Japan Tax-Free 90 Days: When the Period Starts, When It Ends, and What Happens After

Key points:

• Short answer: the 90 days count from the day after purchase (handover): buy on November 1, 2026, and the deadline is January 30, 2027 (National Tax Agency, Q&A overview edition, Q19).
• Before that deadline, you must leave Japan and complete the customs check at the airport or seaport, before you check in your luggage. No customs check, no refund.
• The deadline follows each purchase date, not your arrival date or your departure date. Items bought on different days have different deadlines.
• If the 90 days pass without a customs check, that purchase record becomes "not eligible for tax exemption", and the National Tax Agency says this result does not later change to "customs confirmed" (FAQ on customs confirmation results, Q2 and Q8).
• If you order on TaxFreeOnline.jp, the tax-free procedure and the handover both happen at the pickup point, so your purchase date is the day you collect (Q&A detailed edition, Q19; TaxFreeOnline.jp FAQ).

Find your deadline: purchase date plus 90 days

Add 90 days to your purchase date. The purchase date itself does not count; day 1 is the next day, and day 90 is your last day for the customs check. The National Tax Agency defines "within 90 days from the date of purchase" as the period from the day after purchase up to the 90th day (Q&A overview edition, Q19; detailed edition, Q36).

Table 1: 90-day deadlines by purchase date

The first row is the National Tax Agency's own example: goods bought on November 1 have a customs check deadline of January 30 of the following year (Refund Method pamphlet). The other rows use the same count.

Working backward: subtract 90 days from your departure date to find the earliest purchase date that still fits. If you fly out on February 15, 2027, anything bought on or after November 17, 2026 is within 90 days.

The rule applies to sales (handovers) on or after November 1, 2026. There is no transition period in which the old and new systems run side by side (Refund Method pamphlet).

Source: National Tax Agency, Q&A on the Refund Method (overview edition), Q19; National Tax Agency, Q&A on the Refund Method (detailed edition), Q36; National Tax Agency, Refund Method pamphlet

When you lose the refund: four cases

You lose the refund on a purchase if any of these happens. Check them now, while you are still in Japan.

1. You leave Japan after day 90. If you do not complete the customs check when departing within 90 days of purchase, you cannot receive a consumption tax refund (National Tax Agency, Notice to Foreign Travelers).
2. You leave without the customs check. The same notice puts it in four words: "No Customs procedure, No Refund."
3. Your luggage is already checked in. The customs check cannot be done after you check your luggage, and checked luggage cannot be taken back for the procedure (National Tax Agency, Notice to Foreign Travelers; Japan Tourism Agency, FAQ for travelers).
4. You stop the inspection because you are late. If you stop a customs inspection partway, for example because boarding is closing, it does not count as a completed customs check (Q&A overview edition, note to Q18).

Also remember that customs checks each purchase record as one unit, which is generally one receipt. If one item from a record is missing, none of the items in that record can be confirmed (Q&A detailed edition, Q37).

Source: National Tax Agency, Notice to Foreign Travelers Who Purchase Tax-Free Goods; National Tax Agency, Q&A on the Refund Method (overview edition), Q18; National Tax Agency, Q&A on the Refund Method (detailed edition), Q37; Japan Tourism Agency, FAQ for travelers on the Refund Method

What counts as the purchase date

The purchase date is the day the goods are handed over to you. The National Tax Agency says the tax-free sales procedure takes place at the time of purchase, which means when the shop hands the goods over to the buyer (Q&A detailed edition, Q19).

• You pay and take the goods in the store: that day.
• You order in the store and come back later to collect, such as made-to-order items: the day you collect, because the National Tax Agency's example places the tax-free procedure at handover (Q&A detailed edition, Q19).
• You order on TaxFreeOnline.jp and collect at a pickup point: the TaxFreeOnline.jp FAQ says you do the tax-free procedure on your smartphone when you arrive at the pickup point, and staff check your passport before handing over your order. Because the goods are handed over there, your pickup date is the purchase date and the 90 days start the day after pickup, not the day after you ordered.

On a short trip, the 90 days rarely matter. They matter on long stays, if you shop or collect early in your trip. To plan a pickup date backward from your flight, see How many days before departure should you order?

Source: National Tax Agency, Q&A on the Refund Method (detailed edition), Q19; TaxFreeOnline.jp FAQ

What to do before day 90: the customs check

Leave Japan within the period and complete the customs check before you check in your luggage. The steps are (Q&A detailed edition, Q32):

1. Keep all your tax-free goods with you. They can be in your suitcase, but do not check it in yet.
2. Scan your passport at a terminal for tax-free procedures in the departure lobby.
3. Green on the screen: the customs check is complete. Red: show your goods at the customs inspection area.
4. Then check in your luggage at the airline counter.

At Narita, Haneda, Kansai, Chubu, Fukuoka, New Chitose and Naha, you can instead complete the check online through Visit Japan Web, but only within the dedicated Wi-Fi area of the departure lobby, before security, and only if you registered before the customs check (Q&A detailed edition, Q33).

