But buy buy should be sober when buying, or he will be cheated carelessly! Let's talk about the problems that need to be paid attention to when shopping in Japanese duty-free shops to avoid being pitted!
First, beware of counterfeit duty-free shops.
There are many so-called duty-free shops in Tokyo, and tour groups often go there. It should be noted that some of them are opened by people from Taiwan Province Province or mainland China, and the contents will be very expensive, and there may be some fakes. For example, laox used to be an old Japanese electrical appliance store, and now it is owned by Suning, specializing in tourism business; The first medicine, Gu Mingshi, is a seller of health care products and cosmetics, but this family has been exposed by many media and TV stations. The first medicine, Gu Mingshi, is a seller of health care products and cosmetics, but this family has been exposed by many media and TV stations.
How to avoid being pitted:
1. Before shopping, check the distribution of duty-free shops online, judge whether they are regular duty-free shops, search online for fraud experiences, and confirm and compare commodity prices.
2. In various stores in Japan, the prices of the same goods are not uniform, so tourists who have enough shopping time can visit several stores to compare prices.
3. Have a look before entering the store. There are signs with big simplified Chinese characters written on them. If there is a sign, don't enter, such as the one that directly says "xxx Duty Free Shop" ... This is for Chinese mainland tourists, 100% lies.
Second, duty-free shops VS tax refund shops
Regarding tax exemption and tax refund, many children's shoes are silly and unclear, but in order to save money when shopping abroad, we must first distinguish these two concepts. The sign of duty-free shop is tax-free, and the sign of tax refund shop is tax-free.
Duty-free duty-free shop: the tax here is tariff, and the import tariff of goods is exempted, and the tax rate is concentrated at 20%- 100%. Therefore, the purchase price of goods is the price excluding tax, and you can directly enjoy import tariff concessions after purchase. No matter whether you are a resident or not, you can enjoy this benefit as long as you leave the country, so you need to provide your passport and valid boarding pass when shopping.
Products suitable for purchase: cigarettes, alcohol, European and American cosmetics. Generally speaking, the tariffs on cigarettes, alcohol and cosmetics are higher, so duty-free shops are cheaper.
Duty-free tax refund shop: the tax here is tax, and the tax rate of VAT and consumption tax refund is usually not high, generally 8%- 10% can be refunded, but the price of goods still includes taxes. After purchasing more than 5000 yen, you need to go through the tax refund formalities to enjoy the discount. The tax refund is only for tourists.
Most shops that can get tax rebates will be labeled as "Japan Duty Free Shop". If you don't see it, you can confirm with the clerk whether to provide tax refund.
In addition, in addition to the red "Japan Duty Free Shop" signboard that you often see, many Japanese department stores and outlets will use the "Global Blue Tax Exemption" global blue tax rebate mechanism, which also enjoys the tax exemption of 10%, but requires a handling fee of 1.55%.
Goods suitable for purchase: electrical appliances, watches, clothes, luxury goods, Japanese cosmetics, etc. Large items that people want to buy abroad, such as luxury goods, are more cost-effective because the applicable tariff rate is not high, so it is more cost-effective to buy them in shopping malls or specialty stores, and the variety of specialty stores is much more than that of duty-free shops.
The conclusion is: those with high tariffs are bought in duty-free shops, such as tobacco, alcohol and cosmetics; With low tariffs and many varieties, the city will refund them, such as bags, clothes and discounted village supplies.
Third, pay attention to the purchase quantity.
More and more people take advantage of tax exemption and tax refund (commonly known as reselling) to make profits, which brings huge losses to the Japanese economy. So in April this year, Japan revised the tax exemption system.
The Japan Department Store Association introduced a new system in duty-free shops to restrict the reselling behavior of foreign tourists. If the electronic system determines that there is suspicion of reselling, the shopping mall can refuse to provide tax exemption or directly refuse to sell goods to it!
In the past, there was no restriction on non-consumable items within 500,000 yen at a time. Now, on this basis, you can't exceed 50 consumable foods and cosmetics, 20 general commodities, 5 watches and jewelry. After exceeding the limit, the customs system will give an early warning, and your passport will no longer be tax-free.
Some Xiaohongshu netizens said that they could not complete the transaction at a tax-free price because they were suspected of reselling in Japan.
So is the tax refund. In June this year, I went to the subway for tax refund and saw a woman at the counter next to me. The staff showed her the computer screen directly and said, "Your passport is not refundable." That woman was stunned in an instant ... Besides, as long as one shopping mall can't get a tax refund, other shopping malls in Japan can't get a tax refund. It contains all your tax exemption records.
If you want to buy a lot of items, you'd better buy them in several different stores within a few days. Don't always buy in one store, and don't buy in bulk from local companies. In the era of big data, data anomalies are easy to find.
Fourth, Japan should avoid the "pit" of tax exemption.
Never leave the receipt of urban consumption at the airport for tax refund. Japan airport is only responsible for the tax refund of duty-free shops in the airport;
Tax refund must be made on the day of shopping and in the same store/mall or department store;
When buying goods, you must bring your original passport to the duty-free counter, you need to sign it, and you don't accept agents. Those who do not bring their passports, remake their passports or hold a copy of their passports will not be accepted for tax exemption;
If the tax refund/exchange amount does not reach the tax exemption amount, all the goods on the same receipt will not enjoy tax exemption, and the customer must make up the consumption tax;
General goods can be used in Japan, and consumables will be packed in special packaging bags, but they cannot be used and unpacked in Japan. If the packages are opened, they will be regarded as used and may be required to pay consumption tax at the customs.
If you spend more than 5,000 yen (before tax), you can get a consumption tax rebate of 10%. However, due to Japan's tax reduction system, 8% consumption tax may be refunded together with different kinds of goods. You can ask the store about the tax refund standard when purchasing ~