From 1 November 2026 you pay Japan's 10% tax at the till and claim it back at the airport. What changes, what it costs in fees, and how to not lose it.
Until 31 October, buying a ¥50,000 camera at Bic Camera in Shinjuku costs ¥50,000. You hand over your passport, the clerk knocks the 10% consumption tax off, you walk out. From 1 November the same camera costs ¥55,000 at the till, and the ¥5,000 comes back later, minus a fee, if you do the airport part right.
That is the whole reform in one receipt.
Japan is switching from tax-free at the counter to pay first, refund at departure, with no transition period. If your trip straddles the date, the rules change halfway through it.
Why Japan is doing this
The old system trusted the passport at the till. Buy tax-free, promise to export, leave. Too many goods never left: they were resold inside Japan, and the tax was simply gone. Under the new system the refund is only paid after customs confirms the goods are actually leaving the country, which is how most of Europe has worked for decades.
I think it's the right call, and I say that as someone who liked the old system a lot. A counter discount you get on the honour system was always going to be abused. The cost of fixing it lands on honest shoppers as paperwork and fees, which is annoying but predictable.
What changes on 1 November
| Until 31 Oct 2026 | From 1 Nov 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| At the till | Tax removed | You pay the full price, tax included |
| Minimum | ¥5,000 before tax, per store, per day | Same |
| Consumables vs general goods | Counted separately, consumables in sealed bags | Distinction dropped, no sealed bags |
| Consumables cap | ¥500,000 per store, per day | Removed |
| Export window | Consumables within 30 days | All goods within 90 days of purchase |
| High-value items | No special check | ¥1,000,000+ before tax: serial number recorded, may be inspected |
| Fees | Only at department-store cash counters (about 1.55%) | Operators may deduct about 1.55–2.2% |
Two of those are real improvements. The 90-day window means a pair of boots bought in week one of a long trip no longer needs juggling. And dropping the sealed-bag rule for cosmetics and snacks ends the ritual of carrying a taped plastic bag around Kyoto for a week because opening it would void the discount.
How the refund works now
Shop at a store with the Japan Tax-Free Shop sign, spend at least ¥5,000 before tax (¥5,500 including tax) in that store on that day, and show your passport before paying. You pay the full price. The store records the purchase against your passport and asks how you want the refund: card, bank transfer, e-wallet, or cash at the departure point, depending on the store's refund provider. Pick card if it's offered; it's the least effort.
At the airport, customs confirms the export by scanning your passport and may ask to see the goods. Only after that confirmation does the store or its refund operator pay you back. LIVE JAPAN reports card refunds landing in one to two weeks, bank transfers in two to four.
My rule: if anything you bought is going in the checked bag, find the customs point before you drop the bag. An inspection request is much less stressful when the item is in your hand and not on a belt behind the counter.
What it costs you
On the ¥55,000 camera, the tax is ¥5,000. If the refund operator deducts 1.55% to 2.2% of the price, that's roughly ¥850 to ¥1,210 gone, so you net somewhere around ¥3,790 to ¥4,150 instead of the full ¥5,000 you saved at the till last month. Measured against what you paid, that's about 6.9 to 7.5% back, where the old counter discount was worth 9.1% (¥5,000 off ¥55,000).
It's still worth doing on anything over the minimum. It's just no longer free money, and card refunds also pick up whatever exchange rate your bank applies on the day they land.
Traps worth knowing
- Shipping home doesn't count. Since 1 April 2025, goods you mail home or send through a forwarding service are not tax-free. The item has to leave with you.
- Straddling the date. Buy on 31 October and you get the old counter discount; buy on 1 November and you pay the tax. The store applies whichever system is live the day you pay, not the day you fly.
- Minimum is per store, per day. Two ¥3,000 purchases at Don Quijote on Monday and Tuesday don't combine. One ¥6,000 basket on Monday does.
- Services are never included. Hotels, restaurants and trains carry the tax no matter what. Kyoto's new accommodation tax and the ¥3,000 departure tax are separate charges; we priced them in the 2026 tourist-tax ledger.
The Japan page of our tax-free shopping checker has the full rule set with sources, and the checker itself will tell you your minimum shortfall or expected refund for a given spend. If you're still choosing dates, when to visit Japan rates every month, and the visa checker covers entry rules for your passport.
Rules verified 24 September 2026 against JNTO, the National Tax Agency's refund-method guidance, GO TOKYO and reporting linked above. Operator fees and refund methods vary by store; confirm at the counter before you pay.