Japan Tax-Free from Nov 2026: Refund to Card, App or Cash?

From November 1, 2026, a tax-free purchase in Japan is paid at the full tax-included price, and up to one eleventh of that price (¥1,000 on an ¥11,000 item) comes back only after customs checks the goods as you leave. The method is set by each shop and its refund operator, and as of October 26, 2026 no official page names PayPay, Alipay, WeChat Pay, Apple Pay or any other app as a place the refund can go.

So the question to settle is not how you pay. It is how the shop pays you back, and that is asked at the register.

How does the money get from the shop back to you?

In four steps, and the refund is the last one. Japan's new refund method moves the tax off the register: you pay the full price, register where the refund should go, pass the customs check at departure within 90 days, and only then does the shop or its refund operator send the tax back.

1. Pay the tax-included price. The purchase must reach ¥5,000 before tax (¥5,500 with tax) at one shop on one day, and the shop records it against your passport (Japan Tourism Agency traveller page (checked October 26, 2026)).
2. Register a refund destination. The shop explains how to register at the time of purchase (Japan Tourism Agency traveller FAQ (checked October 26, 2026)).
3. Leave Japan within 90 days of the purchase date. A customs terminal reads your passport; green means you walk on, red means you show the goods.
4. Receive the refund. It arrives by whichever method you registered with that shop's operator.

Can the refund go to PayPay, Alipay or Apple Pay?

Possibly, but no official source says so for any named app. The Japan Tourism Agency lists "app transfer" as one example method, and the Japan Tax-free Shop Association lists "two-dimensional code payment", yet neither names a single app as of October 26, 2026. Whether yours works depends on the shop's refund operator.

The government FAQ's examples are bank transfer, credit card transfer, app transfer and cash inside the departure airport or seaport. The association adds that the refund destination is registered through an app, a website or a payment terminal (Japan Tax-free Shop Association (checked October 26, 2026)).

The announcements from PPIH (Don Quijote), Cash Japan and Self Tax Refund name no app either. "Two-dimensional code" is the official term for QR-code payment: a category, not a promise about your app.

Does the refund go back to the card I paid with?

Not by any national rule. Japan's consumption tax law sets no rule on how a refund is carried out, so the shop and its refund operator decide where the money goes.

The Japan Tourism Agency says this directly in its FAQ for shops, question 19: the tax law does not lay down how the refund procedure is done (Japan Tourism Agency FAQ for tax-free shops (checked October 26, 2026)).

Paying and being paid back are two separate steps. Nothing in the national rules ties the refund method to the payment method. Which methods a shop offers, and whether it links them to how you paid, is the shop's choice. Ask.

Can I still pay with an app, Suica or cash and get the tax back?

Yes, as far as the national conditions go. The published conditions are about the buyer, the shop, the day, the ¥5,000 threshold, departure within 90 days and the customs check. The way you pay is not one of them, so paying by app, Suica, card or cash does not by itself remove eligibility.

The shop can still add its own requirements, such as a card in your own name. Our page on payment methods lists the national conditions in full.

How much is taken off the refund?

It depends on the shop. The government takes no fee and does not say whether the traveller or the shop carries the operator's cost, so no single percentage applies. Some shops charge nothing, others deduct an unpublished amount, and airport cash can cost more.

• Government: no fee, and no rule on who pays the operator (Japan Tourism Agency FAQ for tax-free shops, question 17 (checked October 26, 2026)).
• Don Quijote (PPIH): no refund fee, except that cash at an airport carries the operator's fee; the terms can change without notice (PPIH announcement of October 5, 2026 (checked October 26, 2026)).
• Cash Japan: 10% of the refund, not 10% of the price (Cash Japan terms (checked October 26, 2026)).

On an ¥11,000 item the refund ceiling is ¥1,000. Taken as Cash Japan cash, ¥100 goes and ¥900 is handed over. The full comparison is on our handling fee page.

Can I get yen in cash at the airport instead?

