How Much Do You Actually Get Back? Japan Tax Refund Amounts and Fees

October 29, 2026

Japan tax refund rate: how much of what you pay comes back

Under the Refund Method, you pay the tax-inclusive price at checkout. After the customs check when you leave Japan, the shop (or a company acting for it) refunds an amount equal to the consumption tax. The refund fee is deducted from that amount.

Because the price you pay already includes the tax, the tax is a smaller share of what you paid than the tax rate itself. For a 10% item, the tax is 10/110 of the tax-inclusive price. For an 8% item, it is 8/108.

Table 1: Consumption tax as a share of the tax-inclusive price (before fees)

Tax rate of the item	Share of the price you pay
10% (most goods)	about 9.09% (10/110)
8% (food and non-alcoholic drinks)	about 7.41% (8/108)

What you actually receive is lower, because the refund fee is deducted from this amount. On TaxFreeOnline.jp, 16.5% of the consumption tax amount (a 15% fee plus consumption tax on it) is deducted.

Sources: Ministry of Finance, Consumption Tax (English page); National Tax Agency, overview of the reduced tax rate system (Japanese). Shares are our calculation from these tax rates.

First, the cases where you get nothing back

The calculation only matters if your refund goes through. Under the new system, you lose the refund in these cases:

You do not complete the customs check within 90 days of the date of purchase (counted from the day after purchase).
You check in luggage that contains your purchases before the customs check.
Even one item on a receipt is not with you at the customs check. Then nothing on that receipt is refunded. In the National Tax Agency's example, a receipt lists three items (¥3,000, ¥75,000 and ¥13,000). If only the ¥13,000 item is missing at the customs check, none of the three items can be confirmed.
You eat, drink or use up a consumable, such as food or cosmetics, in Japan.
The item is gold or platinum bullion, a gold or platinum coin, or a product that is not subject to consumption tax. These are not covered by tax-free sales.

The Refund Method applies to goods handed over from midnight on November 1, 2026. It depends on the date of sale, not the date you leave Japan, and there is no transition period (National Tax Agency, Q&A on the Refund Method, Overview Edition, Q8).

For the full rules, see our guide to the Refund Method. For the airport steps, see our departure-day guide.

Sources: National Tax Agency, Q&A on the Refund Method (Detailed Edition), Q6, Q36 and Q37 (Japanese); National Tax Agency, Q&A on the Refund Method (Overview Edition), Q8 (Japanese); Japan Tourism Agency, FAQ for travelers on the Refund Method (Japanese); Japan Tourism Agency, English leaflet for travelers

How to calculate your Japan tax refund, with worked examples

First work out the consumption tax amount. Use either formula; they give the same result.

From the price excluding tax: consumption tax amount = price excl. tax × tax rate
From the price you paid: consumption tax amount = tax-inclusive price × 10/110 (or 8/108)

Your refund is that amount minus the refund fee. On TaxFreeOnline.jp, the fee is 16.5% of the consumption tax amount (15% plus consumption tax on the fee), so the refund is 83.5% of the consumption tax amount.

Table 2: What you pay and the consumption tax amount before fees (yen)

Price excl. tax	Tax rate	You pay	Consumption tax amount (before fees)	About US$ (before fees)
¥5,000 (the minimum)	10%	¥5,500	¥500	about US$3.17
¥5,000 (the minimum)	8%	¥5,400	¥400	about US$2.53
¥10,000	10%	¥11,000	¥1,000	about US$6.34
¥10,000	8%	¥10,800	¥800	about US$5.07
¥30,000	10%	¥33,000	¥3,000	about US$19.01
¥30,000	8%	¥32,400	¥2,400	about US$15.21

The refund fee is deducted from the amounts in the last column.

A mixed receipt. The new system has no separate categories for general goods and consumables. If you buy ¥2,000 of snacks (8%) and ¥3,000 of cosmetics (10%) at the same shop on the same day, the total is ¥5,000 excluding tax, so it reaches the minimum. You pay ¥5,460. The consumption tax amount is ¥160 + ¥300 = ¥460, before the refund fee is deducted.

In US dollars (example only). At US$1 = ¥157.81 (Federal Reserve Board H.10 rate for October 2, 2026), a consumption tax amount of ¥1,000 is about US$6.34 and ¥3,000 is about US$19.01, before fees (see Table 2). Exchange rates change daily, so treat these as a rough guide, not the amount you will receive.

*Our calculations from the official tax rates. Shops round tax amounts on receipts, so actual amounts may differ by a few yen.

10% or 8%: which rate applies to what you buy

Japan's consumption tax has two rates. The 8% reduced rate applies to food and drinks, excluding alcohol and eating out. Most other goods are taxed at the standard 10% rate.

Table 3: Common purchases and their tax rate

What you buy	Tax rate
Snacks, sweets, packaged food, tea, non-alcoholic drinks (to take away)	8%
Sets that combine food with non-food items, such as sweets sold with a toy	May be 10%. Ask the shop
Sake, beer, whisky and other alcoholic drinks	10%
Meals eaten at a restaurant or in-store eating space	10%
Medicines and quasi-drugs	10% (they are not "food" under the rules)
Cosmetics, electronics, clothing, souvenirs that are not food	10%

Meals you eat in Japan are not something you take out of the country, so they are not part of a tax-free purchase anyway. If you are unsure which rate applies to an item, ask the shop.

