Consumption Tax Act

• The rate is 7.8%, and 6.24% for the reduced-rate supplies of Appended Table 1 (別表第一) — food and drink other than alcoholic beverages, and general newspapers published at least twice a week sold by subscription — and for imported food and drink; meals a restaurant or similar business serves where tables, chairs, a counter or other eating facilities are provided, and food cooked or served at a place the customer names (other than the food a Cabinet Order (政令) names served in paid elderly-care homes and the other residences it names), are not reduced-rate, though takeaway packed in containers is. The tax base is the consideration without the consumption tax itself and without the local consumption tax (地方消費税) charged on that tax. On a qualified invoice, the applicable rate (適用税率) is the rate above multiplied by 100/78: 10%, or 8% for reduced-rate supplies.(Art. 29(1)(i), Art. 29(1)(ii), Art. 2(1)(ix-2), Art. 2(1)(xi-2), Appended Table 1, Appended Table 1-2, Art. 28(1), Art. 57-4(1)(iv)) (the provisions it rests on)
• No consumption tax is charged on the supplies listed in Appended Table 2 (別表第二), among them: sales and leases of land, other than for temporary use and the other cases a Cabinet Order (政令) sets; sales of securities, other than golf-club and similar membership rights a Cabinet Order names, and of means of payment; lending for interest, credit guarantees and insurance; postage stamps and revenue stamps sold at the outlets the Table names, and certificate stamps (証紙) and gift vouchers; registrations, licences, certificates and similar services of the national and local governments and the bodies the Table names, whose fees are charged under laws; medical care under the public health insurance and the other Acts the Table lists; long-term care services and social welfare work; childbirth assistance; burial and cremation fees; goods specially made for people with physical disabilities; tuition, entrance and similar fees of schools and other educational institutions the Table lists; school textbooks; and the letting of housing to be lived in. The housing exemption covers a letting whose contract shows the home is to be lived in, or, where the contract does not state the use, whose circumstances make clear that the home is lived in, but not temporary use or the other cases a Cabinet Order sets. Imports of securities, stamps, gift vouchers, goods for people with disabilities and school textbooks, listed in Appended Table 2-2 (別表第二の二), are not taxed either.(Art. 6(1), Art. 6(2), Appended Table 2, Appended Table 2-2) (the provisions it rests on)
• A business whose taxable sales in its base period (基準期間) — for an individual the year before last, for a corporation generally the business year before last — were 10,000,000 yen or less is exempt from paying consumption tax for the period, unless it is registered as a qualified invoice issuer (適格請求書発行事業者). It loses the exemption if its taxable sales in the specified period (特定期間) — for an individual January to June of the previous year, for a corporation generally the first six months of the previous business year — exceeded 10,000,000 yen; a business that is not a foreign business may use, for this test, the salaries it paid in that period instead of its sales. An exempt business cannot deduct the tax on its purchases.This is the rule until 31 March 2028.