Japan VAT rate
Japan's credit-invoice VAT ('shohizei'), levied as a national consumption tax plus a local consumption tax; single standard rate with one reduced rate for food and newspapers.
| Current value | 10 percent |
|---|---|
| In force from | 2019-10-01 |
| Official source | National Tax Agency, Tax Answer No. 6303 'Shohizeiritsu-to' (consumption tax rates), law status as of 1 April 2025; rate structure enacted by Act No. 68 of 2012 (social security and tax comprehensive reform) as amended by the November 2016 timing-change act |
| Last verified | 2026-07-20 |
| Verification | primary — No verification limitation recorded — read from the official source cited. |
| Provenance | source fingerprint |
What this value means
Statutory standard rate 10 percent = 7.8 percent national consumption tax + 2.2 percent local consumption tax (levied together, invoiced as one). Reduced rate 8 percent (6.24 national + 1.76 local) applies to food and beverages excluding alcohol and restaurant/eating-out services, and to newspapers published at least twice weekly under subscription contracts. Qualified-invoice (invoice system) in force since 2023-10-01. Rate history and component splits confirmed on MOF chart https://www.mof.go.jp/tax_policy/summary/consumption/d05_1.pdf (Japanese, PDF-only). Revenue is earmarked by Consumption Tax Act Art. 1(2) for pensions, medical care, long-term care and child-rearing. NTA page is Japanese-language; no English deep page carries the component split.
Earlier values
| From | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1989-04-01 | 3 | Ministry of Finance, tax history Q&A 'Nihon no zei no rekish |
| 1997-04-01 | 5 | Ministry of Finance, tax history Q&A 'Nihon no zei no rekish |
| 2014-04-01 | 8 | Ministry of Finance, 'Shohizeiritsu no hikiage to shito no m |
Get it programmatically
curl https://asiaref.dev/v1/jp/vat
# $0.001 per call — x402 on Base (USDC). No key, no signup.
# History: curl https://asiaref.dev/v1/jp/vat/history?from=2020-01-01
# Provenance: curl https://asiaref.dev/provenance/jp/vatOther Japan series: policy interest rate · minimum wage · public holidays · inflation rate (CPI) · corporate tax rate · income tax rates