- Japan is planning to reform its Consumption Tax exemption system for foreign visitors to prevent the resale of tax-free goods within the country
- The changes are set to take effect in April 2025
- The government intends to shift from deducting taxes at the time of purchase to refunding taxes only after confirming that the visitors have taken their purchases out of Japan
- An investigation revealed that many visitors were not actually taking their tax-free goods out of the country, resulting in unpaid taxes
- Tax refunds in Japan apply to a wide range of items, but certain items like alcohol and frozen goods are excluded from the refund
- Purchases totaling 5,000 yen or more qualify for a tax refund, but delivery fees and service charges are not eligible
Source: vatcalc.com
Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.
