消費税、免税店を使った訪日観光客による転売行為の温床　　　　　　　　　　気ままなリライト６８

狙われる日本の免税店　転売横行、70年前の制度とズレ - 日本経済新聞

The tax-free shopping privilege offered to international visitors to Japan has become vulnerable to abuse due to widespread non-compliance with regulations governing the tax-free sales system at designated tax-free stores, as well as insufficient enforcement measures. More and more international shoppers have been benefiting from the leniency in store checks, evading paying the consumption tax they legally owe, especially for bulk purchases going beyond the tax-free threshold, without facing any penalties or consequences. While the tax-free transactions are boosting consumption by international shoppers, the scale of tax evasion is posing a challenge for the government to update the current consumption tax exemption policy.

Behind the abuse of tax-free shopping privilege granted to international visitors is unwillingness to adjust the policy of how to prevent tax evasion through regulations for consumption tax exemption to the current social and economic context of Japan. Since the enactment of the tax-free sales system in 1952, no discussion about its revision has been made, despite the consumption tax increasing from 3% to 10% and the number of designated tax-free stores growing tenfold in the past decade to deal with the surge in the number of international shoppers from 2.8 million annual visitors in 1952 to more than 280 million during the pre-pandemic era, reflecting a substantial increase in consumption and tourism.

Although the government introduced a system to share the financial records of international shoppers at tax-free stores with the National Tax Agency and customs in April 2020 as a measure to prevent tax evasion, it was found to be ineffective without the enforcement power to hold international tax evaders accountable. Customs officials do not have the authority to prevent international visitors from leaving Japan at airports, even if they have evidence of illegal purchases of duty-free items. Most of them tend to take a lenient approach towards international visitors and give the benefit of doubt to suspicious cases unless passports with stamps proving legal purchases of duty-free items are presented voluntarily. The trust in an international individual's innate moral compass with self-discipline, is often betrayed from the perspective of tax collectors expecting any taxpayer to act with honesty and integrity.

The tax authorities have taken a tough stance on tax-free store managers as taxpayers, in contrast to their weak-kneed approach towards enforcing tax regulations on international shoppers. During the period between June 2021 and June 2022, corporations running tax-free stores faced additional tax assessments totaling 86.9 billion yen, an 11% increase compared with that five years ago. Financial records of designated tax-free stores in various locations, such as supermarkets, shopping malls, and department stores, revealed purchases of items that failed to meet the tax exemption criteria. Although the exemption applies only to items for personal use or consumption, some stores engaged in inadequate transactions of items that exceeded the tax-free threshold for the purpose of resale, either knowingly or unknowingly. Such practices were detected at a department store in Osaka City and an Apple Japan store. Apple Japan shouldered the blame for non-payment of consumption tax and faced an additional tax charge of approximately 13 billion yen at the end of 2022. The department store in Osaka City paid an additional tax of 760 million yen, as the international resellers involved had fled overseas without penalty.

There is no foolproof solution to the problem of consumption tax evasion as long as the tax exists, but one recommended option is the introduction of a refund tax exemption system. This system would require international shoppers to pay the consumption tax at the time of purchase at tax-free stores, and then receive a refund for the tax paid on qualifying exempt items when they depart the country. This system is believed to be less vulnerable to abuse and exploitation by those seeking to evade consumption tax, compared with the current tax-free sales system. If there were a drastic, ultimate policy change aimed at eliminating all problems associated with tax exemption system, and making everybody happy except for tax collectors, it would be the abolition of the consumption tax.