for the wider departure and entry preparation sequence.
Why we recommend this: decision evidence
Decision evidence ledger
What changes on 1 November 2026
Goods handover selects the transition lane. Customs confirms departure conditions; the shop or its operator controls the refund terms.
If columns are cut off, scroll sideways. Keyboard: focus the table, then use Left/Right Arrow keys.
| Decision | Verified finding | Source basis | What it changes for the traveller |
|---|---|---|---|
| Which event selects the old or new system? | The transition event occurs when the tax-free shop hands the goods to the eligible purchaser. Order, payment and departure dates alone do not establish that event. | National Tax Agency transition Q&A and July 2026 detailed Q&A | If the handover is not confirmed, ask the shop and keep the transition lane Unknown. A qualifying shop-arranged direct-shipment transaction may use a separate export-exemption scheme; ordinary courier or EMS shipment does not establish that lane. |
| Which purchaser status and documents should be checked before totals? | For the current-system lane, an eligible foreign-national nonresident must be in a qualifying category such as Temporary Visitor, Diplomat or Official, and the shop verifies the purchaser from the passport or prescribed information. Most eligible routes require less than six months since entry; Diplomat, Official and U.S. military routes are exceptions to that time condition. For re-entry permission, the current official flow checks the first or original landing date shown by the landing-permission stamp, not the re-entry date. A current-system returning Japanese national must be in Japan for less than six months since temporary return and prove two continuous years of address or residence outside Japan. The shop checks the passport and a Residency Certificate or an officially issued copy of the Koseki no Fuhyō (Family Register Attachment). The National Tax Agency includes officially issued electronic Residency Certificates and their printouts. Required recency and recorded details still apply; a casual photo or photocopy of a paper document is not the same as an official electronic certificate. For purchases made on or after 1 November 2026, the Japan Tourism Agency labels a revised document list. Under that list, most listed foreign-national nonresidents must confirm less than six months since entry, excluding diplomats, official personnel and U.S. military members from that time condition, and the required passport or permit combination depends on the status or landing permission. A dual national uses the passport presented at entry, and the procedure depends on that passport. For the ordinary Short-Term Stay branch, less than six months since entry and being within the permitted-stay deadline are separate required checks. The revised foreign-national flow also checks a person entering with re-entry permission from the first or original landing date shown by the landing-permission stamp, not the re-entry date. If an approved period-of-stay extension stamp is present, the updated status and permitted-stay deadline control. For a 90-day Short-Term Stay extension application awaiting a decision, the flow describes a narrow treatment until the application decision or two months after the original permitted-stay deadline, whichever is earlier. A returning Japanese national must confirm less than six months since temporary return and two continuous years outside Japan; the support list adds a My Number Card, including its smartphone-based digital credential showing the move abroad, and says honseki is not required to be shown on the supporting documents. | National Tax Agency current eligible-purchaser guidance; Japan Tourism Agency current traveller overview, current foreign-national flow, current Japanese-national flow, refund-method traveller page, eligible-purchaser list, foreign-national flow, Japanese-document guide and FAQ; and National Tax Agency transition Q&A and July 2026 detailed Q&A | Evaluate the two dates independently: confirmed goods handover selects the tax-system lane, while confirmed purchase date selects the applicable document list. The revised list's purchase-date label does not replace or override the goods handover that selects the tax-system lane. If handover is Unknown but purchase date is confirmed, keep the tax-system lane Unknown while the document list can be selected. If handover is confirmed but purchase date is Unknown, the tax-system lane can be selected while the document regime remains Unknown. Keep only an unresolved axis Unknown and ask the shop rather than inferring it from order, payment, receipt or departure timing. A passport alone and less than six months alone are not universal eligibility results. For the revised foreign-national route, do not let a dual national choose either passport or generalize the narrow extension-application treatment to another status or extension. The individual's passport presented at entry, status, entry date or temporary-return date, permitted-stay deadline, extension application or approval state, document validity, readability and acceptance, shop participation, and whether the individual's digital, My Number or Visit Japan Web route is available and accepted remain Unknown until the responsible shop or authority confirms them. |
| Does using an automated gate remove the purchaser-document check? | No. Using an automated gate can leave the passport without a landing-permission stamp. If that missing stamp means the tax-free shop cannot confirm that the person is an eligible purchaser, the shop cannot perform the tax-free sales procedure. The National Tax Agency directs a traveller who plans to use tax-free shops to request the stamp from examination-office staff after passing the automated gate and before arrival Customs inspection. For the refund method, the Trusted Traveler Program (TTP) remains a separate route. Within that TTP route, the procedure may be performed without a passport stamp when the passport and Registered User Card, which records residence status and landing date, together let the shop confirm purchaser eligibility. | National Tax Agency automated-gate traveller notice and July 2026 detailed refund-method Q&A | After passing an automated gate but before arrival Customs inspection, ask examination-office staff about the stamp if you plan to use tax-free shops. Do not treat a passport, automated-gate use, a TTP card or a Visit Japan Web QR as a universal substitute for the applicable purchaser verification. The individual stamp request and issuance result, whether the TTP or Visit Japan Web route applies, passport, card or QR validity and readability, shop acceptance and eligibility confirmation, purchase-record generation and transaction result remain Unknown until the responsible authority or shop acts. |
| Does the Visit Japan Web Tax-Free Shopping QR replace documents or the departure Customs procedure? | No. The Tax-Free Shopping QR is a purchase-time passport-information route, not a universal document or departure-procedure replacement. The current Japan Tourism Agency overview allows people with Short-Term Stay, Diplomatic or Official residence status to create it and present it only at tax-free shops that accept Visit Japan Web; not all tax-free shops do. For refund-method sales from 1 November 2026, the Agency's foreign-purchaser flow still includes a Visit Japan Web tax-free QR branch, and the National Tax Agency treats presenting the QR, which contains recorded passport information, as included in presenting the passport. The official flows still confirm purchaser eligibility through the applicable route; they do not establish that the QR replaces permits or supporting documents required on other purchaser routes. | Japan Tourism Agency current traveller overview, refund-method foreign-purchaser flow and traveller transition guide; and National Tax Agency detailed refund-system guide | Treat the purchase QR and the refund-method departure interface as two separate Visit Japan Web uses. A shop's QR acceptance or scan does not complete departure Customs confirmation, and a departure airport's support does not prove that a shop accepts the purchase QR. Where the official QR route applies, the QR counts as passport presentation; it does not establish that permits or supporting documents required on other purchaser routes are waived. Individual QR creation, display and readability, shop participation, scanner and acceptance, identity or additional document checks, eligibility, purchase-record generation, refund-destination registration, live airport interface or wireless LAN, inspection, Customs confirmation and refund result remain Unknown. |