(Art. 9(1), Art. 9(2), Art. 2(1)(xiv), Art. 9-2(1), Art. 9-2(3), Art. 9-2(4), Art. 30(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A business whose taxable sales in its base period (基準期間) — for an individual the year before last, for a corporation generally the business year before last — were 10,000,000 yen or less is exempt from paying consumption tax for the period, unless it is registered as a qualified invoice issuer (適格請求書発行事業者) or as a seller of low-value goods (特定少額資産販売事業者), the registration under Article 57-7 for a business selling by mail order goods of 10,000 yen or less sent to Japan from abroad. It loses the exemption if its taxable sales in the specified period (特定期間) — for an individual January to June of the previous year, for a corporation generally the first six months of the previous business year — exceeded 10,000,000 yen; a business that is not a foreign business may use, for this test, the salaries it paid in that period instead of its sales. An exempt business cannot deduct the tax on its purchases.This is the rule from 1 April 2028.(Art. 9(1), Art. 2(1)(vii-3), Art. 2(1)(viii-6), Art. 57-7(1), Art. 9(2), Art. 2(1)(xiv), Art. 9-2(1), Art. 9-2(3), Art. 9-2(4), Art. 30(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A business that is not exempt deducts from the tax on its sales the consumption tax on its taxable purchases (課税仕入れ) and on the goods it imports, the tax on purchases being worked out from the qualified invoices it receives; where its taxable sales for the period exceed 500,000,000 yen, or are less than 95% of all its sales, only the part of the tax that goes with its taxable sales is deducted. The deduction is allowed only for purchases for which the business keeps both its books and the invoices (請求書等) the Act lists — among them a qualified invoice or simplified qualified invoice from a registered issuer or the electronic record given instead, a purchase statement the seller has confirmed, and the customs papers for imports — except that books alone suffice where a Cabinet Order (政令) allows it, as where invoices are hard to obtain, and the deduction is kept where the business proves that a disaster or other unavoidable circumstance stopped it keeping them. No deduction is allowed for a building that is a high-value asset and is not clearly kept out of residential letting (居住用賃貸建物), for gold or platinum bullion where the buyer does not keep the seller's identity papers, or for goods the buyer knew had been imported without paying the tax or bought tax-free.(Art. 30(1), Art. 30(2), Art. 30(6), Art. 30(7), Art. 30(9), Art. 30(10), Art. 30(11), Art. 30(12)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A business that makes or plans to make taxable supplies in Japan may apply to the district tax office director (税務署長) to be registered as a qualified invoice issuer — a business that is exempt applies for registration from the first day of a period in which it will no longer be exempt, by the day a Cabinet Order (政令) sets — and the director must register it unless one of the Act's grounds for refusal applies, and publishes its name and registration number. When a business customer that is not exempt asks, a registered issuer must give it a qualified invoice (適格請求書) showing the issuer's name and registration number, the date, what was supplied (marking reduced-rate items), the price totalled by rate with the applicable rate, the tax by rate and the customer's name — in retail and the other businesses a Cabinet Order names, a simplified invoice without the customer's name will do — except for supplies a Cabinet Order names as hard to invoice; it must also give a return invoice (適格返還請求書) when it refunds or discounts a price, unless a Cabinet Order excuses it, and a corrected invoice where one it gave was wrong, may give an electronic record instead of a paper invoice, and must keep copies. Anyone who is not registered must not hand out a document that could be mistaken for a qualified invoice, and a registered issuer must not hand out one with false entries.(Art. 57-2(1), Art. 57-2(2), Art. 57-2(3), Art. 57-2(4), Art. 57-4(1), Art. 57-4(2), Art. 57-4(3), Art. 57-4(4), Art. 57-4(5), Art. 57-4(6), Art. 57-5(1)) (the provisions it rests on)

