Japanese Consumption Tax Reclaim Service

A. Voluntary Registration to get back VAT

Registration must be done by the end of the fiscal year for the expenses during the next fiscal year. The fiscal year always means the company’s fiscal year, NOT the calendar year. If you start business in Japan or have expenses in Japan the first time, you register during the fiscal year and reclaim the expenses during that fiscal year.

VAT returns have to be filed within two months from the fiscal year-end. However, if you don’t mind the late claim, you don’t have to send us the invoices to meet the deadline. The company will still have a right to get the VAT back. The company can file the returns retrospectively for five years once it has registered. In this case, make sure that the company didn’t have sales in Japan.

B. Mandatory Registration

If the amount of sales made or services performed in Japan during two fiscal years ago exceeded Y10M, including the sales or services to non- Japan residents, the company is obliged to file a consumption tax return for the current fiscal year. The sales amount during the current fiscal year, or whether the company charges Japanese VAT, doesn’t matter. Filing obligation is decided depending on the sales amount during two fiscal years ago, NOT on the sales amount during the current year. But, the calculation is made using the sales amount during the current fiscal year.

In Japan, non-VAT registered companies, too, can charge VAT.

If the company meets this requirement, it should register as soon as possible.