Japan Tax-Free 2026: Customs Check First or Immigration First?

From November 1, 2026 the tax comes back after a customs confirmation at departure, and a purchase qualifies at ¥5,000 before tax at one shop on one day — Japan Tourism Agency (checked August 19, 2026).

Two things about that confirmation are published, and the position of the counter relative to immigration is not one of them.

Does the customs check come before or after immigration?

That order is not published. What is published is that the confirmation happens as you leave Japan, and that a terminal reads the passport, with a Green result meaning you pass through and a Red result meaning the goods are shown — Japan Customs (checked August 19, 2026).

Where the terminals are placed, how many there are, what their screens show and when people are present at them are unannounced as of August 19, 2026. So no one can honestly tell you that the reading stands on the check-in side or on the far side of the immigration counter. Anyone who states it as a fact is stating something that has not been published as of August 19, 2026.

One thing does follow from the two published points, and it is the only thing this page will claim. A Red result asks for the item itself, and an item that has already gone into the hold is not an item you can hand over. So the sensible way to think about the order is: the confirmation finished while the goods are still with you, rather than after they have been checked in. That is a way of planning, not a statement about where a machine stands.

The actual order, when it is published, will appear from the Japan Tourism Agency, from Japan Customs, or through the Japan Tax-free Shop Association (checked August 19, 2026). Those three are the places to read it from, and they are linked throughout this page.

What does the confirmation involve at departure?

The published shape of the new system is short, and every step in it is about the buyer and the goods rather than about a particular building.

• You pay the tax-included price in the shop. Nothing is taken off at the till.
• The passport is shown at the register when the purchase is recorded.
• You leave Japan within 90 days of the purchase date.
• A terminal reads that passport at departure. Green means passing through, Red means the goods are shown.
• The tax comes back after that confirmation. The listed methods are cash, credit card, a payment app, or through an approved operator.
• The amount is one eleventh of the tax-included price.
• The system is for non-residents, foreign travellers staying under six months.

Read that list again and notice what is missing from it: no step describes a floor, a lane, a counter number or a position in a queue. The system is described as a reading of a passport and, when the reading comes back Red, a sight of the goods.

What will change on November 1, 2026?

• The tax will come back after the customs confirmation. The former way was a deduction made at the register.
• The general goods and consumables split will be abolished, so one shop on one day becomes one total for each buyer.
• The sealed bag will no longer be required, so a purchase can be opened during the trip.
• The former daily ceiling on consumables will be abolished.

None of those lines says anything about which counter a traveller reaches first, so the order stays a question for the sources rather than something the change itself answers.

Purchases up to October 31, 2026 stay under the old system and purchases from November 1, 2026 fall under the new one. There is no transition period between them.

What will stay the same?

• The minimum is ¥5,000 before tax — ¥5,500 on a tax-included tag.
• It is counted per buyer, per shop, per day, and receipts from different shops never combine.
• The passport is shown at the register when the purchase is recorded.
• The goods leave Japan with the buyer whose passport was registered.
• Departure has to happen within 90 days of the purchase date.
• Separate shipment was abolished at the end of March 2025.
• A purchase of ¥1,000,000 or more needs a serial number or something similar registered at the shop.

When does the order of the two counters come up?

You remember the refund after passing immigration

The published conditions say the confirmation happens as you leave Japan and that a Red result asks for the goods. Where the terminal sits is unannounced as of August 19, 2026, so what is possible at that exact moment is a question for staff at the airport and for the sources on this page, not something this page can settle for you.

Your suitcase is about to go into the hold

This is the case the two published points actually reach. A Red result asks for the item, and an item in the hold cannot be produced. Finishing the confirmation while the goods are still in your hands is the order to plan around.

A domestic flight comes first on a connection

The condition is about leaving Japan, so the confirmation belongs to the departure from Japan rather than to the first flight of the day. Which airport that departure happens from, and where a terminal is placed there, is unannounced as of August 19, 2026.

Your flight leaves very early in the morning

When people are present at the terminals, and the hours in which the readings can be done, are part of what is unannounced as of August 19, 2026. That makes it a question to put to the airport and to the three sources rather than a detail to assume.

