Tax-Free 2026: Visit Japan Web QR Works If the Shop Takes It

Under the system that began on November 1, 2026, you can use a Visit Japan Web QR at a tax-free till if the shop takes it. Travellers with short-term stay, diplomatic or official status can give their details through a code recording passport information instead of the passport, but each shop chooses whether to accept that, so some will not — National Tax Agency Q&A (checked November 2, 2026).

At Narita, Haneda, Kansai, Chubu, Fukuoka, New Chitose and Naha airports you can also do the departure procedure online through Visit Japan Web instead of at a terminal. If that does not work you use the terminal, where the buyer presents the passport in person — Japan Customs (checked November 2, 2026). So keep the passport with you.

Can the Visit Japan Web QR be used at a tax-free register?

Yes, if the shop takes it. For short-term stay, diplomatic or official status, the passport a shop may be shown includes a Visit Japan Web code recording the passport details. Taking the details that way is optional for the shop, so a shop that declines is still within the rules.

The National Tax Agency Q&A puts this code in a note on the short-term stay, diplomatic and official row of its table of documents (question 16). It also says handling Visit Japan Web is not a condition of a shop's tax-free licence. The rows for port-of-call or transit landing permits, cruise and other landing permits, and Japanese nationals carry no such note.

The Q&A names a code that records passport details. It does not say which screen of the service shows it, so holding up an entry screen at the till is an assumption rather than a rule.

Can Visit Japan Web replace the terminal at departure?

At seven airports, yes: Narita, Haneda, Kansai, Chubu, Fukuoka, New Chitose and Naha. Travellers with short-term stay, diplomatic or official status can do the procedure online on a phone or similar device instead of using a terminal. Japanese nationals cannot use this route, and it is only available before security.

• Where: in the international departure lobby, within range of the dedicated Wi-Fi and before security — Japan Tourism Agency (checked November 2, 2026).
• Before you start: you need to be registered with Visit Japan Web before the customs confirmation — National Tax Agency Q&A, question 33 (checked November 2, 2026).
• If it does not work: use the tax-free terminal, where the buyer presents the passport in person — Japan Customs (checked November 2, 2026).
• Bags: the confirmation cannot be done after checking a bag in, and a checked bag cannot be pulled back for this.

These seven are the airports named for the online procedure.

Do I still need to carry my passport if I have the QR?

Yes, keep it with you. If a shop does not take the code you must present the passport, and without it that shop cannot do the tax-free procedure. At departure, if Visit Japan Web does not work, you present the passport at the terminal. Those are the two reasons the official text supports.

The National Tax Agency Q&A says the tax-free procedure cannot be done unless the right document for your category is presented (question 16). You cannot tell in advance whether a shop will take the code, so relying on the code alone can leave you unable to claim at that shop.

What do the published conditions actually ask for?

Five things: presenting the document at the register, spending ¥5,000 or more before tax, paying the tax-included price, the customs confirmation at departure, and leaving in time. A phone can stand in only for how the first and the fourth are done, and only in the situations described above.

• The passport or code at the register. The passport, or the Visit Japan Web code where your status and the shop allow it.
• A purchase of ¥5,000 before tax or more, counted per buyer, per shop, per day — Japan Tourism Agency (checked November 2, 2026).
• The tax-included price paid in the shop, with the tax returned after the customs confirmation.
• The customs confirmation at departure. You present the passport at a terminal: Green ends the procedure and Red sends you to the inspection area with the goods. The online procedure is the alternative at the seven airports.
• Leaving in time. Day 1 is the day after you buy and the last day is day 90. The system is for non-residents, such as foreign visitors with short-term stay status.

The official text names the code itself. Whether a screenshot of it is enough is not in the official texts.

The tax at the 10% rate is one eleventh of the tax-included price, and the refund is paid after the confirmation rather than taken off at the register.

What changed on November 1, 2026?

The tax is no longer taken off at the register; it comes back after the customs confirmation. The documents shown in shops were also revised for purchases from November 1, 2026, and the current table lists the code on the row for short-term stay, diplomatic and official status.

• The general goods and consumables split was abolished, so one shop on one day is now one total for each buyer.
• The sealed bag is gone, but consumables consumed in Japan cannot get the customs confirmation or the refund — Japan Tourism Agency FAQ for travellers (checked November 2, 2026).
• You pay the tax-included price in the shop, and the tax comes back after the confirmation.
• The former daily ceiling on consumables was abolished.

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

What did not change?

• 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 do not combine as a rule. The exception is a shop that outsources the procedure to a tax-free counter: the counter can add up one buyer's same-day purchases from several shops to judge the minimum, though not every counter does — Japan Tourism Agency (checked November 2, 2026).
• The goods leave Japan with the buyer.
• The system is for non-residents, such as foreign visitors with short-term stay status.
• Separate shipment was abolished at the end of March 2025.
• An item of ¥1,000,000 or more before tax needs a serial number or something similar registered at the shop.

