Wine to see R4 tax reform. International students will no longer be able to buy duty-free items

The current system stipulates that even long-term overseas students are allowed to purchase duty-free goods within six months after entering the country, except for those employed such as part-time workers. However, in order to confirm whether the buyer is eligible for tax exemption, duty-free shops have to spend a lot of confirmation efforts (the flow chart is as follows), which is greatly requested by the industry to improve the administrative procedures.

Moreover, many Chinese students take advantage of this "discount" to buy high-priced watches and cosmetics, and then resell them on flea market websites in Japan at a price plus consumption tax for arbitrage. The degree of exaggeration can be seen from circumstantial evidence. Since April 2020, some duty-free shops have fully electronically sent consumer purchase records to the National Tax Agency since October this year. 30 Publicly released data shows that in the one year ended June this year, the additional amount collected by the IRS in the refund declaration of consumption tax such as tax exemption was 21.9 billion yen, and the illegal tax refund of swiping bills and irrigation amounted to 3.4 billion yen. .

In order to implement the original intention of the tax-free policy of giving foreign tourists tax-free concessions, it is stipulated that non-residents who sell and purchase export items such as duty-free shops are limited to those who hold short-term stay, diplomatic or public residence qualifications, and those who hold residence certificates or A copy of the attached family register certifying the holder of Japanese nationality who has not had a domicile or residence in the country for more than 2 years.

For tourists who go to Japan to play, anyway, when they enter the country, they will stay for a short period of 90 days. They don't need to think about it. The most fear is that the queue at the checkout is very long, and the clerk has to operate a very complicated declaration process. time consuming.