Import duties and consumption tax (JCT) in Japan

Last reviewed: 27 July 2026 · Sources: Japan Customs, NTA, MOF (linked inline)

Every commercial shipment cleared into Japan pays up to two taxes at the border: customs duty and import consumption tax (JCT, 消費税). Duty depends on the product and its origin; JCT is a flat 10% (or 8% for food) on the duty-inclusive value and is usually the bigger number. This guide explains how both are computed, which small-shipment reliefs exist and when they disappear, and — the part that decides whether JCT is a recoverable cash-flow item or a permanent 10% cost — how a foreign seller gets the import JCT back.

How customs duty is calculated

The base is CIF. Japan values imports on a CIF basis: the price of the goods plus international freight and insurance up to the port of arrival. Duty is the applicable tariff rate applied to that customs value, and consumption tax is then computed on the customs value plus the duty (plus any excises) — Japan Customs states this explicitly in its Outline of Tariff and Duty Rates System, with the Japanese calculation-method page at Customs FAQ 1111. If you are used to the United States' FOB valuation, budget for the freight leg being taxed too.

Which rate applies. Japan's tariff schedule carries several rates per HS code, applied in outline as follows (see the official outline):

• General rate (基本税率) — the baseline set by the Customs Tariff Act (関税定率法).
• Temporary rate (暫定税率) — overrides the general rate for listed items.
• WTO rate (協定税率) — the bound rate for WTO members, applied when it is lower than the general/temporary rate.
• Preferential rates (特恵税率) — for qualifying developing-country origin goods, with documentation conditions.
• EPA rates — preferential rates under Japan's roughly 21 trade agreements in force, including CPTPP, Japan–EU, Japan–US, Japan–UK and RCEP (Japan Customs EPA index).

EPA rates only apply if the goods meet the agreement's rules of origin and you hold the right proof. Self-certification (自己申告) is available under the Japan–Australia, CPTPP, Japan–EU, Japan–US, Japan–UK and RCEP agreements — Japan–US uses importer self-declaration only — while the Mexico, Switzerland and Peru EPAs allow approved-exporter self-certification and most other agreements require a third-party certificate of origin (Japan Customs origin-procedures page). Duty rates for consumer goods are often low single digits or zero, so in many categories JCT, not duty, is the tax that matters.

Import consumption tax (JCT): rates and base

Import JCT is owed by whoever withdraws the goods from the bonded area — the import declarant — regardless of their JCT registration status. The NTA is explicit that even exempt businesses and salaried individuals owe it on withdrawal (NTA Tax Answer 6563); duty liability likewise sits with the person importing the goods (Customs FAQ 1103).

The tax base is customs value (CIF) + customs duty + any other excise taxes (liquor tax, tobacco tax and similar, where applicable), per the Japan Customs outline. The headline rates split into a national and a local portion (NTA Tax Answer 6303):

Japan Customs confirms imported foodstuffs are taxed at the reduced 6.24% + 1.76% rate (Japan Customs reduced-rate annex, PDF). The newspaper reduced rate is tied to subscription contracts, so at the border the reduced rate is effectively a food rule. Both portions are collected together by customs at import, and both are creditable later if you are the right party (see recovering import JCT).

The ¥10,000 de minimis — and its phase-out

Shipments whose total customs value is ¥10,000 or less per declaration are exempt from customs duty and consumption tax (Customs FAQ 1006; Customs Tariff Act Art. 14(18)). Three catches:

• Excises still apply. Liquor tax, tobacco tax and other internal excises are not exempt.
• Excluded categories. Leather bags and handbags, gloves, knitted apparel (T-shirts, sweaters), ski boots, leather footwear and similar items get no exemption at any value.
• Splitting does not work. Goods on one invoice split across declarations are totalled, and postal items from the same sender to the same addressee at the same time are totalled.

