Japan's tax-free procedure does not end when you buy at the shop. If you forget the procedure at the airport, you will not receive your refund.
The customs check at your departure airport can only be done in specific places and at specific times, so it is important to know in advance what to do on the day you leave.
The only document you scan at the departure customs kiosk is your passport.
However, if the terminal gives a RED result and customs needs to check the actual goods, tax-free status will not be approved unless you can show customs the goods, receipts, and other items. Do not pack any of the following in your checked baggage. Keep them with you when you go through the customs check.
Copies and smartphone photos cannot be used for the procedure
Bring them unopened and unused so you can show them to customs
You will be asked to show your receipts during the tax-free check
Keep a note of the credit card or payment app details you registered
Required if you bought a high-value item priced at ¥1,000,000 or more per unit before tax
Required if you entered Japan on a cruise ship tourist landing permit, a crew landing permit, or similar
Note: If you bought an item priced at ¥1,000,000 or more per unit before tax, customs at departure will ask to see an appraisal certificate or warranty along with the item itself. If you bought a luxury watch or jewellery, carry the warranty documents you received from the shop. The seller also reports the product's serial number to the National Tax Agency's system, which is designed to prevent swapping the item for another.
Things to Know About the Physical Check
The physical check by customs takes place at the customs counter in the landside (public) area before departure. If you check a suitcase containing tax-free goods at the airline's check-in counter first, you will not be able to have the goods inspected, and a suitcase that has been checked in cannot be retrieved later.
Pack the goods you bought tax-free in your carry-on bag, or at least keep them with you until the customs procedure is finished.
Tax-free procedure kiosks are located in the landside area of the international departure lobby, before the security checkpoint. Be sure to go through the procedure at a kiosk before you check in your suitcase at the airline counter.
There may be a queue at the kiosks at peak departure times. A RED result and the customs inspection that follows also take time, so arrive at the airport with plenty of time to spare.
Neither the airline nor customs compensates you if a crowded tax-free procedure or a lengthy customs inspection makes you miss your flight. Also, if you cut the tax-free procedure short in order to board, it will not count as complete and you will not receive your refund. Allow plenty of time between arriving at the airport and boarding.
The terminals are in the international departure lobby. Locations differ by airport and terminal, so check the information boards on the departure floor. At major airports, you can also use Visit Japan Web instead of a kiosk terminal.
Hold your passport over the terminal's reader and your tax-free purchase data will appear. Follow the on-screen instructions.
If the screen shows "GREEN," no customs inspection is needed and the customs check is complete. If it shows "RED," go to the adjacent customs inspection counter and show the goods you bought to the officer.
Once you have finished the tax-free procedure (kiosk or customs inspection), check in your suitcase at the airline's check-in counter. After that, go through security and immigration clearance as usual.
Based on your purchase records, the kiosk automatically determines whether customs needs to inspect your goods.
If you get a RED result, you must show your purchased goods at the customs counter. If even one item is missing or has been opened, none of the goods on the same receipt as that item will qualify for tax-free status, so be very careful.
No customs inspection is neededOnce this result appears, the departure customs check is complete.
You can go straight to the airline counter and check in your suitcase. From here, the process is the same as for any ordinary departure.
Your goods will be checked at the customs inspection counterMake sure you have all the goods and receipts you bought, then go to the customs counter.
If all the items listed on your receipts are with you and unopened, the procedure will go smoothly. If even one item is missing or any item has been opened, you cannot receive a refund for any of the goods on that receipt.
RED results are assigned at random, based on factors such as the purchase amount and the mix of items. If you have your goods and receipts with you, the procedure goes smoothly.
If you have accidentally opened or consumed any items, such as food, drinks, or cosmetics, during your stay in Japan, tell a customs officer right away.
At seven major airports (Narita, Haneda, Kansai, Chubu, New Chitose, Fukuoka, and Naha), you can complete the departure check online from your own smartphone using Visit Japan Web, without queuing at the kiosks in the international departure lobby. As with the kiosks, you get a GREEN or RED result once the procedure is complete, and if you get RED, you go on to the customs counter for the check.
The online procedure works only in designated areas of the international departure lobby covered by the dedicated tax-free procedure Wi-Fi. You cannot do it anywhere other than at the airport, and the procedure will not complete if you leave the area covered by this Wi-Fi, so please be careful.
You go through the tax-free procedure at the "final point of departure from Japan (the last airport or last port)."
Be especially careful if you are connecting from a domestic flight, because you must complete the procedure at the airport where you connect. At some airports, if you simply follow the signs for international transfers, you may leave Japan without ever passing a tax-free counter.
If you fly from a regional airport and connect to an international flight at a hub airport such as Narita, Haneda, or Kansai, you go through the tax-free procedure at "the international departure airport where you finally leave Japan." It is not the regional airport where your domestic flight departs.
If your suitcase will be checked through on the domestic flight and it contains goods that need the tax-free procedure, tell the staff at your departure airport that you want to collect the suitcase at your connecting airport.
If you leave Japan by cruise ship, you go through the tax-free procedure at the passenger terminal of the "last port of call" in Japan, before you hand over your baggage. Once you board the ship, you can no longer complete the procedure.
If your itinerary combines air and sea travel, you go through the tax-free procedure for all goods you bought tax-free during your stay in Japan at the place where you finally leave the country: the airport lobby if you leave by air, or the port passenger terminal if you leave by sea.
We have gathered the questions and trouble cases that travellers ask about most often and answered them in a clear, easy-to-understand way.