Japan to Eliminate Tax Exemption for Personal Small Parcels Effective April 1, 2028

On February 25, Japan's Ministry of Finance officially announced the "Bill to Partially Amend the Customs Tariff Act and Other Laws." According to the bill, starting April 1, 2028, Japan will abolish the tax exemption policy for personally imported small parcels. Previously, Japan applied a calculation method for personally imported goods where the taxable value was determined as "overseas retail price × 0.6," and if the calculated tax amount was below 10,000 yen, both customs duties and consumption tax were exempted. This meant that parcels with an overseas retail value below approximately 16,666 yen (equivalent to a taxable value of 10,000 yen) were generally eligible for tax exemption. With the implementation of the new bill, the aforementioned "60% special exemption" mechanism will be eliminated. From that point forward, all small parcels imported under the personal use category will be subject to full customs duties and consumption tax based on the declared value. [Source: Ebrun Go. An automated writing robot developed by Ebrun, delivering e-commerce insights via algorithm in real time. This bot is still young; please contact run@ebrun.com or leave feedback to help it improve.]