Separately, the FY2026 customs reform (Law No. 5 of 2026, promulgated 31 March 2026 — Japan Customs law-amendment list) abolished the "60% of overseas retail price" valuation special for personal imports from 1 April 2026, so private imports are now valued at their full price when testing the ¥10,000 line.

Simplified tariff for shipments of ¥200,000 or less

For general import cargo and international mail with a total customs value of ¥200,000 or less, Japan applies an optional simplified tariff (簡易税率) of seven bands instead of the full schedule (Customs FAQ 1001; Customs Tariff Act Art. 3-3):

Bands 2–6 cover product groups itemised in the annexed table — check FAQ 1001 for your product. Twenty-two categories (from dairy through certain leather goods) are excluded and always take general rates, and the scheme does not cover travellers' accompanied or unaccompanied baggage. The importer may elect the general tariff instead, but only for the entire shipment — useful when an EPA rate beats the simplified band. JCT applies as normal either way.

JCT registration and filing for foreign sellers

Selling goods that are located in Japan at the time of transfer — for example, stock sitting in a Japanese 3PL or FBA warehouse — is a domestic taxable sale, even if the seller has no Japanese entity (NTA Tax Answer 6210). Whether you must file JCT depends on the taxable-person tests:

• The ¥10 million base-period test. You are a taxable person if taxable sales in the base period (基準期間 — broadly, the fiscal year two years prior) exceeded ¥10 million (NTA Tax Answer 6501).
• 2024 tightening for foreign businesses. For taxable periods beginning on or after 1 October 2024, a foreign business (国外事業者) can no longer use the payroll test to escape the specified-period rule; a foreign corporation that starts Japanese business after its base period is tested as newly established (taxable if capital is ¥10 million or more); and companies in groups with over ¥5 billion revenue are taxable from day one (NTA Tax Answer 6503; NTA 2024 reform pamphlet, PDF). The old assumption that a foreign seller gets two exempt years rarely holds now.
• Qualified invoice issuer (適格請求書発行事業者). If you sell B2B, your Japanese customers need a qualified invoice to take a full input credit — the transitional credit for purchases from non-registered suppliers is 80% until 30 September 2026, then 50% until 30 September 2029 (NTA Invoice Q&A, PDF). Only taxable persons can register (NTA Invoice Q&A, PDF), so many foreign sellers register voluntarily. A specified foreign business (特定国外事業者 — no office in Japan) applies with a tax-agent authorisation attached; e-Tax is the primary filing route, with paper by mail as the alternative (NTA procedure D1-65 for foreign businesses).
• Tax agent (納税管理人). A non-resident with Japanese national-tax obligations and no address in Japan must appoint a Japan-resident tax agent under Art. 117 of the General Act of National Taxes and notify the tax office (国税通則法, e-Gov; NTA Tax Answer 6635). JCT returns are due within two months of the end of the taxable period (消費税法 Art. 45, e-Gov), with limited extension elections available.

Note that the tax agent (納税管理人, tax-office side) and the Attorney for Customs Procedures (ACP, 税関事務管理人, customs side) are separate appointments under separate laws — the customs filing can double as the notification for import consumption taxes collected by customs, but the NTA-side appointment is its own filing (Customs FAQ 9601; NTA Q&A 16/27).

Recovering import JCT: a worked example

Import JCT is designed to be recoverable: a taxable person credits it against the JCT collected on sales. But there is one rule that decides everything: only the party named as importer on the import permit (輸入許可通知書) may credit the import JCT, and the permit must be retained as evidence (NTA Q&A 16/26). A customer who reimburses the declarant cannot take the credit; neither can a forwarder or "import agent" — and since 1 October 2023 customs will not accept a party without post-release disposal authority as nominal importer anyway (Japan Customs reform page; NTA Q&A 16/27). A narrow "substantive importer" exception exists in Basic Circular 11-1-6, but only for limited declaration types and only when all its conditions are met (NTA Basic Circular 11-1). The practical consequence: a foreign seller keeping title through to the end customer should import in its own name via an ACP, so the permit carries its name and the credit is available to it.