| Which purchase rules apply before checkout? | Under the ordinary store-specific rule through 31 October 2026, tax-exclusive totals for the same eligible purchaser at the same tax-free shop on the same day use separate thresholds: general goods require JPY 5,000 or more, while consumables require JPY 5,000 to JPY 500,000 and prescribed packaging. Sub-threshold category totals are not combined automatically; the shop may choose to treat and package general goods like consumables and test the combined total in that lane. Under the ordinary store-specific rule for refund-method handovers from 1 November 2026, outside the narrow 00:00–01:00 exception, one tax-exclusive JPY 5,000-or-more minimum applies for the same eligible purchaser at the same tax-free shop on the same day; the category distinction, JPY 500,000 consumables cap and special packaging are abolished. | National Tax Agency current purchase rules and Japan Tourism Agency refund-method traveller guidance and goods comparison | Under the current lane, goods clearly bought for business use or resale are excluded. Under the refund-method lane, consumables used or consumed in Japan cannot receive Customs confirmation or a tax refund, and quantities are limited to goods the purchaser can personally carry and take out at departure. Gold or platinum bullion, gold or platinum coins and consumption-tax-exempt goods are excluded. Individual purchaser eligibility, shop participation, product classification, transaction total, Customs confirmation and refund outcome remain Unknown until the responsible shop or authority confirms them. |
| Can a non-consumable used in Japan still undergo Customs confirmation? | For refund-method goods handed over from 1 November 2026, outside the narrow 00:00–01:00 exception, National Tax Agency Q39 separates domestic consumption from use at departure. Goods other than consumables that are used in Japan and ultimately taken out of Japan can undergo Customs confirmation. Consumed consumables remain on the existing departure Customs route recorded separately in this ledger. | National Tax Agency July 2026 detailed refund-method Q&A, Q39 | This permission does not cover consumed consumables and does not guarantee identification, Customs confirmation or a refund. It does not apply this refund-method boundary to goods handed over through 31 October 2026. The exact product classification and individual identification, inspection, confirmation and refund outcomes remain Unknown. |
| Does abolished prescribed special packaging make every box or bag irrelevant? | No. National Tax Agency Q39 warns that if a box or bag forms part of the item or carries identifying details such as a model number, separating it from the contents or discarding it may leave Customs unable to identify the tax-free purchase and confirmation may not be available. When that identification condition applies, the Q&A recommends keeping the item, its box or bag and the contents together in their purchase state until departure, including through Customs confirmation. | National Tax Agency July 2026 detailed refund-method Q&A, Q39 | If that identification condition applies, keep the item, its box or bag and the contents together in their purchase state until departure, including through Customs confirmation. This recommendation does not revive the old prescribed special-packaging rule, prohibit domestic use of a non-consumable or make every package legally required. Exact product classification, which packaging or identifier Customs needs, treatment of opening, damage, repacking or missing parts, whether a receipt, photo or model number substitutes, and individual identification, inspection, Customs confirmation, purchase-record linkage and refund outcomes remain Unknown. |
| Can purchases from different shops be combined for the JPY 5,000 minimum? | The ordinary rule tests tax-exclusive purchases for the same eligible purchaser at the same tax-free shop on the same day. For the current system, within one designated commercial facility, an authorized tax-free procedure operator acting at a tax-free procedure counter may combine tax-exclusive sales from multiple entrusted-procedure tax-free shops for the same eligible purchaser on the same day when testing the JPY 5,000 minimum. For the refund method, at one tax-free procedure counter, the authorized tax-free procedure operator may combine tax-exclusive sales from multiple general tax-free shops that entrusted their procedures to that operator, for the same eligible purchaser on the same day, when testing the JPY 5,000 minimum. The National Tax Agency rule does not carry the current-system designated-facility condition into this one-counter scope. The counter procedure must be completed on the purchase day; a next-day counter visit does not qualify. | National Tax Agency July 2026 detailed Q&A and Japan Tourism Agency retailer FAQ for the refund method | Do not combine arbitrary receipts from shops that merely share a mall, station or area. Exact shop entrustment, counter and receipt acceptance, counter location or hours and the transaction result remain Unknown until the responsible shop or counter confirms them. Passing the amount test does not establish purchaser or goods eligibility, Customs confirmation or a refund. |
| What is the current-system departure sequence? | For current-system goods handed over through 31 October 2026, present your passport and purchased tax-free goods to Customs when leaving Japan. If tax-free goods are in checked baggage, obtain Customs confirmation before handing that baggage to the airline. | Japan Customs current-system FAQ and traveller notice, Japan Tourism Agency traveller FAQ, and National Tax Agency July 2026 detailed Q&A | If you do not possess and export the goods, Customs may collect the consumption tax. For purchases from 1 April 2025, sending your own goods by international post or parcel no longer qualifies as the former separate-shipment route; ask the shop whether a separate qualifying shop-arranged direct-shipment lane applies. The individual inspection request, treatment of the exact goods and Customs result remain Unknown until Customs acts. |
| Is 00:00–01:00 on 1 November a general overlap period? | No. The old process can apply only when the shop continuously applies its stated sales-accounting basis and records the sale as 31 October 2026. | National Tax Agency transition Q&A | This is not a shop's free choice. If every condition is not confirmed, keep the lane Unknown rather than choosing the old process. |
| What happens under the refund system? | Refund-method goods are bought at tax-inclusive prices. The standard flow is Customs confirmation followed by a refund from the shop or its operator; the Japan Tourism Agency says refunds are generally processed after Customs confirmation. An advance refund before Customs confirmation is permitted at the shop's own risk. | Japan Tourism Agency traveller guide and FAQ, and National Tax Agency July 2026 detailed Q&A | An advance refund does not make Customs confirmation optional. A Green Result completes the Customs procedure; it does not confirm that the payout was sent or received. Budget for the full tax-inclusive amount until the refund actually arrives. The exact method, destination, timing, cutoff, fee, currency, exchange rate and failure handling remain Unknown until the shop or operator states them. |
| How is the refund-method Customs deadline counted? | Customs departure confirmation must be completed within 90 days from the purchase date. For deadline counting, the National Tax Agency treats the day after the purchase as day 1 and the 90th day as the deadline; a purchase record dated 1 November 2026 has a 30 January 2027 deadline. Use this calendar-day deadline: the same calendar date three months later is not the rule. | National Tax Agency English refund-system guide and Japan Tourism Agency traveller guidance | A same-day purchase-and-departure attempt raises a separate question: whether Customs confirmation is accepted or rejected. The checked official sources do not separately establish that operating result, so keep it Unknown. Use the purchase date shown in the official purchase record. The exact purchase-record date, live terminal or record availability, inspection and confirmation outcome remain Unknown until the shop or Customs confirms them. |