You use an automated gate

The customs confirmation is published as its own step, described as a reading of the passport at a terminal with a Green or Red result. Nothing published says that another gate carries out that reading, and where the two sit in relation to each other is unannounced as of August 19, 2026.

You are travelling with a tour group and the guide moves ahead

The purchases are counted per buyer and the reading is of the passport the purchases were registered against, so it is each traveller's own step. A group moving as one does not merge the readings.

You are leaving Japan by ship

The published condition is a confirmation when you leave Japan. Where terminals are placed is unannounced as of August 19, 2026, so the departure point is the thing to check against the Japan Tourism Agency, Japan Customs and the association before the day.

Only one person in the family has tax-free purchases

The count is per buyer, and the reading is of the passport the purchases were registered against. Family members with no registered purchases have nothing to be read, so this step belongs to one person in the group.

You want cosmetics and other consumables in your checked bag

From November 1, 2026 the general goods and consumables split will be abolished and the sealed bag will no longer be required, so those purchases sit in one total for that shop on that day. What that does not change is that a Red result asks for the actual item.

The shop told you to do it at the airport

The shop is describing the confirmation at departure, which is the published step. The counter it happens at, and the position of that counter, are unannounced as of August 19, 2026.

You have receipts from several shops

Receipts from different shops never combine, because the count is per buyer, per shop, per day. All of those purchases still sit on one passport, and the confirmation is a reading of that one passport.

You arrive at the airport with very little time

How long the step takes, where it is and how many terminals are available are unannounced as of August 19, 2026. This page will not promise you that it is quick, because that has not been published as of August 19, 2026.

Someone tells you exactly where the terminal is

Placement is unannounced as of August 19, 2026. A confident answer about a floor or a lane is not coming from the published material, and the three sources at the end of this page are where the real answer will appear.

What is unannounced as of August 19, 2026?

Six things stay open, and the order of the counters sits inside the third of them. Whether a handling fee is deducted at all is unannounced as of August 19, 2026. How many days a refund takes is unannounced as of August 19, 2026. Where terminals are placed, how many there are, what their screens show and when people are present at them are unannounced as of August 19, 2026. Whether cash remains available as a method at all is unannounced as of August 19, 2026. How a mismatch between the name on a card and the name in a passport is treated is unannounced as of August 19, 2026. How the reduced 8% rate is handled for refunds is unannounced as of August 19, 2026.

Answers to all six would appear from the Japan Tourism Agency, from Japan Customs, or through the Japan Tax-free Shop Association. Until they do, the honest form of this article's central question is: the confirmation happens at departure, and the position of that confirmation has not been published as of August 19, 2026.

What do travellers ask about the order?

Does the customs confirmation come before immigration?

That order is unannounced as of August 19, 2026.

Where is the terminal in the airport?

Terminal placement is unannounced as of August 19, 2026.

What happens at the terminal?

It reads the passport. Green means passing through and Red means the goods are shown.

Do the goods have to be with me?

A Red result asks for the actual item, so the goods being reachable is what that result depends on.

Can the goods be in checked baggage?

An item in the hold cannot be produced for a Red result, which is why the confirmation is worth finishing while the goods are still with you.

What is the minimum purchase?

¥5,000 before tax, per buyer, per shop, per day.

How much comes back?

One eleventh of the tax-included price.

When is the tax paid?

In the shop. From November 1, 2026 the tax-included price is what is handed over at the till.

How long is there to leave Japan?

90 days from the purchase date.

Is a sealed bag still needed?

From November 1, 2026 the sealed bag will no longer be required.

What if immigration has already been passed?

What is possible at that point depends on placement, which is unannounced as of August 19, 2026. Airport staff and the three sources are where to ask.

Is the refund handed over in cash?

Cash appears among the listed methods, but whether cash remains available at all is unannounced as of August 19, 2026.

Does an automated gate do the customs confirmation?

The confirmation is published as its own step, read from the passport at a terminal.

Who can use the system?

Non-residents, foreign travellers staying under six months.

Where will the order be published?

The Japan Tourism Agency, Japan Customs, and the Japan Tax-free Shop Association.