Act on Special Measures Concerning Taxation

Where a liquor manufacturer that operates a tax-free liquor shop has shipped liquor that is purchased for export by the method specified by Cabinet Order (meaning liquor specified by Cabinet Order; hereinafter referred to as "tax-exempt liquor" in this Article) from that tax-free liquor shop in order to sell that tax-exempt liquor to a person eligible for tax-free purchase (meaning a nonresident prescribed in Article 6, paragraph (1), item (vi) of the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act who is staying in Japan with a landing permission prescribed in Articles 14 through 18 of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act (Cabinet Order No. 319 of 1951), a person staying with the status of residence of "Diplomat" or "Official" in Appended Table I (1) of that Act or the status of residence of "Temporary Visitor" in Appended Table I (3) of that Act, or any other person specified by Cabinet Order; the same applies hereinafter in this Article), and that person eligible for tax-free purchase has obtained, pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Order, the confirmation of the director-general of the customs house with regard to exporting that tax-exempt liquor (limited to the case where that confirmation was obtained within 90 days from the day on which the person purchased it), the liquor tax pertaining to that shipment is exempted.

The liquor manufacturer that operates the tax-free liquor shop from which the shipment referred to in the preceding paragraph was made must, pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Order, provide to the Commissioner of the National Tax Agency without delay the electronic or magnetic record (meaning a record made in an electronic form, a magnetic form, or any other form that cannot be perceived by the human senses, which is used in information processing by computers; the same applies in the following paragraph) specified by Cabinet Order as pertaining to that shipment (hereinafter referred to as "liquor purchase record information" in this Article), together with the provision of purchase record information (meaning the purchase record information prescribed in Article 8, paragraph (2) of the Consumption Tax Act) under the provisions of that paragraph. In this case, the Commissioner of the National Tax Agency who has received the provision of liquor purchase record information is to, pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Order, provide that liquor purchase record information without delay to the director-general of a customs house.

Where the director-general of a customs house has made the confirmation referred to in paragraph (1) based on liquor purchase record information provided under the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the director-general is to, pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Order, provide to the Commissioner of the National Tax Agency, for each piece of that liquor purchase record information and without delay, an electronic or magnetic record recording a statement to the effect that the director-general has made that confirmation (hereinafter referred to as "customs confirmation information" in this Article). In this case, the Commissioner of the National Tax Agency who has received the provision of customs confirmation information is to, pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Order, provide that customs confirmation information without delay to the liquor manufacturer operating the tax-free liquor shop that provided the liquor purchase record information to which that customs confirmation information pertains.

The provisions of paragraph (1) do not apply where the liquor manufacturer operating the tax-free liquor shop from which the shipment referred to in that paragraph was made does not preserve, pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Order, the liquor purchase record information that it provided under the provisions of the first sentence of paragraph (2) with regard to that shipment and the customs confirmation information provided under the provisions of the second sentence of the preceding paragraph, or where the return under the provisions of Article 30-2, paragraph (1) or paragraph (2) of the Liquor Tax Act for the month that includes the day on which that shipment of that liquor was made (limited to a return filed within the time limit prescribed in those provisions) does not state the matters prescribed in paragraph (1), item (ii) of that Article; provided, however, that this does not apply where that liquor manufacturer proves that it was unable to preserve that liquor purchase record information and that customs confirmation information due to a disaster or other unavoidable circumstances.

A person eligible for tax-free purchase who has obtained the confirmation of the director-general of the customs house referred to in paragraph (1) (including a person who has ceased to fall under the category of a person eligible for tax-free purchase after making a purchase at a tax-free liquor shop by the method specified by Cabinet Order prescribed in that paragraph; the same applies in the following paragraph) must export the tax-exempt liquor for which that confirmation has been obtained without delay.

Where tax-exempt liquor for which the confirmation of the director-general of the customs house referred to in paragraph (1) has been obtained is no longer to be exported, the director-general of the customs house immediately collects, from the person eligible for tax-free purchase who obtained that confirmation, liquor tax equivalent to the amount of liquor tax exempted under the provisions of that paragraph for the shipment of that tax-exempt liquor.

The place for tax payment of liquor tax on tax-exempt liquor to which the provisions of the preceding paragraph apply is to be the place where the confirmation of the director-general of the customs house referred to in paragraph (1) was obtained (or, where the person eligible for tax-free purchase prescribed in the preceding paragraph departs from Japan from a place other than the place where that confirmation of the director-general of the customs house was obtained, the person's port of departure).