| What must be available before baggage check? | For refund-method goods handed over from 1 November 2026, outside the narrow 00:00–01:00 exception, complete the tax-free terminal procedure and any required inspection before checking in any baggage at the final airport or seaport from which the traveller leaves Japan. A domestic flight connection therefore uses the final airport from which the traveller leaves Japan. Keep all tax-free goods with the traveller until the confirmation procedure, including any required inspection, is complete. The Japan Tourism Agency FAQ says that once baggage has been checked in, it cannot be retrieved for the tax-free procedure. Customs confirms the electronic purchase record, generally one sales transaction. | National Tax Agency transition Q&A, Japan Tourism Agency traveller transition guide and FAQ, National Tax Agency July 2026 detailed Q&A and English traveller notice | A Green Result means no inspection is required and the Customs procedure is complete. A Red Result means you must take all tax-free goods to the designated Customs inspection area; it does not create a recovery fallback through checked baggage. For an item priced at JPY 1,000,000 or more excluding consumption tax, Customs may ask for a certificate of authenticity or warranty with the item; this is one item's tax-exclusive price, not a basket total, and whether a document is requested or accepted remains Unknown. If all or part of a consumable has been consumed, do not complete the terminal procedure; report the consumption to a Customs officer. If another item is missing, the affected purchase record cannot be confirmed: if even one item in that purchase record is missing, none of the goods in that purchase record can be confirmed. The official sources do not prescribe one universal terminal step for other missing items; ask Customs how to handle the affected record. Other purchase records do not automatically fail; each remains separate. This tax-free-procedure statement does not settle other airline or carrier baggage handling, and a receipt or photo does not replace the goods. The actual check-in status, goods and purchase-record match, airline or carrier disruption handling and exceptions, alternative Customs handling, confirmation and refund outcome remain Unknown. |
| What happens to the electronic purchase record after a return? | For refund-method goods handed over from 1 November 2026, Q98 separates a full return from a partial return after the shop has sent the purchase record and refunds the returned sale. For a full return, the tax-free shop must send cancellation data for the original purchase record without delay. For a partial return, the shop must first send cancellation data for the original record and then send a corrected purchase record for the goods retained. If a defective-goods refund occurs after Customs confirmation information has been provided and the purchase-record and Customs-result statuses are final, Q98 says the original record does not need to be cancelled. | National Tax Agency July 2026 detailed refund-method Q&A, Q98 | The tax-free shop sends the cancellation or corrected record; the traveller cannot edit the electronic purchase record through this rule. Before seeking Customs confirmation, ask the shop what record action it will take after a return. A return receipt, oral assurance or Visit Japan Web display or omission does not prove that the system accepted the update. It also does not settle Customs confirmation or any separate tax-free-refund outcome for retained goods. Transmission, system acceptance, update or display timing, remaining-goods match, correction or retry, Customs confirmation and any separate tax-free-refund outcome for retained goods remain Unknown until the responsible shop, system owner or Customs confirms or acts. This refund-method rule does not apply to the current system for goods handed over through 31 October 2026. |
| Does completed Customs confirmation mean the goods are already exported? | No. Customs procedure complete is not export complete. Under the refund method, tax-free goods that have passed Customs confirmation must be exported without delay. If the confirmed goods are not exported, the amount equivalent to the exempted consumption tax is collected. The National Tax Agency says failure to export is subject to penalty when it occurs without a justifiable reason. | Japan Tourism Agency English refund-method guidance for the post-confirmation export and tax-collection duties, and National Tax Agency April 2026-revised overview Q&A Q7 for the justifiable-reason qualification on the penalty boundary | Whether a circumstance is a justifiable reason, the exact disruption-recovery route, individual tax-collection method, amount and timing, penalty type, amount and application, confirmation-data treatment and refund outcome remain Unknown until the responsible authority, carrier, shop or operator confirms or acts. Ensure the confirmed goods actually leave Japan. If departure is disrupted by a cancellation, boarding refusal, missed departure or itinerary change, retain control of the goods and ask Customs before changing departure or baggage arrangements. The phrase without delay establishes no fixed or universal minutes, hours or same-day deadline in the checked sources. |
| Which Customs point applies to the two Q34 cruise itineraries? | For refund-method goods handed over from 1 November 2026, outside the narrow 00:00–01:00 exception, Q34 names two cruise routes. For a cruise that departs from and returns to a port outside Japan, complete the tax-free terminal procedure at the last port of call in Japan before handing over baggage as the ship leaves Japan. For a cruise that departs Japan, calls at ports outside Japan and returns to Japan, followed during the same continuous stay by departure from a domestic airport, no procedure is required at the cruise's temporary departure for an overseas call; complete the procedure for the entire stay at that later departure airport before handing over baggage. | National Tax Agency July 2026 detailed refund-method Q&A Q34 and Japan Tourism Agency English traveller FAQ for the two itineraries, plus the National Tax Agency transition Q&A for the handover time fence | Apply these branches only after confirming the exact itinerary and continuity of the stay. Do not generalize them to a Japan-origin one-way route, domestic cruise, ferry, private yacht, Japan-ending foreign-origin cruise, later seaport re-exit, multi-entry or separate stay, early disembarkation, port skip or itinerary change. Exact itinerary classification and stay continuity, final Japanese port or departure airport after changes, terminal location, operation and hours, baggage handoff, queue, passport and purchase-record linkage, all-goods availability, terminal-result routing, inspection, 90-day compliance, Customs confirmation and refund remain Unknown until the responsible carrier, port, airport, Customs, shop or operator confirms them. |
| What if a passport is lost and reissued after tax-free purchases? | Under the refund method, the National Tax Agency's Q35 covers the narrow case in which a traveller loses a passport, receives a reissued passport with a different passport number, and completes tax-free purchase procedures with both the old and new passports. At departure, present the new passport at the tax-free procedure terminal and complete the procedure, then tell a Customs officer at the counter that tax-free purchase procedures were also completed with the old passport. This lets the goods purchased under the old passport also undergo Customs confirmation. | National Tax Agency July 2026 detailed refund-method Q&A, Q35 | Treat the completed terminal procedure and Customs-counter report as two required actions for this Q35 scenario. Do not infer that the terminal automatically links the old-passport purchase records. The official Q&A does not say that the physical old passport must be presented, and it does not establish the same procedure for routine renewal, damage, name change, purchases made only with one passport or another identity change. The exact record linkage, new-passport or terminal recognition, officer report handling, inspection and Customs confirmation remain Unknown until Customs acts. Refund timing and outcome remain Unknown until the responsible shop or operator acts. |