Here is the full cycle for a foreign seller importing to a Japanese 3PL and selling domestically (illustrative figures; actual computations include rounding rules and a 5% duty rate is assumed):

Step 1 — at the border:

Step 2 — sell from the warehouse. The stock sells during the period for ¥2,000,000 net, so ¥200,000 of JCT is collected from customers. The 3PL bills ¥300,000 plus ¥30,000 JCT for storage and fulfillment.

Step 3 — the JCT return (filed via the 納税管理人 within two months of period end):

The refund case. If the goods had not yet sold by period end (output JCT ¥0), the same return shows a net credit of ¥135,000 — refunded to the taxable person. That refund only exists for a business that is registered as a taxable person and files; an exempt business, or a seller whose permits are in someone else's name, simply eats the ¥105,000 as cost.

Platform taxation: digital services now, goods next

Since 1 April 2025, B2C digital services supplied by foreign businesses through large designated platforms (over ¥5 billion in relevant volume) are deemed supplied by the platform operator, which files and pays the JCT (NTA Tax Answer 6568). This covers digital services only — physical goods are outside it.

Goods are next. As covered in the warning above, the FY2026 reform extends platform-style collection to physical goods: from 1 April 2028, designated large platforms become the deemed supplier for foreign sellers' low-value imported goods and their domestic goods sales, with platform designation procedures from April 2027 and seller registration from October 2027 (MOF FY2026 outline). Customs is already collecting the data: since 12 October 2025, import declarations must state whether goods are mail-order (通販) goods, the platform name where applicable, and the post-clearance delivery destination (Japan Customs). If your Japan channel is marketplace-based, expect the platform to demand your JCT registration status and import documentation well before 2028.

Frequently asked questions

Who pays import duty and consumption tax on goods entering Japan?

The importer of record — the person who files the import declaration and withdraws the goods from the bonded area. This applies regardless of JCT status: even a business below the JCT registration threshold, or a private individual, owes import JCT when withdrawing taxable goods. A non-resident importer must appoint an Attorney for Customs Procedures (ACP) to handle the paperwork, but the tax liability stays with the importer, not the ACP.

What rate of JCT applies to imported food?

Foodstuffs other than alcoholic beverages are taxed at the reduced 8 percent rate at import (6.24 percent national plus 1.76 percent local). Most other goods pay the standard 10 percent rate (7.8 percent national plus 2.2 percent local).

Does the 10,000 yen exemption apply to commercial inventory such as FBA stock?

Only if the total customs value of the whole declaration is 10,000 yen or less, which is rare for a commercial consignment. Split shipments are aggregated, several product categories (leather bags, knitted apparel, ski boots and others) are excluded, and under the FY2026 reform the consumption-tax side of the exemption is scheduled to end for e-commerce imports from April 2028.

Can my Japanese customer credit the import JCT if I ship DDP?

No. Only the party named as importer on the import permit can credit import JCT as input tax. Under DDP the foreign seller is normally the import declarant, so the Japanese consignee cannot deduct the tax — and the seller can only recover it by becoming a JCT taxable person and filing Japanese JCT returns through a tax agent.

When are Japanese consumption tax returns due?

Within two months after the end of the taxable period, as the general rule (limited filing extensions exist). Non-residents file through a tax agent (nozei kanrinin) appointed under Article 117 of the General Act of National Taxes.

Are the tax agent and the customs ACP the same appointment?

No. The nozei kanrinin is notified to the tax office and handles national tax filings such as JCT returns, while the zeikan jimu kanrinin (ACP) is notified to customs and handles customs procedures. The customs-side filing can double as notification for import consumption taxes collected by customs, but the tax-office appointment is a separate filing. A non-resident seller importing and selling in Japan typically needs both.

Related reading

• Importer of Record (IOR) in Japan
• The ACP appointment procedure
• Selling in Japan without a local entity
• Find a warehouse or 3PL in the directory