When does this question come up?

You used Visit Japan Web when you arrived

That screen belonged to the entry procedure. The tax-free route uses a code that records your passport details, and whether your arrival screen is that code is not in the official texts. Ask the shop, with the passport ready.

Your phone has the QR but the passport is back at the hotel

If you have one of the eligible statuses and the shop takes the code, you can give your details that way at the register. If the shop does not take it, that shop cannot do the procedure. A terminal at departure needs the passport too.

You held up the QR and the assistant shook their head

Taking the code is optional for a shop, so that is within the rules. Offer the passport instead.

One phone carries the codes for the whole family

A shop takes the document from the buyer in person, and the count is per buyer. How many phones a group carries is not part of the count.

You cannot find anywhere to hold up a QR at departure

The official text describes no step of holding a code up to a terminal; the passport is what you present there. Visit Japan Web at the seven airports is an online procedure on your own phone or similar device, over the dedicated Wi-Fi.

A post online says the QR does tax-free now

That is half right. For some statuses, the code can be used at the register if the shop takes it. It does not remove the customs confirmation at departure.

An AI answer mixed Visit Japan Web into the tax-free steps

Visit Japan Web touches tax-free in two places in the official text: the code at the register and the online procedure at seven airports. An answer that goes further, such as saying the code removes the customs step, has no official text behind it.

Your phone runs out of battery in the shop

A flat phone takes the code away, not the passport. That is one reason to keep the passport itself with you rather than only an image of it.

You have a photo of the passport instead of the passport

The list for short-term visitors names the passport and the Visit Japan Web code, not a photo of the passport.

You want to save time at the till

The official text says the code helps prevent input errors (National Tax Agency Q&A, question 17) but says nothing about saving time, so do not plan around it.

Two shops seemed to handle it differently

Taking the code is each shop's choice, so two shops can differ and both be within the rules.

Someone says the QR replaces the passport at the terminal

The official text says you present the passport at the terminal. The alternative at the seven airports is the online procedure on your own phone or similar device, not a code shown to the terminal.

What is left to shops and operators?

The screen shows Green or Red, and terminal hours are not in the official texts (as of November 2, 2026). Japan Customs does publish the locations on a map (checked November 2, 2026). The items below vary by shop and operator, or are not in the official texts.

The ¥5,000 minimum is judged on the pre-tax total with no split between the 8 and 10 per cent rates — National Tax Agency Q&A (checked November 2, 2026) — and 8 per cent goods qualify, but the official texts give no formula for their refund. The government takes no handling fee, and no rule says whether the traveller or the shop bears an operator's fee — Japan Tourism Agency FAQ for shops, Q17 (checked November 2, 2026). Refund days have no fixed number, and cash and other methods differ by shop — Japan Tourism Agency FAQ for travellers (checked November 2, 2026). How a card name that differs from the passport is treated is not in the official texts. The Japan Tax-free Shop Association (checked November 2, 2026) also explains refund operators.

Questions people ask

Can the Visit Japan Web QR be used at a tax-free till?

Yes for short-term stay, diplomatic or official status, if the shop takes it. It is optional for shops.

Does the QR replace the passport?

At the register you can give your details with the code, for those statuses and where the shop takes it. At a departure terminal you present the passport.

Is a photo of the passport enough?

The official list names the passport and the code, not a photo.

Is Visit Japan Web required for tax-free shopping?

No. It is an option at the register and at seven departure airports.

Can the QR be read by the terminal at departure?

The official text says you present the passport at the terminal and does not describe it reading a code. At seven airports an online procedure through Visit Japan Web can replace the terminal.

Are entry procedures and the tax-free record the same thing?

No. They are separate. The tax-free side can use a code that records your passport details, where the shop takes it.

Do I still need the passport if I have the QR?

Keep it with you. A shop may not take the code, and if Visit Japan Web does not work you present the passport at the terminal.

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 at the 10% rate, before any deduction that may exist.

When did the method change?

On November 1, 2026, with no transition period.

How long is there to leave Japan?

Day 1 is the day after you buy, and the last day is day 90: a November 1 purchase can be confirmed at departure until January 30.

Can receipts from two shops be added together?

As a rule, no. The exception is a tax-free counter a shop has outsourced to, which can add up one buyer's same-day purchases to judge the minimum.

Can the purchase be opened during the trip?

Nothing bans opening as such. But consumables consumed in Japan cannot get the customs confirmation or the refund, and separating goods from a box that is part of them may stop customs identifying them — National Tax Agency Q&A, question 39 (checked November 2, 2026).

Can the goods be posted from Japan instead?

No. Separate shipment was abolished at the end of March 2025.

Is there a fee?

The national government charges no fee, and no rule says whether the traveller or the shop bears an operator's fee. Ask the shop.

Where are the rules published?

The National Tax Agency, the Japan Tourism Agency and Japan Customs. The Japan Tax-free Shop Association also explains refund operators.