| Does the terminal's few-second result define the airport time needed? | No. The published estimate of a few seconds covers only the terminal's passport scan-to-result step, not the total end-to-end Customs time. A Red Result requires presenting the goods and completing any required inspection before boarding procedures. If a traveller abandons the procedure because of insufficient time, Customs confirmation is incomplete. If the traveller is unable to depart because of insufficient time for the tax-free procedure, the official guide says neither the airline nor Customs provides compensation for that result. | Japan Tourism Agency traveller transition guide and FAQ | Create a personal buffer at the final Japan departure point before baggage check-in and the carrier's cutoff, while keeping every tax-free good available. No universal arrival minutes are established; the queue, terminal operation, Red Result selection, inspection duration and airline cutoff remain Unknown until the responsible authority or carrier confirms them. |
| Who sends the refund? | Customs sends confirmation data; the tax-free shop or its refund operator handles the refund under its own stated terms. | Japan Tourism Agency and National Tax Agency refund-system flow | Method, timing, fee, currency, exchange rate and failure handling remain Unknown until the responsible shop or operator states them. |
| Does Customs confirmation guarantee that a failed refund will still be paid? | No. National Tax Agency Q59 covers a traveller-side refund-destination account number or refund-method registration that is incorrect and leaves the shop unable to pay the refund. Saved Customs confirmation information can still support the shop's tax exemption, but it does not establish payout to the traveller. If the parties' contract makes the refund no longer owed in that case, the shop can treat the unpaid tax-equivalent amount as non-taxable miscellaneous income. The period until that unpaid amount receives the miscellaneous-income accounting treatment is not set by law. The Q&A gives a pre-agreed no-application cutoff after a stated number of days as an example, not a universal or statutory deadline. | National Tax Agency July 2026 detailed refund-method Q&A, Q59 | Before purchase, confirm the refund destination and other registration fields, the correction route for an error, any application action and the shop or operator's contract cutoff; preserve those terms and follow the stated route promptly. Customs confirmation does not guarantee payout, but Q59 also does not say that every registration error removes the refund, that every unpaid refund is the traveller's fault, that the shop always keeps the amount, or that correction or retry is impossible. The exact contract, error attribution, notice and correction route, cutoff, refund obligation and interpretation, consumer remedy and payout remain Unknown until the responsible shop, operator or other competent owner confirms or acts on them. |
| Does Visit Japan Web guarantee the departure confirmation or refund? | No. For the refund-method departure step, the Japan Tourism Agency permits online completion through Visit Japan Web only at Narita, Haneda, Kansai, Chubu, Fukuoka, New Chitose and Naha airports, within the designated procedure wireless LAN in the international departure lobby and up to the security checkpoint. | Japan Tourism Agency traveller transition guide and FAQ | It does not guarantee Customs confirmation or a refund. Recheck the exact departure point, designated wireless LAN and pre-security location; live support, interface availability, inspection and refund outcomes remain Unknown. |
| What must be prepared, and what can be reviewed, for the Visit Japan Web online departure route? | To use the refund-method online departure route, a traveller must register with Visit Japan Web before receiving Customs confirmation. The online route lets the traveller check tax-free-shop purchase history (purchase-record information) and the details of purchase-record information that becomes subject to refund processing through Customs confirmation; the airport tax-free procedure terminal does not provide those views. A shop's English name appears in the details only when the shop has set the optional English-name field. | National Tax Agency July 2026 detailed refund-method Q&A, Q33 | If you plan to use the online departure route, finish registration before Customs confirmation; the source does not require registration before airport arrival or on an earlier day. Review what the online route displays, but do not treat a display or omission as Customs confirmation, record completeness, eligibility or a refund. An English shop name is conditional on the shop setting the optional field. Individual registration success, record linkage, update and display timing, completeness, correction or remediation, detail or English-name display, live online or WLAN availability, inspection, Customs confirmation and refund remain Unknown. |
This ledger records source-backed decisions, not personal experience. Field tests are labelled separately.
Official sources and what each confirms
Official sources
Transition, Customs and refund-system evidence
All 23 official source records and the article reviewed 12 September 2026. Short-expiry transition review due 19 September 2026. This guide is official-link-only and contains no commercial link.
- National Tax Agency: current eligible-purchaser and goods rules
Established: Under the current system, eligible foreign-national nonresidents include people with Temporary Visitor, Diplomat or Official status, while the shop receives the purchaser's passport or prescribed information and verifies the purchaser. A returning Japanese national must prove two continuous years of address or residence outside Japan with a Residency Certificate or copy of the Koseki no Fuhyō (Family Register Attachment) created on or after the date six months before the person's last entry and containing the prescribed current-system fields. The National Tax Agency expressly includes officially issued electronic Residency Certificates and their printouts. Tax-exclusive totals are calculated for the same eligible purchaser at the same tax-free shop on the same day. General goods require JPY 5,000 or more; consumables require JPY 5,000 to JPY 500,000 and prescribed packaging. When both category totals are below JPY 5,000, they are not combined automatically: the shop may choose to treat and package the general goods like consumables and then test the combined total in that lane. Eligible goods are ordinarily for daily life; goods clearly bought for business use or resale are excluded. The page establishes general categories and documents, not an individual's eligibility, document acceptance or transaction result.
Checked - Japan Tourism Agency: current tax-free shopping eligibility overview
Established: For the current tax-free shopping system, the traveller overview says the ordinarily timed entry condition is within the past six months and identifies diplomats, government officials and U.S. military personnel as exceptions to that time condition. People with Short-Term Stay, Diplomatic or Official residence status can create a Tax-Free Shopping QR Code in Visit Japan Web and present it at a tax-free shop that accepts that route. Not every tax-free shop accepts Visit Japan Web, so the traveller must confirm support with the shop before use. The QR is a purchase-time route; at departure, the page separately tells the traveller to present the passport or other documentation to Customs and show the goods if requested. The page does not establish an individual's eligibility, exact document combination, QR creation or readability, shop support, identity check, scan or transaction result.
Checked - Japan Tourism Agency: current eligibility flow for foreign nationals
Established: For current-system foreign-national purchasers, the flow separates passport type, residence status or landing permission, presented document and landing-date checks. The ordinary timed route uses less than six months. When a person entered with re-entry permission, the flow checks the first or original landing date shown by the landing-permission stamp, not the re-entry date. It also separates Visit Japan Web, trusted-traveller and special landing-permit routes, so a passport, itinerary or simple re-entry date does not establish an individual result.