The term "tax-free liquor shop" as used in paragraphs (1) through (5) means a liquor manufacturing site listed in item (ii) that is operated by a liquor manufacturer listed in item (i), and that is a sales outlet for which permission has been obtained, pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Order, from the district director having jurisdiction over the location of that liquor manufacturing site as a sales outlet at which tax-exempt liquor that is purchased by the method specified by Cabinet Order prescribed in paragraph (1) may be sold to persons eligible for tax-free purchase:

a liquor manufacturer (excluding a person deemed to be a liquor manufacturer pursuant to the provisions of Article 28, paragraph (6) and Article 28-3, paragraph (4) of the Liquor Tax Act, and a person whose permission for a tax-free liquor shop has been rescinded pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (10) or paragraph (11) (excluding the part pertaining to item (iii)) and for whom three years have not elapsed from the date of that rescission) for which there are no circumstances under which it is found to be particularly inappropriate for it to operate a tax-free liquor shop;

a liquor manufacturing site (for a place deemed to be a manufacturing site for which a liquor manufacturing license has been obtained pursuant to the provisions of Article 28, paragraph (6) and Article 28-3, paragraph (4) of the Liquor Tax Act, limited to a place specified by Cabinet Order; the same applies hereinafter in this paragraph and the following paragraph) that is a tax-free shop (meaning a tax-free shop prescribed in Article 8, paragraph (7) of the Consumption Tax Act; the same applies in paragraph (10)).

Where a liquor sales outlet operated by a liquor manufacturer (meaning a sales outlet for which a sales license prescribed in Article 9, paragraph (1) of the Liquor Tax Act has been obtained; the same applies hereinafter in this paragraph) satisfies the requirements specified by Cabinet Order, such as being adjacent to a liquor manufacturing site of that liquor manufacturer, the provisions of this Article apply by deeming that liquor sales outlet to be a liquor manufacturing site. In this case, with regard to the application of the provisions of that Act (excluding Chapter II) and other laws and regulations concerning liquor tax when a liquor sales outlet deemed to be a liquor manufacturing site has obtained the permission referred to in the preceding paragraph, the liquor sales outlet that has obtained that permission and that liquor manufacturing site are deemed to be one liquor manufacturing site.

Where the permission for a tax-free shop has been rescinded pursuant to the provisions of Article 8, paragraph (8) of the Consumption Tax Act with regard to a tax-free liquor shop (meaning a tax-free liquor shop prescribed in paragraph (8); the same applies hereinafter in this paragraph and the following paragraph), the district director is to rescind the permission referred to in paragraph (8) pertaining to that tax-free liquor shop.

The district director may rescind the permission referred to in paragraph (8) pertaining to a tax-free liquor shop where the liquor manufacturer operating that tax-free liquor shop falls under any of the following cases:

where the liquor manufacturer has violated the provisions of laws and regulations concerning liquor tax;

where the procedures for selling tax-exempt liquor at that tax-free liquor shop or other conditions are found to be particularly inappropriate;

where it is found that there is an impediment to the confirmation of the director-general of the customs house referred to in paragraph (1) due to deficiencies in or false records in the liquor purchase record information provided under the provisions of the first sentence of paragraph (2), or other circumstances.