After the check, take the goods out of Japan without delay. If goods that passed the customs check are not exported, an amount equal to the exempted consumption tax is collected and penalties may apply (National Tax Agency, Notice to Foreign Travelers).

For the full airport walk-through, see Japan tax refund at the airport.

Source: National Tax Agency, Q&A on the Refund Method (detailed edition), Q32 and Q33; National Tax Agency, Notice to Foreign Travelers Who Purchase Tax-Free Goods

Multiple trips, connections and cruises

The 90 days are tied to each purchase date, not to your entry date or the length of your stay. Use this table when your trip is not a simple round trip.

Table 2: Deadline and place of the customs check by trip type

On the second row: official materials do not describe how purchases from an earlier trip are handled at a later departure, or any way to do the check later for goods you already took out of Japan without it. The safe course is to have the goods checked on the departure on which they leave Japan.

Source: National Tax Agency, Q&A on the Refund Method (detailed edition), Q34 and Q36; Japan Tourism Agency, FAQ for travelers on the Refund Method

If you miss the deadline, the result is final

A purchase record that misses the 90 days cannot be made tax-exempt, and it is not refunded.

• If you do not complete the customs check within the 90 days counted from the day after purchase, the National Tax Agency's system tells the shop, for each purchase record (one sale), that export was not confirmed (Q&A detailed edition, note 2 to Q36).
• Shops receive one of two results: "customs confirmed" or "not eligible for tax exemption". A record whose goods were not checked within 90 days is "not eligible" (National Tax Agency, FAQ on customs confirmation results, Q2).
• The National Tax Agency states that results are based on a final status and do not change from "not eligible" to "customs confirmed" (same FAQ, Q8).
• For the shop, if no customs confirmation arrives more than 90 days after the sale, the sale becomes final as a taxable sale (Refund Method pamphlet).

Because the result is final, taking the goods to the airport after the deadline cannot change the record back to "customs confirmed". Mailing tax-free goods abroad yourself is also no longer an option; that procedure ended on March 31, 2025 (Japan Tourism Agency, FAQ for travelers).

Source: National Tax Agency, Q&A on the Refund Method (detailed edition), Q36; National Tax Agency, FAQ on the Refund Method (customs confirmation results), Q2 and Q8; National Tax Agency, Refund Method pamphlet; Japan Tourism Agency, FAQ for travelers on the Refund Method

Quick check while you are in Japan

Run through this list today, then again the night before you fly.

• Find your earliest purchase. Its deadline is the one that matters most. Use Table 1 or add 90 days.
• Compare it with your flight date. If your flight is after that deadline, the goods from that purchase will not be refunded.
• Keep goods grouped by receipt. Do not use up consumables such as food, drinks, medicine or cosmetics, even partly; they then cannot go through the customs check (Q&A detailed edition, Q38 and Q39). Goods that are not consumables can still be checked if you used them in Japan, as long as you have them with you (Q&A detailed edition, Q39).
• Plan the airport time. Arrive early and finish the customs check before bag drop. If you connect from a domestic flight, do it at the last airport where you leave Japan.

Source: National Tax Agency, Q&A on the Refund Method (detailed edition), Q37, Q38 and Q39; Japan Tourism Agency, FAQ for travelers on the Refund Method

FAQ

When does the 90-day period start and end?

It starts the day after your purchase date and ends on day 90. Buy on November 1, 2026: day 1 is November 2, and the deadline is January 30, 2027 (National Tax Agency, Q&A overview edition, Q19).

Is it 90 days from arrival or from purchase?

From purchase. Each purchase has its own deadline, so goods bought on different days of the same trip expire on different days.

Can I leave Japan on day 90?

Yes, day 90 is still within the period. But if you stop an inspection partway because you are late for boarding, it does not count as a customs check (Q&A overview edition, note to Q18). Leave some margin if you can.

For an online order, does the 90 days start on the order date or the pickup date?

It starts the day after the goods are handed over to you (Q&A detailed edition, Q19). On TaxFreeOnline.jp, the tax-free procedure and handover happen at the pickup point, so that is the pickup date, not the order date (TaxFreeOnline.jp FAQ).

I missed the deadline. Can it be fixed later?

No. A record not checked within 90 days becomes "not eligible for tax exemption", and the National Tax Agency says that result does not change (FAQ on customs confirmation results, Q8).

Read next

• Japan Tax-Free Rules Change Nov 2026: Refund Method Guide
• If one item is missing, is the whole receipt void?

Sources

1. National Tax Agency, Q&A on the Refund Method, overview edition (revised Apr 2026, Japanese): Q18, Q19
2. National Tax Agency, Q&A on the Refund Method, detailed edition (Jul 2026, Japanese): Q19, Q32–Q39
3. National Tax Agency, Refund Method pamphlet (Japanese)
4. National Tax Agency, FAQ on the Refund Method (customs confirmation results) (Japanese): Q2, Q8
5. National Tax Agency, Notice to Foreign Travelers Who Purchase Tax-Free Goods (English)
6. Japan Tourism Agency, FAQ for travelers on the Refund Method (Japanese)
7. TaxFreeOnline.jp FAQ

By TaxFreeOnline.jp | Sources last checked: October 22, 2026