Checked - Japan Tourism Agency: current eligibility flow for Japanese nationals
Established: For a current-system returning Japanese-national purchaser, this older flow checks less than six months since temporary return and requires the original support document rather than a phone photo or photocopy. Read that illustration with the current National Tax Agency guidance, which expressly includes officially issued electronic Residency Certificates and their printouts. It also checks the passport and return stamp, two continuous years of residence outside Japan and the prescribed supporting document. The Residency Certificate or officially issued copy of the Koseki no Fuhyō must meet its recency and content conditions. The flow establishes general checks, not an individual's eligibility or the shop's reading and acceptance result.
Checked - National Tax Agency: automated-gate notice for tax-free shoppers
Established: Using an automated gate at airport entry can leave the passport without a landing-permission stamp. If the missing stamp means a tax-free shop cannot confirm that the person is an eligible purchaser, the tax-free sales procedure cannot be completed. After passing the automated gate and before arrival Customs inspection, a traveller who intends to use tax-free shops should ask examination-office staff for the stamp. The notice does not establish that every automated-gate user lacks a stamp or decide an individual's stamp issuance, alternative document route, shop verification or transaction result.
Checked - Japan Tourism Agency: tax-free refund-system guidance for travellers
Established: Under the refund system, travellers pay tax at purchase, complete Customs departure confirmation within 90 days from the purchase date and receive any refund from the shop or its operator under that operator's terms. The page labels its revised list of documents required at tax-free shops for purchases made on or after 1 November 2026. At the terminal, a Green Result means no inspection is required and the Customs procedure is complete; a Red Result requires bringing all tax-free goods to the designated Customs inspection area. All goods must be available before baggage check-in. For the narrow published itinerary in which a cruise departs Japan, calls at ports outside Japan, returns to Japan and the traveller later leaves from a domestic airport, the page directs the traveller to complete the tax-free procedure at that departure airport. Read together with the page's general baggage rule, the procedure is completed before handing over baggage. The page does not publish the separate route for a cruise that starts and ends outside Japan or establish another cruise or ferry itinerary. The procedure, including any required inspection, must finish before boarding procedures; abandoning it because of insufficient time means it is not completed, and if insufficient tax-free procedure time prevents departure, neither the airline nor Customs provides compensation. If all or part of a consumable has been consumed, the traveller must not complete the terminal procedure and must instead report the consumption to a Customs officer. Tax-free goods that have passed Customs inspection must then be exported without delay. If the traveller does not export them, the amount equivalent to the exempted consumption tax is collected and the page says penalties apply; it does not establish a fixed export deadline, disruption route or individual result. Visit Japan Web online completion for this departure procedure is available only at Narita, Haneda, Kansai, Chubu, Fukuoka, New Chitose and Naha airports, within the designated procedure wireless LAN in the international departure lobby and up to the security checkpoint.
Checked - Japan Tourism Agency: eligible tax-free goods purchasers under the refund method
Established: For the refund-method purchaser list, most listed foreign-national nonresidents must confirm that they have been in Japan for less than six months since entry; diplomats, official personnel and U.S. military members are excluded from that time condition. The list maps status or landing permission to the required passport or permit combination rather than making one passport-only rule universal. A returning Japanese national must be in Japan for less than six months since temporary return and prove two continuous years of address or residence outside Japan. The listed supporting documents are a copy of the Koseki no Fuhyō (Family Register Attachment), a Residency Certificate or a My Number Card; the My Number option includes the smartphone-based credential and must show the move abroad, while the supporting documents no longer need to show honseki. The parent traveller page, not this list alone, owns the on-or-after-1-November purchase-date label, and neither source establishes an individual result or document acceptance.
Checked - Japan Tourism Agency: refund-method eligibility flow for foreign nationals
Established: For refund-method sales from 1 November 2026, the foreign-purchaser flow still includes a branch that reads a Visit Japan Web tax-free QR code; the code is displayed only to a person registered as eligible for tax-free shopping. The flow separately checks the presented passport or document, status or landing permission, landing date and permitted-stay deadline, so the QR branch does not replace every purchaser-status or document route. A dual national uses the passport presented at entry, and the procedure depends on that passport. For the ordinary Short-Term Stay route, the flow requires both less than six months since entry and being within the permitted-stay deadline. For a person who entered with re-entry permission, the six-month check uses the first landing date shown by the landing-permission stamp rather than the re-entry date. Diplomat and Official statuses do not require the less-than-six-month check, and the flow separately identifies SOFA and special landing-permit routes. If an approved period-of-stay extension stamp is present, the updated status and permitted-stay deadline control. For a 90-day Short-Term Stay extension application awaiting a decision, the flow describes a narrow treatment until the application decision or two months after the original permitted-stay deadline, whichever is earlier. It does not say that every extension automatically adds two months, so a QR, itinerary or simple under-six-month shortcut does not establish an individual result.
Checked - Japan Tourism Agency: refund-method documents for Japanese nationals
Established: For refund-method sales from 1 November 2026 to a qualifying Japanese-national nonresident, the shop receives the passport plus one of three supporting documents: a Residency Certificate, a copy of the Koseki no Fuhyō or a My Number Card. The guide checks two continuous years outside Japan at the last entry. A Residency Certificate or Koseki copy must have been created on or after the date six months before the last entry. A My Number Card, including its smartphone-based credential, must be valid and continue to show the move abroad without a domestic-move entry. The guide explains document checks; it does not establish that a particular person or document will be accepted.
Checked - Japan Tourism Agency: changes to tax-free goods
Established: When the refund-method goods rules apply from 1 November 2026, the general-goods and consumables distinction, the JPY 500,000 consumables cap and special packaging are abolished. The tax-exclusive minimum remains JPY 5,000 or more without category, quantities are limited to what the purchaser can personally carry and take out at departure, and gold or platinum bullion, gold or platinum coins and consumption-tax-exempt goods are excluded. The sheet does not select an individual transition lane, override the narrow midnight exception or establish a purchaser, shop, transaction or Customs result.