At some airports, if your shop's operator is connected. No national rule guarantees cash. Two services have announced yen cash from November 1, 2026: Cash Japan at six airports and Self Tax Refund at Haneda, Narita and Naha. Whether you can use either depends on the refund operator of the shop where you bought.

• Cash Japan plans kiosks and counters at Chubu, Fukuoka, Kansai, Kobe, Narita and New Chitose, rolling out from November 1, 2026, for transactions of the tax-free operators it partners with (Cash Japan announcement of October 19, 2026 (checked October 26, 2026)).
• Self Tax Refund pays yen at terminals at Haneda, Narita and Naha in about one minute. Its announcement gives no fee rate (Haneda Airport notice of October 21, 2026 (checked October 26, 2026)).

Airport details are on our airport cash page.

What if the card is not in my name?

No national rule covers a card name that differs from the passport, but shops can require a match. Mitsukoshi Isetan and Hankyu Hanshin Department Stores ask for a card or other method in the buyer's own name. Paying with your own card, in your own name, avoids the question.

Family cards are covered on our family card page, other cases on the name mismatch page.

Which situation are you in?

You pay for everything with a phone wallet

Before the cashier rings up the sale, ask which refund methods the shop offers and whether your app is one of them. If the answer is no, register a card or bank account for that purchase. The app still works for paying.

You are travelling with someone else's card

Each purchase belongs to one passport. Pay with a card in the passport holder's name.

You want spending money on your last day

Airport cash comes after the customs check, so it cannot fund shopping earlier in the trip. Check that your shop's operator is connected to the cash service at your departure airport.

What stays the same, and where do people slip?

The ceiling, the threshold and the 90 days do not move. Up to one eleventh of the tax-included price at the standard 10% rate can come back, ¥5,000 before tax is counted per shop per day, and the goods must leave Japan with you. The slips are about method, not money.

• Assuming the refund returns to the paying card. No rule says it must.
• Assuming one app collects refunds from every shop. Each shop picks its own operator.
• Leaving the register without registering a destination.
• Expecting a fixed number of days. No national rule sets one; see our refund timing page.

What had not been announced as of October 26, 2026?

Four points about getting paid were still open. We checked the Japan Tourism Agency traveller page, its two FAQs, the Japan Tax-free Shop Association and the PPIH, Cash Japan and Self Tax Refund announcements on October 26, 2026.

• Named apps. No source lists PayPay, Alipay, WeChat Pay, Apple Pay or Suica as a refund destination.
• Days until payment. No national figure.
• A national fee rate. There is none by design; each shop decides.
• Items at the reduced 8% rate. How they are treated has not been set out (Japan Tourism Agency traveller FAQ (checked October 26, 2026)).

We will check again between October 31 and November 2, 2026. The overview of methods is on our refund methods page.

What else do travellers ask?

Can I get the refund on PayPay?

Only if the shop's refund operator supports it. No official source names PayPay as a refund destination as of October 26, 2026.

Will the money go back to my credit card automatically?

Not automatically. The shop and its operator decide the route, and you register the destination when you buy.

Does paying with Apple Pay or Suica stop me getting the tax back?

No. The way you pay is not one of the national conditions.

Is airport cash free?

Not always. Cash Japan takes 10% of the refund, and PPIH says airport cash carries the operator's fee.

Which sources were checked, and when?

• Japan Tourism Agency, traveller page: the order of payment, customs check and refund, the ¥5,000 threshold and the 90 days (checked October 26, 2026).
• Japan Tourism Agency, traveller FAQ: example refund methods and registration at the time of purchase (checked October 26, 2026).
• Japan Tourism Agency, FAQ for tax-free shops: no government fee (question 17) and no legal rule on how refunds are paid (question 19) (checked October 26, 2026).
• Japan Tax-free Shop Association: refund operators, payment categories and registration routes (checked October 26, 2026).
• PPIH, Cash Japan and the Haneda Airport notice for Self Tax Refund: fees and airport cash (checked October 26, 2026).