A proposed change for food in 2027. On September 15, 2026, Japan's Cabinet approved an outline to lower the consumption tax on food and drinks to 1% for two years, from April 1, 2027 to March 31, 2029. The bill was submitted to the Diet on October 9, 2026. As of October 22, 2026, it has not passed: it was referred to the House of Representatives' Committee on Financial Affairs on October 20, and neither House has voted on it. The change applies only if the bill passes. If it does, the tax on food bought in that period, and so the amount that can be refunded, would be much smaller: ¥100 on ¥10,000 of snacks instead of ¥800. The examples in this article use the current 8%.

Sources: Ministry of Finance, Consumption Tax (English page); National Tax Agency, overview of the reduced tax rate system and pamphlet on the reduced tax rate (Japanese); National Tax Agency, leaflet on the two-year consumption tax cut for food (September 2026, Japanese); Ministry of Finance, page on the temporary reduction of the consumption tax rate on food (Japanese); House of Councillors, bill information; House of Representatives, bill progress (both checked October 22, 2026, Japanese)

The ¥5,000 minimum: how it is counted

A purchase qualifies for the Refund Method only if it reaches ¥5,000. This is checked in a specific way:

Excluding tax. ¥5,400 on the price tag is not always enough. For a 10% item, ¥5,400 including tax is about ¥4,909 excluding tax, which is below the minimum. For an 8% item, ¥5,400 including tax is exactly ¥5,000.
Per shop. ¥4,000 at one shop and ¥3,000 at another generally cannot be added together. The exception: shops that share one tax-free procedure counter, for example in some department stores or shopping complexes, may be able to add up purchases made by the same traveler on the same day.
Per day. Purchases at the same shop on different days are not added together.
Per traveler. Purchases by two different people, such as friends or family, are not combined.
No categories. General goods and consumables are counted together.

Purchases at the same shop on the same day, made at different times or counters, can be added together. There is no upper limit, but you can only buy as many tax-free goods as you can carry out of Japan yourself.

Sources: National Tax Agency, Q&A on the Refund Method (Detailed Edition), Q6 and Q53 (Japanese); National Tax Agency, Refund Method pamphlet (Japanese); Japan Tourism Agency, tax-free shopping page (Japanese)

Fees and currency: what decides the final amount

Fees. Japanese law does not set refund fees; they differ by shop and refund company. The law does not set how refunds are paid, either. The National Tax Agency gives examples of refund methods: bank transfer, refund to a credit card, transfer through an app, or cash at the departure port after the customs check. Ask at checkout which method and fee apply.

For purchases from November 1, 2026, TaxFreeOnline.jp deducts a fee of 15% of the consumption tax amount, plus consumption tax on that fee (16.5% in total), from your refund. TaxFreeOnline.jp does not charge a separate service fee on top of this refund fee.

Currency. The refund is an amount in yen. If you receive it in another currency, for example on a card billed in US dollars, the amount you see depends on the exchange rate used for the conversion. Official materials do not set how this conversion works. It depends on the refund method, so check with the company that handles your refund and, for card refunds, with your card issuer.

Timing. In principle, the refund is made after the customs check completes the tax-free sale. The number of days until you receive it is not set by official materials. The Japan Tourism Agency advises asking the shop for details.

Sources: National Tax Agency, Q&A on the Refund Method (Detailed Edition), Q57 (Japanese); Japan Tourism Agency, FAQ for travelers on the Refund Method (Japanese)

FAQ

Is tax 10% in Japan? Why is the refund less than that?

The refund is less than 10% of what you pay because the consumption tax on a 10% item is only about 9.09% of the tax-inclusive price (10/110), and a refund fee is then deducted from that amount. For food and non-alcoholic drinks taxed at 8%, the tax is about 7.41% of what you pay (8/108), before fees.

How much tax is refundable on a ¥10,000 purchase?

For a ¥10,000 item (excluding tax) taxed at 10%, you pay ¥11,000 and the consumption tax amount is ¥1,000. For snacks taxed at 8%, you pay ¥10,800 and the amount is ¥800. If the conditions are met, the refund is that amount minus the refund fee; on TaxFreeOnline.jp, 16.5% of it is deducted as the fee, so ¥835 and ¥668 are refunded.

Is the ¥5,000 minimum including or excluding tax?

Excluding tax. It is counted per shop, per day and per traveler, with general goods and consumables combined.

Is there a refund fee everywhere?

Japanese law does not set refund fees; they differ by shop and refund company. Ask the shop before you pay.

Can the amount in my own currency differ from the yen amount?

Yes. It depends on the exchange rate used when the yen amount is converted, which depends on the refund method. Check with the company that handles your refund.

Sources

By TaxFreeOnline.jp | Sources last checked: October 22, 2026. We will update this article when official information or our fees change.