Checked - Japan Tourism Agency: traveller refund-system FAQ
Established: For refund-method goods, a traveller connecting from a domestic flight completes the procedure at the final airport from which they leave Japan and before baggage check-in. The FAQ says that once baggage has been checked in, it cannot be retrieved for the tax-free procedure; if a later Red Result requires the goods, that checked baggage does not provide a recovery route. This statement is limited to the tax-free procedure. Other airline or carrier baggage handling and operational exceptions, substitute evidence, an alternative Customs route and an individual confirmation or refund outcome remain unestablished. For a cruise that departs from and returns to a port outside Japan, the traveller completes the tax-free terminal procedure at the last port of call in Japan before handing over baggage when leaving Japan. For the narrow fly-and-cruise route in which a cruise departs Japan, calls at ports outside Japan, returns to Japan and the traveller later leaves from a domestic airport during the same continuous stay, no procedure is required at the temporary cruise departure; the procedure for the entire stay is completed at that later departure airport before handing over baggage. The FAQ does not establish either branch for every cruise, ferry, one-way route, separate stay or changed itinerary. The FAQ says the terminal step from passport scan to result normally takes only a few seconds, but a required inspection means presenting the goods and it tells travellers to arrive with sufficient time. Customs inspection is conducted per purchase transaction: if even one item in a transaction is not in the traveller's possession, none of the goods associated with that record is eligible for confirmation. If all or part of a consumable has been consumed, the traveller must not complete the terminal procedure and must instead report the consumption to a Customs officer. For an item priced at JPY 1,000,000 or more excluding consumption tax, Customs may ask for a certificate of authenticity or warranty with the item. For returning Japanese nationals who must prove two continuous years outside Japan, the refund-method changes add a My Number Card, including its smartphone-based credential showing the move abroad, to the accepted supporting-document options and remove the requirement for those supporting documents to show honseki. Refund-method registration information is provided at the tax-free shop, and the traveller is directed to the shop or its refund service provider for details. Refunds are generally processed after Customs confirmation, but the exact method and timing are shop-specific. Possible methods include bank transfer, credit-card transfer, app-based refund and cash at the departure port after Customs confirmation; the shop selects its available methods. For purchases from 1 April 2025, sending the purchaser's own goods by international mail or parcel no longer qualifies for the former separate-shipment route. Visit Japan Web online completion for this departure procedure is available only at Narita, Haneda, Kansai, Chubu, Fukuoka, New Chitose and Naha airports, within the designated procedure wireless LAN in the international departure lobby and up to the security checkpoint. The FAQ does not replace the National Tax Agency's shop-to-purchaser handover rule, provide a total airport-duration promise, make a high-value document request automatic, prescribe one universal terminal step for other missing items or establish an individual result or payout.
Checked - Japan Tourism Agency: retailer FAQ for the refund method
Established: For the current system, within one designated commercial facility, multiple entrusted-procedure tax-free shops may entrust tax-free sales procedures to an authorized tax-free procedure operator acting at a tax-free procedure counter; qualifying tax-exclusive sales to the same eligible purchaser on the same day may be combined when testing the JPY 5,000 minimum. The FAQ says this aggregation exception continues under the refund method, but it does not establish the same designated-facility condition for the refund-method scope; the National Tax Agency detailed Q&A establishes that scope. It does not establish that arbitrary shops share one counter or that a particular facility, shop, receipt or transaction qualifies.
Checked - National Tax Agency: special site for the tax-free refund system
Established: The special site collects official material for the 1 November 2026 refund-system transition and lists several possible refund rails without promising one universal method; the detailed transition Q&A owns the goods-handover boundary and narrow midnight exception.
Checked - National Tax Agency: detailed refund-system guide
Established: For the refund method applying to sales from 1 November 2026, the official guide says presenting the passport includes presenting a Visit Japan Web QR code that contains recorded passport information. Purchaser confirmation still follows the applicable route; the guide does not establish that this QR inclusion waives permits or supporting documents required on other purchaser routes. The standard flow separately covers the tax-inclusive purchase, Customs departure confirmation and the shop or refund operator's post-confirmation refund process; it does not make the purchase QR the departure interface or establish one universal refund method or payout time.
Checked - National Tax Agency: English guide to the refund system
Established: Customs confirmation must occur within 90 days from the purchase date. For deadline counting, the guide treats the day after the purchase as day 1 and the 90th day as the deadline; its official example for a purchase recorded on 1 November 2026 gives a 30 January 2027 deadline. This deadline-counting rule does not separately establish whether a same-day confirmation attempt is accepted or prohibited. All goods in the purchase record may need to be available for confirmation.
Checked - National Tax Agency: transition Q&A
Established: The principal transition event is when the tax-free shop hands the goods to the eligible purchaser. There is no general overlap period, and the old process can continue from 00:00 through 01:00 on 1 November 2026 only when the shop applies its continuously used sales-accounting basis and records the sale as 31 October 2026.
Checked - National Tax Agency: detailed tax-free Q&A, July 2026
Established: For the refund method, if the absence of a landing-permission stamp means the shop cannot confirm that a person is an eligible purchaser, the shop cannot perform the tax-free sales procedure. The Q&A tells an ordinary automated-gate user who plans to use tax-free shops to request the stamp from examination-office staff after the gate and before arrival Customs inspection. It keeps the Trusted Traveler Program (TTP) separate: when the passport and Registered User Card, which records residence status and landing date, let the shop confirm purchaser eligibility, the procedure can be performed without a passport stamp. The detailed Q&A also says the tax-free procedure occurs when the tax-free shop hands the goods to the eligible purchaser; an order or payment without confirmed handover does not establish the transition lane. For traveller-carried goods, all tax-free goods must remain with the traveller until the terminal procedure and any required inspection are complete, before checking in any baggage. To use the Visit Japan Web online departure route, the traveller must register with Visit Japan Web before receiving Customs confirmation. The airport tax-free procedure terminal does not provide these views: the online route lets the traveller check tax-free-shop purchase history (purchase-record information) and the details of purchase-record information that becomes subject to refund processing through Customs confirmation. A shop's English name appears in those details only when the shop has set the optional English-name field. The Q&A does not establish registration success, record linkage, update or display timing or completeness, correction or remediation, detail or English-name display, the live interface, Customs confirmation or refund. Customs confirmation is made by purchase record, generally one sales or receipt transaction: if even one item in that record is missing, none of the goods in that record can be confirmed, while a separate purchase record does not automatically fail. Q34 separates two cruise itineraries. For a cruise that departs from and returns to a port outside Japan, the traveller completes the tax-free terminal procedure at the last port of call in Japan before handing over baggage when leaving Japan. For the narrow fly-and-cruise route in which a cruise departs Japan, calls at ports outside Japan, returns to Japan and the traveller later leaves from a domestic airport during the same continuous stay, no procedure is required at the temporary cruise departure; the procedure for the entire stay is completed at that later departure airport before handing over baggage. Q34 does not establish either branch for every cruise, ferry, one-way route, separate stay or changed itinerary. In the Q35 passport-loss case, a traveller receives a reissued passport with a different passport number and completes tax-free purchase procedures under both the old and new passports. At departure, the traveller presents the new passport at the tax-free procedure terminal and completes the procedure, then tells a Customs officer at the counter that tax-free purchase procedures were