Foreign travelers in Japan can no longer buy souvenirs free of consumption tax at the counter. A new duty-free system, the refund method, took effect on November 1, under which shoppers pay the tax in the store and claim it back later.
The change follows repeated cases of the old system being abused, NHK reported. Under the previous arrangement, the tax was waived at the point of sale.
For travelers, the paperwork and the risk now sit at departure. The refund is handled through the new procedure rather than at the register, so the purchase itself costs the full price and the tax comes back only once the claim is made.
The source does not specify how the refund is paid, how long a claim takes to process, or which purchases qualify beyond souvenirs and other goods.