The provisions of Article 74-4, paragraph (1) (limited to the part pertaining to items (iv) through (vi)) and paragraph (2), Articles 74-8 through 74-11, and Article 74-13 of the Act on General Rules for National Taxes apply mutatis mutandis to a person found to have purchased tax-exempt liquor by the method specified by Cabinet Order prescribed in paragraph (1) (referred to as a "tax-free liquor purchaser" in this paragraph and the following paragraph); the provisions of Article 74-4, paragraph (3), Article 74-8, and Article 74-13 of that Act apply mutatis mutandis to a person found to have transactions with a tax-free liquor purchaser; and the provisions of Article 59-2 of the Consumption Tax Act apply mutatis mutandis to the case where the provisions of Article 68, paragraphs (1) and (2) of the Act on General Rules for National Taxes are applied on account of matters recorded in liquor purchase record information and customs confirmation information. In this case, the phrase "a liquor manufacturer, etc. (meaning a liquor manufacturer (meaning a liquor manufacturer as prescribed in Article 7, paragraph (1) (Liquor Manufacturing License) of the Liquor Tax Act (Act No. 6 of 1953); the same applies hereinafter in this Article), a manufacturer of yeast starter (meaning yeast starter as prescribed in Article 3, item (xxiv) (Definitions of Other Terms) of that Act; the same applies hereinafter in this Article) or moromi mash (meaning moromi mash as prescribed in Article 3, item (xxv) of that Act; the same applies hereinafter in this Article), a seller of liquor (meaning liquor as prescribed in Article 2, paragraph (1) (Definition and Categories of Liquor) of that Act; the same applies hereinafter in this Article), or a special filer (meaning a special filer as prescribed in Article 30-6, paragraph (2) (Extension of Due Date for Payment) of that Act; the same applies in item (iv)); the same applies in paragraph (3))" in Article 74-4, paragraph (1) of that Act is deemed to be replaced with "a person found to have purchased tax-exempt liquor prescribed in Article 87-6, paragraph (1) of the Act on Special Measures Concerning Taxation (referred to as 'tax-exempt liquor' in this paragraph and the following paragraph) by the method specified by Cabinet Order prescribed in paragraph (1) of that Article (referred to as a 'tax-free liquor purchaser' in this paragraph and paragraph (3))"; the phrase "these persons" with "tax-free liquor purchasers"; the phrase "liquor possessed by a seller of liquor or a special filer" in item (iv) of that paragraph with "tax-exempt liquor purchased by the method specified by Cabinet Order prescribed in Article 87-6, paragraph (1) of the Act on Special Measures Concerning Taxation which is possessed by a tax-free liquor purchaser"; the phrase "the manufacture, storage or sale of liquor, yeast starter or moromi mash, or to the receipt of liquor from a bonded area" in item (v) of that paragraph with "the tax-exempt liquor listed in the preceding item"; the phrase "buildings, machinery, apparatus, containers or raw materials necessary for the manufacture, storage or sale of liquor, yeast starter or moromi mash" in item (vi) of that paragraph with "containers for the tax-exempt liquor listed in item (iv)"; the phrase "the articles listed in items (i) through (iv) of the preceding paragraph or their raw materials" in paragraph (2) of that Article with "the tax-exempt liquor listed in item (iv) of the preceding paragraph"; the phrase "those articles or raw materials" with "that tax-exempt liquor"; the phrase "a person found to be obliged to transfer raw materials to a liquor manufacturer, etc. or any other person found to have transactions with a liquor manufacturer, etc. in connection with that person's own business" in paragraph (3) of that Article with "a person found to have transactions with a tax-free liquor purchaser"; the phrase "these persons" with "that person"; the phrase "preserved by a business operator" in Article 59-2, paragraph (1) of the Consumption Tax Act with "preserved by a liquor manufacturer prescribed in Article 2, paragraph (4), item (ii) of the Act on Special Measures Concerning Taxation that has received an exemption from liquor tax pursuant to the provisions of Article 87-6, paragraph (1) of that Act"; the phrase "the purchase record information prescribed in Article 8, paragraph (2) and other information specified by Cabinet Order" with "the liquor purchase record information prescribed in Article 87-6, paragraph (2) of that Act and the customs confirmation information prescribed in paragraph (3) of that Article"; the phrase "of this Act or any other Act concerning consumption tax (including orders based on them)" with "by Order of the Ministry of Finance"; the phrase "that business operator" with "that liquor manufacturer"; and the phrase "concerning consumption tax" with "concerning liquor tax".

A tax-free liquor purchaser to whom the provisions of Article 74-4, paragraph (1) (limited to the part pertaining to items (iv) through (vi); the same applies hereinafter in this paragraph) and paragraph (2) of the Act on General Rules for National Taxes apply mutatis mutandis pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph is deemed to be a liquor manufacturer, etc. prescribed in paragraph (1) of that Article, and the provisions of Article 128 (limited to the parts of items (ii) and (iii) pertaining to Article 74-4, paragraphs (1) and (2) of that Act) and Article 130 of that Act apply to that purchaser; and a person found to have transactions with a tax-free liquor purchaser, to whom the provisions of Article 74-4, paragraph (3) of that Act apply mutatis mutandis pursuant to the preceding paragraph, is deemed to be a person prescribed in that paragraph, and the provisions of Article 128 (limited to the parts of items (ii) and (iii) pertaining to Article 74-4, paragraph (3) of that Act) and Article 130 of that Act apply to that person.

The director-general of a customs house may, pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Order, delegate part of the authority concerning the collection under the provisions of paragraph (6), and of the authority based on the provisions of laws and regulations concerning the liquor tax so collected, to the head of a branch customs or any other customs office.

In addition to what is prescribed in the preceding paragraphs, necessary matters concerning the application of the provisions of this Article are specified by Cabinet Order.

Where a person has, without justifiable grounds, failed to export the tax-exempt liquor referred to in paragraph (5) in violation of the provisions of that paragraph, the person who committed that violation is punished by imprisonment for one year or less or a fine of 500,000 yen or less.

If the representative of a corporation, or an agent, employee, or other worker of a corporation or individual, has committed the violation referred to in the preceding paragraph in connection with the business or property of that corporation or individual, not only is the offender punished, but that corporation or individual is also subject to the fine prescribed in that paragraph.