Common questions
| Item | Tax-free? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Clothes, shoes, bags, cosmetics, electronics | Yes | Food, drinks and cosmetics must not be used up in Japan. |
| iPhone and other smartphones | Yes | No special rule: a phone is treated like other goods. Items of ¥1,000,000 or more before tax need extra details recorded. |
| Gold or platinum bullion | No | Excluded by law. |
| Gold or platinum coins | No | Excluded for purchases from 1 November 2026. |
| Jewellery made of gold or platinum | Yes | Finished products made from gold or platinum qualify. |
| Restaurant meals, hotel stays, services | No | The system covers goods you take out of Japan, not services used in Japan. |
| Gift cards and prepaid cards | No | They are not subject to consumption tax in the first place. |
| Goods for your business or to resell | Yes, from 1 November 2026 | The business-use exclusion was removed. You can buy only as much as you can carry out yourself. |
It has to be a tax-free shop
Only shops licensed by the tax office as tax-free shops can sell tax-free. The licence is given shop by shop, so one branch of a chain may offer it and another may not. Look for the tax-free sign or ask before you pay.
The Japan Tourism Agency publishes the number of tax-free shops in each prefecture, but no official list of individual shops.
The ¥5,000 minimum
You need to spend at least ¥5,000 before tax at the same shop on the same day. General goods and consumables now count together. There is no upper limit, except that you must be able to take everything out of Japan yourself.
Not sure about a shop?
Ask before you pay whether the shop sells tax-free, which refund method it uses and whether there is a fee. The answer can differ between branches of the same chain.