also completed with the old passport; the goods purchased under the old passport can then undergo Customs confirmation. The Q&A does not say that the physical old passport must be presented or establish this as a general route for routine renewal, damage, name change or another identity change. A qualifying shop-arranged direct-shipment transaction may use a separate export-exemption scheme with its own conditions; ordinary separate shipment does not establish that lane. Under the refund method, at one tax-free procedure counter, the authorized tax-free procedure operator may combine tax-exclusive sales from multiple general tax-free shops that entrusted their procedures to that operator, for the same eligible purchaser on the same day, when testing the JPY 5,000 minimum. The Q&A distinguishes the authorized operator from the counter: the counter procedure must be completed on the purchase day, so a next-day counter visit does not qualify, while distance from the shop alone does not exclude a counter. The standard refund follows receipt of Customs confirmation information, but an advance refund before that confirmation is permitted at the shop's own risk; it does not remove the traveller's Customs-confirmation obligation. The same Q&A's Q39 separates domestic consumption from use for refund-method goods. If all or part of a consumable is consumed in Japan, it cannot receive Customs confirmation; the traveller should not use the terminal procedure and should instead report the consumption to a Customs officer at the counter. Goods other than consumables that are used in Japan and ultimately taken out of Japan can undergo Customs confirmation. If a box or bag is part of the goods or displays identifying details such as a model number, separating it from the contents or discarding it may leave Customs unable to identify the tax-free purchase and confirmation may not be available; when that identification condition applies, keeping the packaging and contents together in their purchase state until departure supports smoother identification. Q39 does not establish an item's classification, which packaging or identifier is needed, treatment of opening, damage, repacking or missing parts, substitute evidence, identification, inspection, confirmation, purchase-record linkage or refund outcome. Q59 covers a traveller-side refund-destination account number or refund-method registration that is incorrect and leaves the shop unable to pay the refund. If the parties' contract makes the refund no longer owed in that case, the shop can treat the unpaid tax-equivalent amount as non-taxable miscellaneous income while retaining the tax exemption supported by saved Customs confirmation information. The period until that unpaid amount receives the miscellaneous-income accounting treatment is not set by law. The Q&A gives an agreement made during the tax-free sales procedure that no refund will be possible after a stated number of days without a traveller refund application as an example, not a universal or statutory cutoff. It does not establish an individual contract, registration error or responsibility, notice, correction or retry path, cutoff, refund obligation, consumer remedy or payout. Q98 says that, after the shop has sent purchase-record information, accepts a return and refunds the sale, a full return requires the shop to send cancellation data for the original purchase record without delay. For a partial return, the shop sends cancellation data for the original record and then sends corrected purchase-record information. If a defective-goods refund occurs after Customs confirmation information has been provided and the purchase-record and Customs-result statuses are final, Q98 says the original record does not need to be cancelled. It does not establish actual transmission, system acceptance, update or display timing, remaining-goods matching, a traveller-side editing route, correction or retry, Customs confirmation or any separate tax-free-refund outcome for retained goods. The Q&A does not establish an individual's stamp issuance, TTP eligibility or card validity, shop document acceptance, record linkage, verification, Customs confirmation or transaction result.
Checked - National Tax Agency: refund-method overview Q&A, April 2026 revision
Established: Q7 says that a purchaser whose tax-free goods have passed Customs confirmation must export those goods without delay. Failure to export in violation of that duty is subject to penalty when it occurs without a justifiable reason. The Q&A does not set a fixed number of minutes, hours or a same-day deadline, decide whether a cancellation, delay, boarding refusal, missed departure, itinerary change or another circumstance is a justifiable reason, prescribe one universal disruption-recovery route, or establish an individual tax-collection, penalty, confirmation-data or refund result.
Checked - National Tax Agency: English notice for foreign travellers
Established: The standalone English notice tells travellers to complete Customs confirmation within 90 days, keep the goods available on request and finish confirmation before checking in any baggage; it does not establish the transition handover or midnight-exception facts.
Checked - National Tax Agency: Customs-confirmation FAQ
Established: The FAQ explains the Customs-confirmation boundary under the refund system; it does not establish a shop's refund method, timing, fee or currency.
Checked - Japan Customs: current tax-free purchase FAQ
Established: For the current-system lane used here only for goods handed over through 31 October 2026, the traveller presents the passport at Customs when leaving Japan, Customs inspects possession as necessary and consumption tax is payable if the goods are not exported because they were transferred or consumed. The former unaccompanied-baggage confirmation route was abolished on 31 March 2025.
Checked - Japan Customs and National Tax Agency: current traveller notice
Established: For the current-system lane used here only for goods handed over through 31 October 2026, the traveller presents the passport and purchased goods to Customs at departure. If tax-free goods are in checked baggage, Customs confirmation must be obtained before handing that baggage to the airline. If the traveller does not possess and export the goods, consumption tax is collected. The former separate-shipment route was abolished on 31 March 2025, while goods purchased by that date may in principle retain the earlier treatment; the leaflet does not establish an individual inspection or tax result.
Checked - Ministry of Finance: FY2025 tax-reform context
Established: The policy material establishes the reform context, not an individual traveller's eligibility, refund amount or shop processing terms.
Checked
Review dates and complete update history
Editorial maintenance In schedule
What was checked and what changes next
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- Next scheduled review
- This review covered
- Japan Tourism Agency, National Tax Agency, Japan Customs and Ministry of Finance guidance covering the independent purchase-date document-list and shop-to-purchaser handover system-lane decisions, current foreign and returning-Japanese six-month, re-entry and supporting-document checks, including officially issued electronic Residency Certificates and their printouts, the automated-gate missing-stamp request window and separate TTP passport-plus-card route, refund-method purchaser documents including the dual-national entry-passport, separate less-than-six-month and permitted-stay-deadline gates and narrow extension-application treatment, the current and refund-method Visit Japan Web purchase-QR route and its separation from the departure interface, current and refund-method purchase thresholds and goods rules, the refund-method distinction between consumed consumables and domestically used non-consumables ultimately taken out plus the separate identifying-packaging risk at Customs, the separate current-system designated-facility and refund-method one-counter aggregation scopes, the narrow midnight accounting exception, conditional shop-arranged shipment, the refund-method 90-day calendar deadline and same-day operational Unknown, the current-system passport, goods and checked-baggage departure sequence, refund-method final-departure handling including the checked-baggage no-retrieval boundary, the retained airline and carrier exception Unknown, full-return purchase-record cancellation, partial-return cancellation followed by a corrected record and the post-confirmation final-status exception, the post-confirmation duty to export confirmed goods without delay, tax collection for non-export and Q7's justifiable-reason condition on the penalty boundary, Q34's last-Japan-port and later-airport cruise branches and the narrow lost-and-reissued-passport Customs handoff, the seven-airport Visit Japan Web wireless-LAN and pre-security scope, online-route registration before Customs confirmation, Visit Japan Web purchase-history and refund-processing-detail views that airport terminals do not provide and conditional English shop-name display, terminal-versus-total time, time-shortfall results, Green and Red Customs results, conditional high-value document requests, consumed or missing goods, electronic purchase-record confirmation, standard post-confirmation refunds, permitted shop-risk advance refunds, and Q59's traveller-side refund-registration failure, contract-scoped no-refund condition and non-statutory miscellaneous-income accounting-period boundary.
