Due to the sharp drop in the yen exchange rate, product prices are cheaper than in other regions. This spring, a large number of tourists go to Japan for shopping purposes. One of the popular items is Apple’s products. Passengers who stay in Japan for less than 6 months are exempted from paying sales tax when shopping. It is said that Apple suspected a mistake when handling tax refunds for customers. As a result, the authorities are now demanding that Apple pay $98 million in back taxes.
Distributors pretend to be tourists to purchase in large quantities
Some retail stores will directly handle the tax refund procedures for tourists during the transaction, and the Apple Store has also provided this service in the past. The Nikkei reported that authorities found that the Apple Store in Japan had wrongly exempted some transactions from sales tax. The report mentioned at least one transaction involving one person buying hundreds of iPhones at one go, which authorities believe was a reseller purchase. , whose purpose is for resale, believes that Apple should not handle tax refund procedures for it.
Mistake rebates for resellers
Apple has plugged this loophole in June this year and stopped handling tax refund procedures in stores. Passengers need to process tax refunds at designated places such as airports. The $98 million tax involved this time is a small part of Apple’s $26 billion in sales in Japan in fiscal year 2022, and Apple has voluntarily applied to amend its tax return.
source:nikkei