Tax-Free Shopping in Japan Under the 2026 Refund System

In short

• Pay the full price, show your passport, keep the receipt.
• At least ¥5,000 per shop per day, before tax, and leave Japan within 90 days.
• At the airport, do the tax-free check before you check in your bags.
• How the money comes back, and whether there’s a fee, is up to each shop: ask at the till.

How tax-free works since November 2026

Until 31 October, tax-free shops simply left the tax off. From 1 November you pay it, and the shop or a refund company it hires pays it back after customs confirms the goods have left. There’s no transition period.

1. In the shop: pay the full price with tax, show your passport and keep the receipt.

2. At the airport, before check-in: scan your passport at a tax-free kiosk, or start on Visit Japan Web.

3. A green result means you’re done. A red one means taking the goods to the customs desk.

4. The refund arrives the way you chose in the shop: to the card, to a bank, in an app or as cash.

The rules: ¥5,000, 90 days, carried out

¥5,000 — The minimum per shop, per day, before tax

• Leave Japan within 90 days of buying.
• Only what you can carry out yourself when you leave.
• Food, drink and cosmetics no longer come in sealed bags, but anything you use in Japan stops being tax-free.
• Gold and platinum bullion, and anything already free of tax, don’t count.

Common mistake: Adding up two days to reach ¥5,000. The minimum is per shop and per day; only a shared tax-free counter, as in some malls, can combine purchases from several shops on the same day.

At the airport: before you check in

Do the check at your last departure point in Japan, before you drop your bags. Each receipt is checked on its own, so keep its goods together and with you.

Important: Check in your suitcase only after the tax-free kiosk. If it shows red, customs needs to see the goods, and a bag already on the belt can’t be shown.

Tip: At major airports you can start on Visit Japan Web before you reach the kiosk. Either way, leave extra time before your flight.

How the money comes back, and the fee

The law doesn’t say how the money is paid back or who pays the fee: each shop decides. Ask at the till before you pay, and choose the way back there.

Refund companies take a fee out of the refund. According to a business paper, Global Blue planned to deduct up to about 3% of the tax-free amount, up from about 1.55% before. Keep the receipts until the money is in.