The government and ruling parties have decided to abolish the system allowing foreign students and other long-term residents to make duty-free purchases in response to suspected cases of reselling and complaints of cumbersome eligibility checks, sources said Sunday.
Under the current system, which will be revised as part of tax reforms for fiscal 2022, foreign students staying long-term in Japan and not working part-time can make tax-free purchases within six months of entering the country.
Criticism has arisen over the labor-intensive checks duty-free stores have to perform at the time of sale to confirm a student is not working, while others have complained it is unfair that stores with lax screening procedures end up attracting more customers.