Glossary

9

90-day deadline

You must leave Japan, and complete the customs step, within 90 days of the purchase date.

A

Approved operator

A business authorised to send purchase records to customs and, in some arrangements, to return the money to you.

C

Consumption tax

Japan's national sales tax. The standard rate is 10%. A reduced rate of 8% applies to most food and drink. It is the tax the refund is about.

Customs confirmation

The step at departure where a terminal reads your passport against the purchase records your shops sent, and either clears you or asks to see the goods.

D

Duty-free shopping

Buying in the international zone of an airport, past passport control, where customs duty and other charges do not apply. A different tax, a different place, and outside what this site covers.

G

Green

The outcome at the customs terminal where you are cleared without showing the goods.

N

Non-resident

The status that makes you eligible. Broadly, a foreign traveller who has been in Japan for less than six months.

R

Red

The outcome where you are asked to present the physical goods.

Refund method

The system starting on November 1, 2026: you pay the tax-included price in the shop, customs confirms the goods when you leave, and the tax is returned to you afterwards.

S

Serial number registration

For goods of ¥1,000,000 and above, the shop records serial numbers or equivalent identifying details at the time of purchase.

T

Tax-free shopping

Buying goods in a registered shop in Japan without ultimately bearing the 10% consumption tax, because you are taking them out of the country. Not the same as duty-free shopping.

Threshold

¥5,000 excluding tax, which is ¥5,500 including it, at one shop on one day. Below it, the purchase does not qualify.