• 1 October 2026

  The text on this site

  Science Council of Japan Act

  日本学術会議法

  Act No. 70 of 2025The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 October 2026

  Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.

  所得税法等の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 13 of 2025The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 October 2026

  Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.

  所得税法等の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 15 of 2016The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 April 2026

  Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.

  所得税法等の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 12 of 2026The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 April 2026

  Act Partially Amending the Local Tax Act, etc.

  地方税法等の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 2 of 2026The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 April 2026

  Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.

  所得税法等の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 8 of 2024The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 October 2025

  Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.

  所得税法等の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 3 of 2023The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 20 June 2025

  Act Partially Amending the National Pension Act, etc., and Other Matters, to Strengthen the Functions of the Pension System in Light of Socioeconomic Changes

  社会経済の変化を踏まえた年金制度の機能強化のための国民年金法等の一部を改正する等の法律

  Act No. 74 of 2025The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 June 2025

  Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts upon the Enforcement of the Act Partially Amending the Penal Code, etc. (extract)

  刑法等の一部を改正する法律の施行に伴う関係法律の整理等に関する法律　抄

  Act No. 68 of 2022The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 April 2025

  Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.

  所得税法等の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 13 of 2025The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

All 57 amendments already in force

• Exports from Japan, sales and leases of foreign goods, international passenger and freight transport and communications, the sale, lease and repair of ships and aircraft used only for that transport of the kinds a Cabinet Order (政令) names, and similar supplies a Cabinet Order names are exempt (免除) from consumption tax where the business proves them as a Ministry of Finance Order (財務省令) requires, but not for a business exempt under Article 9. For the purchase credit, a proven export transaction that is otherwise non-taxable, or a proven export of a business's own goods for use or sale abroad, is treated as an exempt export of taxable goods.(Art. 7(1), Art. 7(2), Art. 31(1), Art. 31(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A business running a tax-free shop (輸出物品販売場) licensed by the district tax office director may sell goods of the kinds a Cabinet Order (政令) sets, bought for export by the method it sets, to a non-resident visitor (免税購入対象者) — someone staying on landing permission, with diplomatic or official status, or with the temporary visitor (短期滞在) status of residence, among others a Cabinet Order names — free of consumption tax, if it keeps the record of the purchase. If the visitor does not export the goods by the day they leave Japan, customs collects the tax from them at once, unless the director-general of customs (税関長) has approved that the goods were lost in a disaster or for another unavoidable reason. The goods must not be sold or bought in Japan unless the district tax office director approves it for unavoidable circumstances; if they are, the tax is collected from the seller at once, the buyer is liable with the seller, and the sale or purchase is punishable by imprisonment of up to one year or a fine of up to 500,000 yen.This is the rule until 31 October 2026.(Art. 8(1), Art. 8(2), Art. 8(3), Art. 8(4), Art. 8(5), Art. 8(6), Art. 8(7), Art. 65(1)(i)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A business running a tax-free shop (輸出物品販売場) licensed by the district tax office director may sell goods bought for export to a non-resident visitor (免税購入対象者) — someone staying on landing permission, with diplomatic or official status, or with the temporary visitor (短期滞在) status of residence, among others a Cabinet Order (政令) names — free of consumption tax only where the visitor's purchases at that shop that day reach the amount a Cabinet Order sets and customs confirms, within 90 days of the purchase, that the visitor is exporting the goods; goods a Ministry of Finance Order (財務省令) names as at high risk of tax fraud are left out. The shop must send the purchase record to the Commissioner of the National Tax Agency without delay and keep it with the customs confirmation. A visitor whose goods customs has confirmed must export them without delay: if they are not exported, customs collects the tax from the visitor at once, and not exporting them without good reason is punishable by imprisonment of up to one year or a fine of up to 500,000 yen; the rule applies to sales made from the day it takes effect, under Article 21 of the Supplementary Provisions (附則) of Act No. 13 of 2025.This is the rule from 1 November 2026.(Art. 8(1), Art. 8(2), Art. 8(3), Art. 8(4), Art. 8(5), Art. 8(6), Art. 8(7), Art. 65(1)(i), Suppl. Prov. Art. 21(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A business that would be exempt may choose to pay the tax by filing a notice with the district tax office director, from the next period or from the period in which it starts its business. Unless it closes its business, it cannot withdraw before the period that includes the second anniversary of the day the choice took effect, and if, during those two years and while not using the special rule of Article 37, it buys a fixed asset of the kind a Cabinet Order (政令) sets (調整対象固定資産), not before the period that includes the third anniversary of the start of the period of the purchase.(Art. 9(4), Art. 9(5), Art. 9(6), Art. 9(7)) (the provisions it rests on)