- Latest material change
- : Rechecked all 23 official sources for the current and November refund systems. Clarified that officially issued electronic Residency Certificates and their printouts are included in the current National Tax Agency guidance.
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Public change log
Update history
- Official sources rechecked
Rechecked all 23 official sources for the current and November refund systems. Clarified that officially issued electronic Residency Certificates and their printouts are included in the current National Tax Agency guidance.
- Integrated the practical next-step workflow
Integrated the goods-handover-to-refund record manuscript into the existing guide, with scoped source checks; earlier full-review dates and specialist conditions are retained.
- Added the post-note refund decision path
Rechecked the three official sources governing refund ownership, shop-specific methods and registration failure, added a post-note Compare, Ask or Separate decision path, kept unconfirmed terms Unknown and retained the cash-or-card route as a separate non-affiliate decision.
- Added the shop-refund terms scratchpad
Rechecked all 23 official sources, added a no-submit same-page scratchpad for the shop, handover lane, refund payout method, currency, fee, timing and failure terms, routed the separate payment decision to a new-tab cash-or-card guide, kept every unconfirmed field Unknown and withheld unrelated affiliate products.
- Added the return-record correction boundary
Added the refund-method Q98 distinction between a full-return cancellation and a partial-return cancellation followed by a corrected purchase record, separated the shop's system duty from traveller-held proof, and kept transmission, acceptance, display and retained-goods Customs and tax-free-refund outcomes Unknown.
- Separated Customs completion from actual export
Added the refund-method duty to export Customs-confirmed goods without delay, qualified the penalty boundary to non-export without a justifiable reason, and kept disruption recovery, timing, individual tax-collection details, penalty application, confirmation-data treatment and refund outcomes Unknown.
- Added the checked-baggage no-retrieval boundary
Added the refund-method warning that checked baggage cannot be retrieved for the tax-free procedure once checked in, placed the action before any baggage check-in and retained airline exceptions, exact Customs handling, confirmation and refund outcomes as Unknown.
- Added the refund-registration and contract-cutoff boundary
Added the Q59 warning that Customs confirmation does not guarantee payout when traveller-side refund-destination or refund-method registration errors prevent payment, bounded any no-refund result to the parties' contract, and kept correction, cutoff, obligation, remedy and payout outcomes Unknown.
- Clarified cruise Customs confirmation points
Separated Q34's last-Japan-port route for cruises that start and end outside Japan from its later-airport route for the narrow Japan round-trip fly-and-cruise itinerary, kept the temporary cruise departure out of that latter Customs step, and retained itinerary, terminal, baggage, inspection, confirmation and refund outcomes Unknown.
- Clarified non-consumable use and identifying packaging
Separated Q39's permitted non-consumable domestic-use route from the identifying-packaging recommendation, kept consumed consumables on their existing Customs-counter route, and retained product classification, packaging, substitution, identification, inspection, confirmation, record linkage and refund outcomes Unknown.
- Added the Visit Japan Web registration and record-view boundary
Added the refund-method requirement to register before online Customs confirmation, separated its purchase-history and refund-target detail views from airport terminals, bounded English shop-name display to the shop-set optional field, and kept registration, record, interface, Customs and refund results Unknown.
- Added the reissued-passport Customs handoff
Added the refund-method Q35 handoff for a lost and reissued passport, separated the completed new-passport terminal procedure from the old-passport purchase-procedure report at the Customs counter, and kept old-passport possession, other identity-change routes, record linkage, inspection, confirmation and refund results Unknown.
- Clarified the automated-gate stamp window
Added the automated-gate missing-stamp boundary and its arrival-stage request window, separated the TTP passport-plus-card route, and kept individual stamp, route, document, shop and transaction results Unknown.
- Clarified the foreign-purchaser passport and stay gates
Added the refund-method foreign-purchaser rule that a dual national uses the passport presented at entry, separated the less-than-six-month and permitted-stay-deadline checks, bounded the narrow 90-day Short-Term Stay extension-application treatment, and kept every individual passport, status, deadline, application, document and shop result Unknown.
- Separated the two Visit Japan Web tax-free uses
Confirmed that the official refund-method purchase flow still includes a Visit Japan Web tax-free QR from 1 November 2026, separated that shop-side passport-information route from the seven-airport departure Customs interface, and kept shop participation, individual document and eligibility results, live interface, inspection, confirmation and refund outcomes Unknown.
- Clarified the 90-day Customs deadline
Promoted the refund-method 90-day Customs deadline to addressable evidence, corrected the calendar-day counting boundary, and kept same-day operation, purchase-record availability, inspection and confirmation Unknown.
- Separated the two counter-aggregation scopes
Corrected the ordinary same-shop minimum rule, separated the current-system designated-facility exception from the refund-method one-counter exception, distinguished the authorized operator from its counter, and kept exact shop entrustment, counter, receipt and transaction results Unknown.
- Separated purchaser documents from the handover rule
Added current and refund-method purchaser-document checks, separated the purchase-date document list from the goods-handover system lane as independent decisions, and kept individual status, document acceptance and shop handling Unknown.
- Clarified current exit and shop-controlled refund timing
Added the current-system passport, goods and checked-baggage sequence, separated standard post-confirmation refunds from permitted advance refunds, and added the conditional high-value document check while keeping individual Customs and payout results Unknown.
- Separated kiosk time from the full Customs deadline
Separated the terminal's few-second result from the full Customs procedure, added the time-shortfall and no-compensation boundary, and kept the queue, inspection duration and airline cutoff Unknown.
- Added the pre-purchase goods-rule comparison
Added a pre-purchase comparison of the current and refund-method goods rules, including thresholds, consumables, packaging, carry limits and excluded goods while preserving individual eligibility as Unknown.
- Added the final-departure Customs result flow
Added the final-departure Customs result flow, time-fenced it to refund-method handovers and preserved transaction-specific terminal, inspection and refund outcomes as Unknown.
- Corrected the controlling transfer-date rule
Corrected the transition guide to use the shop-to-purchaser handover as the controlling point, retained the narrow midnight exception and clarified the all-goods, any-baggage and purchase-record Customs boundaries.
- Published the 2026 tax-free transition guide
Added an official-link-only transition guide covering the current purchase-time exemption process and the November 2026 refund method.
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