Tax exemption for foreigners visiting Japan was expanded from today

Recently the NHK News On-line reported the following:

訪日外国人向け免税 きょうから拡充

2018年7月1日 22時01分

日本を訪れる外国人旅行者の消費税の免税制度が１日から拡充されます。これまであった対象商品の区分をなくし、購入額が合わせて5000円以上になれば免税の対象となるもので、政府は外国人旅行者の消費拡大につなげたい考えです。

これまでの消費税の免税制度では、対象商品が家電や洋服といった「一般物品」と、化粧品や食品といった「消耗品」の２つに区分され、外国人旅行者が１回の買い物につき、それぞれ5000円以上購入しなければ免税されませんでした。

これについて、外国人旅行者から「わかりにくい」との声が相次いでいたことから、政府は１日から、２つの区分をなくし、どの品目でも合わせて5000円以上購入すれば免税することにしました。

制度の拡充に合わせて、東京 銀座にある免税店では、先週から日本語や中国語で新しい制度を知らせるポスターを張り出すなどして周知を図っていました。

免税店の担当者は「今までは会計の際に免税の対象にならないとわかると購入をやめる客もいたが、新しい制度では買い物がしやすくなると期待している」と話していました。

観光庁によりますと、外国人旅行者１人当たりの平均消費額は２年連続で減少していて、政府は新しい免税制度によって消費拡大につなげたいとしています。

Translation

 Starting from the 1^st, tax-free system in consumption tax for foreign travelers visiting Japan was expanded. The division of targeted goods enforced up to now would be lifted, and when the amount of purchase was more than 5000 yen in total, it would be the eligible for duty-free; the government had the idea of linking it to increasing the foreign traveler's consumption.

Up to now under the tax-free system in taxation, the targeted goods were divided into two types, the home electronics and clothes were "general items” while cosmetics and food were etc. were “consumables items”; when a foreign traveler didn't buy more than 5000 yen respectively in each shopping, it would not be eligible to tax exemption.

Regarding this, because there was successive voice from foreign travelers saying that the system "is incomprehensible", from the 1^st of this month the government discarded the 2 divisions; when buying more than 5000 yen, whichever list of articles you had bought would be eligible for a taxation exemption.

According to this institutional expansion, at the duty-free shop in Tokyo Ginza, since last week, aiming at making publicity, among other things posters in Japanese and Chinese were put up which talked about the new system.

The people in charge in a duty-free shop said that “so far there are cases that when visitors come to the billing, they would stop buying when they found out that they were not duty-free targeted items; it's expected that shopping would become easy in the new system."

According to a sightseeing agency, the average expenditure per foreign traveler had decreased continuously for 2 years and it was assumed that the government would like to expand consumption through a new tax-free system.

              So, the new taxation arrangement would attract more purchases by foreign travelers.