• The exemption does not apply, in business years with no base period, to a new corporation with capital of 10,000,000 yen or more at the start of the year (新設法人), nor to a new corporation more than 50% owned or otherwise controlled by someone where that person, or any corporation specially related to it, had taxable sales over 500,000,000 yen or total revenue over 5,000,000,000 yen in the matching period (特定新規設立法人); social welfare corporations and similar bodies set up only for non-taxable supplies are left out. Articles 10 to 12 also switch it off for limited periods — from the day of an inheritance, merger or split to the end of that year or business year, and in later years in the cases they set — for an heir, a merged corporation, or a corporation formed or taking over in a split, where the predecessor's sales, or its sales and the successor's together, exceed 10,000,000 yen. Article 12-4 does so for the periods up to the third anniversary of the start of the period in which a business, while not exempt and not using the special rule of Article 37, buys a high-value asset (高額特定資産) or a high amount of gold or platinum.(Art. 12-2(1), Art. 12-3(1), Art. 10(1), Art. 10(2), Art. 11(1), Art. 11(3), Art. 12(1), Art. 12(5), Art. 12-4(1), Art. 12-4(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A business whose base-period taxable sales were 50,000,000 yen or less may, by filing a notice in advance, work out the tax it deducts as a fixed share of the tax on its sales — 60%, or for wholesale and the other businesses a Cabinet Order (政令) names, the rate it sets for each kind of business — instead of from its actual purchases, under the special rule for small and medium-sized businesses (中小事業者の仕入れに係る消費税額の控除の特例). Foreign businesses with no permanent establishment in Japan cannot use it; a business cannot withdraw before the period that includes the second anniversary of the start of its first period under it, and cannot choose it for a time after it buys fixed or high-value assets in the cases the Act lists.This is the rule until 31 March 2028.(Art. 37(1), Art. 37(3), Art. 37(5), Art. 37(6)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A business whose base-period taxable sales were 50,000,000 yen or less may, by filing a notice in advance, work out the tax it deducts as a fixed share of the tax on its sales other than sales of low-value goods sent from abroad (特定少額資産の譲渡) — 60%, or for wholesale and the other businesses a Cabinet Order (政令) names, the rate it sets for each kind of business — instead of from its actual purchases, under the special rule for small and medium-sized businesses (中小事業者の仕入れに係る消費税額の控除の特例). Foreign businesses with no permanent establishment in Japan cannot use it; a business cannot withdraw before the period that includes the second anniversary of the start of its first period under it, and cannot choose it for a time after it buys fixed or high-value assets in the cases the Act lists.This is the rule from 1 April 2028.(Art. 37(1), Art. 37(3), Art. 37(5), Art. 37(6), Art. 2(1)(viii-6)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Under Article 44 of the Supplementary Provisions (附則) of Act No. 15 of 2016, which amended this Act, a business that would be exempt and whose registration as a qualified invoice issuer takes effect in a period that includes a day up to 30 September 2029 pays the tax from the day of registration, rather than from the start of a period. Unless that period included 1 October 2023, it stays outside the exemption up to and including the period that contains the second anniversary of its registration.(Suppl. Prov. Art. 44(4), Suppl. Prov. Art. 44(5)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Under Articles 51-2 and 51-3 of the Supplementary Provisions (附則) of Act No. 15 of 2016, a qualified invoice issuer that would be exempt but for its registration, an Article 9(4) choice or an inheritance under Article 10(1) may deduct 80% of the tax on its sales, less the tax on returns and discounts, instead of the tax on its purchases, for a period that includes a day from 1 October 2023 to 30 September 2026; an individual may deduct 70% in this way for its periods in 2027 and 2028. Neither rule applies to a foreign business with no permanent establishment (恒久的施設) in Japan or in the other periods the articles list, and the business notes the choice on its final return.(Suppl. Prov. Art. 51-2(1), Suppl. Prov. Art. 51-2(2), Suppl. Prov. Art. 51-2(3), Suppl. Prov. Art. 51-3(1), Suppl. Prov. Art. 51-3(2), Suppl. Prov. Art. 51-3(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Under Articles 52 and 53 of the Supplementary Provisions (附則) of Act No. 15 of 2016, a business that is not exempt and buys from someone who is not a registered issuer may still deduct part of the tax on the purchase, where it keeps the books and invoices Article 30 required before the qualified invoice system began and notes in its books that this rule applies: 80% for purchases from 1 October 2023 to 30 September 2026, 70% from 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2028, 50% from 1 October 2028 to 30 September 2030, and 30% from 1 October 2030 to 30 September 2031. For tax periods starting on or after 1 October 2026, the part of a year's purchases from any one supplier above 100,000,000 yen is left out, under Article 90(3) of the Supplementary Provisions of Act No. 12 of 2026.(Suppl. Prov. Art. 52(1), Suppl. Prov. Art. 53(1), Suppl. Prov. Art. 90(3)) (the provisions it rests on)

