# Director-general of a customs house (税関長, ぜいかんちょう) This is the Markdown twin of https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/customs-director. Every law, and how to address a provision: https://japanlaw.org/llms.txt. The same laws as MCP tools (no sign-in): https://japanlaw.org/mcp. - Group: Institutions, offices and documents - URL: https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/customs-director - In Japanese: https://japanlaw.org/ja/concepts/customs-director - Written by: claude-opus-5-5, 2026-10-13 The head of a customs house (税関), a local office of the Ministry of Finance (Act for Establishment of the Ministry of Finance, Article 12, paragraph (1)). A customs house collects customs duties and controls imported and exported goods (Article 16, paragraph (1), with Article 4, paragraph (1), items 25 and 26), and it also levies and collects the internal taxes (内国税, taxes other than customs duties, such as consumption tax) that a law puts in its hands (Article 16, paragraph (1), item (iv)). For consumption tax that means taxable goods (課税貨物) taken out of a bonded area (保税地域, a zone where imported goods are held before customs clearance): unless another law or a treaty exempts them, the person taking them out files the return with the director-general of a customs house, not with a tax office (Consumption Tax Act, Article 47, paragraphs (1) and (2)), and where the customs authorities fix the tax themselves, that director-general collects it when the goods are taken out (Article 50, paragraph (2)). Written for this site by an AI model from the provisions and pages it cites. Each sentence was checked against them by a separate AI model run and revised to its findings. Not reviewed by a lawyer. ## Provisions and sources it draws on - [Act for Establishment of the Ministry of Finance, Arts. 4, 12, 16](https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/411AC0000000095) - [Consumption Tax Act, Arts. 47, 50](https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/363AC0000000108) — on this site: https://japanlaw.org/en/consumption-tax-act ## Where the laws use it 8 laws in force use it in this sense, in 61 provisions; there the word opens this explanation. - [Act on General Rules for National Taxes (国税通則法)](https://japanlaw.org/en/national-tax-general-rules-act): 29 provisions, among them [Article 11](https://japanlaw.org/en/national-tax-general-rules-act/art-11), [Article 16](https://japanlaw.org/en/national-tax-general-rules-act/art-16), [Article 21](https://japanlaw.org/en/national-tax-general-rules-act/art-21) - [Act on Special Measures Concerning Taxation (租税特別措置法)](https://japanlaw.org/en/special-taxation-measures-act): 15 provisions, among them [Article 85](https://japanlaw.org/en/special-taxation-measures-act/art-85), [Article 86-2](https://japanlaw.org/en/special-taxation-measures-act/art-86-2), [Article 87-3](https://japanlaw.org/en/special-taxation-measures-act/art-87-3) - [Local Tax Act (地方税法)](https://japanlaw.org/en/local-tax-act): 7 provisions, among them [Article 72-78](https://japanlaw.org/en/local-tax-act/art-72-78), [Article 72-101](https://japanlaw.org/en/local-tax-act/art-72-101), [Article 72-103](https://japanlaw.org/en/local-tax-act/art-72-103) - [Consumption Tax Act (消費税法)](https://japanlaw.org/en/consumption-tax-act): 6 provisions, among them [Article 8](https://japanlaw.org/en/consumption-tax-act/art-8), [Article 27](https://japanlaw.org/en/consumption-tax-act/art-27), [Article 30](https://japanlaw.org/en/consumption-tax-act/art-30) - [Family Register Act (戸籍法)](https://japanlaw.org/en/family-register-act): 1 provision, among them [Article 10-2](https://japanlaw.org/en/family-register-act/art-10-2) - [Administrative Complaint Review Act (行政不服審査法)](https://japanlaw.org/en/administrative-complaint-review-act): 1 provision, among them [Article 7](https://japanlaw.org/en/administrative-complaint-review-act/art-7) - [Administrative Procedure Act (行政手続法)](https://japanlaw.org/en/administrative-procedure-act): 1 provision, among them [Article 3](https://japanlaw.org/en/administrative-procedure-act/art-3) - [Road Transport Vehicle Act (道路運送車両法)](https://japanlaw.org/en/road-transport-vehicle-act): 1 provision, among them [Article 15-2](https://japanlaw.org/en/road-transport-vehicle-act/art-15-2) ## Related - [Act (法律, ほうりつ)](https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/act) - [District director (税務署長, ぜいむしょちょう)](https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/district-director) --- ## Sources - Explanation: Written for this site with AI (claude-opus-5-5, 2026-10-13) - Where it is used, and how often: Worked out by this site from e-Gov's text - English names of the laws: Japanese Law Translation, Ministry of Justice (8 records)