• A business that is not exempt must file a final return (確定申告書) with the district tax office director (税務署長) within two months after each taxable period ends — a calendar year for an individual and the business year for a corporation, unless it elects one-month or three-month periods — and pay the tax by the same day; no return is due for a period with no taxable supplies and no tax to pay, but a business may file one to have refunded what its deductions or interim payments exceed its tax by. For an individual's period ending on 31 December, Article 86-4 of the Act on Special Measures Concerning Taxation (租税特別措置法) moves the deadline to 31 March of the following year. Corporations other than foreign corporations with capital over 100,000,000 yen at the start of the business year, mutual insurance companies, investment corporations, special purpose companies, and the national and local governments must file online.(Art. 45(1), Art. 49(1), Art. 19(1), Art. 46(1), Art. 52(1), Art. 53(1), Act on Special Measures Concerning Taxation Art. 86-4(1), Art. 46-2(1), Art. 46-2(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A business that is not exempt and has not elected one-month or three-month taxable periods must also file interim returns (中間申告書) and pay within two months after each interim period, the amount being set by the tax on its previous period's final return: monthly where that tax divided by the months of the previous period exceeds 4,000,000 yen, quarterly where three months' worth of it exceeds 1,000,000 yen, and once for the first six months where six months' worth of it exceeds 240,000 yen, which a business below that figure may also choose by filing a notice; none is due in an individual's first year of business or a new corporation's first business year. The business may instead file on the figures of the interim period itself. A business that does not file an interim return on time is treated as having filed one showing the amount based on the previous period's tax.(Art. 42(1), Art. 42(4), Art. 42(6), Art. 42(8), Art. 43(1), Art. 44(1), Art. 48(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Someone taking taxable foreign goods out of a bonded area must, unless an Act or treaty exempts the import, file a declaration with the director-general of customs (税関長) and pay the tax before taking them out, unless payment is deferred for up to three months against security or the importer makes a special declaration (特例申告), which is due by the end of the following month; for goods under official assessment, customs collects the tax when they are taken out.(Art. 47(1), Art. 47(2), Art. 47(3), Art. 50(1), Art. 50(2), Art. 51(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Evading consumption tax, or obtaining a refund, by deception or other wrongful acts is punishable by imprisonment (拘禁刑) of up to ten years or a fine of up to 10,000,000 yen, or both, and so is an attempt to obtain such a refund once a return or request claiming it has been filed; the fine can be raised up to the tax evaded or the refund where that is more, or, for tax on imports, up to ten times the tax where that is more. Evading tax by not filing a final return by its deadline is punishable by imprisonment of up to five years or a fine of up to 5,000,000 yen (or up to the tax evaded, where that is more), or both.(Art. 64(1), Art. 64(2), Art. 64(3), Art. 64(4), Art. 64(5), Art. 64(6)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Not filing, without good reason, a final return showing tax to pay, or the declaration for imports under self-assessment, by its deadline is punishable by imprisonment of up to one year or a fine of up to 500,000 yen, which may be waived in light of the circumstances. The same maximum penalty, without that waiver, applies to not filing, or falsely filing, the declaration for imports under official assessment, to handing out a document that could be mistaken for a qualified invoice or a qualified invoice with false entries, to filing an interim return on the period's own figures with false entries, and to selling or buying in Japan, without the director's approval, goods bought tax-free at a tax-free shop.This is the rule until 31 October 2026.(Art. 66(1), Art. 65(1), Art. 65(1)(i), Art. 65(1)(ii), Art. 65(1)(iii), Art. 65(1)(iv), Art. 8(4)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Not filing, without good reason, a final return showing tax to pay, or the declaration for imports under self-assessment, by its deadline is punishable by imprisonment of up to one year or a fine of up to 500,000 yen, which may be waived in light of the circumstances. The same maximum penalty, without that waiver, applies to not filing, or falsely filing, the declaration for imports under official assessment, to handing out a document that could be mistaken for a qualified invoice or a qualified invoice with false entries, to filing an interim return on the period's own figures with false entries, and to a visitor who, without good reason, does not export tax-free goods customs has confirmed for export.This is the rule from 1 November 2026.(Art. 66(1), Art. 65(1), Art. 65(1)(i), Art. 65(1)(ii), Art. 65(1)(iii), Art. 65(1)(iv), Art. 8(5)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Where a corporation's representative, or an agent or employee of a corporation or of an individual, commits any of these offences in the course of its business, the corporation or individual is fined as well.(Art. 67(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• The district tax office director may refuse registration as a qualified invoice issuer to a business that, within the last two years, finished a fine or heavier sentence for breaking this Act, or that has not notified a tax administrator (納税管理人) it is required to have, and may cancel a registration where the issuer is convicted of such an offence, has been missing for a year or more, has stopped its business or ceased to exist by merger, has not notified a required tax administrator, or was registered on an application with false entries, with further grounds for foreign businesses with no office in Japan; a cancellation is published. A registration also lapses when the issuer files a notice asking for it to be cancelled, generally from the day after the end of the period in which it files, or a notice that it has closed its business.(Art. 57-2(5), Art. 57-2(6), Art. 57-2(10), Art. 57-2(11)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A business that is not exempt, and an importer filing special declarations (特例申告者), must keep books recording its supplies, purchases and imports, and keep the books, as a Cabinet Order (政令) sets out. A business must promptly notify the district tax office director when its base-period taxable sales go above 10,000,000 yen or it otherwise stops being exempt, when they fall back to 10,000,000 yen or less (unless it has chosen to pay the tax or is registered), when it becomes a new corporation under Article 12-2 or 12-3, and when, not being exempt, it closes its business; an heir notifies the death of a non-exempt individual business, and the merging corporation the end of a non-exempt one.(Art. 58(1), Art. 57(1), Art. 57(2)) (the provisions it rests on)