charge triple to leave the country

Japan faces a dilemma, one that is not unknown in Spain: the country is enjoying a real tourist boom that is allowing you spray their own records of foreign visitors and irrigates its economy with billions of yen, but that popularity comes with a much less positive “B side.” Japan has long shown signs of a clear saturation that affects its inhabitants and increases pressure on its public services and infrastructure.

Faced with such a scenario, there is an idea that is beginning to take shape: triple one of the taxes paid by all tourists in the country, the ‘exit rate’.

Triple the tax? That’s how it is. At the moment it is just an idea on the table, but one that is solid enough that it has already crept into the political debate and grabbed headlines in media such as Nikkei, Kyodo either Asashi Shimbun.

The Japanese Government and the ruling coalition parties are considering increasing the “exit tax”a rate applied since 2019 and that must be paid by all tourists who leave the country, whether foreigners or locals, traveling for leisure or work reasons. The idea has also been discussed in a commission on tourism of the Liberal Democratic Partytraining in power.

What do they propose to do? Triple the rate. In practice, this is equivalent to a tax that now costs 1,000 yen (5.5 euros) per person becoming 3,000 (16.7 euros), or even more. The proposal of the Liberal Democratic Party is that the increase takes place during fiscal year 2026 and that the increase is felt especially in the pockets of business class visitors or those who travel in business. For them the international rate would rise to 5,000 yen (€27.8).

The Sanae Takaichi Executive might not take long to make a decision. Nikkei keep it up that the Government wants to have a clear position before the end of the year, once it has heard from the tax commission, among other organizations. If it goes ahead, tourists will notice it in their wallets but a priori not in extra administrative procedures: the tax is usually added to the plane or boat ticket.

What is the objective? Inject more funds into public coffers to compensate for the expenses generated by the flood of tourists. In practice, clarify Nikkeithat means investing in the construction of parking, improving the waste collection system or reservation systems and decongesting public transport.

The ‘exit tax’ was already generated last fiscal year 52.4 billion yenabout 291 million euros. If the rate finally triples and taking into account that Japan keep breaking month after month its visitor records, that number could skyrocket. This week the National Tourism Organization has revealed that in October the flow of foreign tourists skyrocketed 17.6% reaching almost 3.9 million foreign visitors. So far this year it totals 35.5 million.

Perfect, right? More or less. In Japan there are destinations that have been giving saturation samples (including Mount Fuji) and some administrations have already opted for tax increasebut tripling the ‘departure rate’ could have another, less desired consequence: discouraging trips by Japanese tourists abroad, which still remain at levels very inferior to those before Covid-19.

To avoid this, the Government is considering combining the increase in the tax with the reduction of another tax that its own citizens pay: the fees for issuing passports. Right now the online procedures to request a title valid for 10 years cost around 15,900 yenaround 88.3 euros.

Does context matter? Yes. The debate over the ‘departure tax’ comes at a delicate time for Japanese tourism. The influx of foreign visitors may be increasing, but the increased tension between Tokyo and Beijing threatens one of the markets most important for Japanese tourism: China. Xi Jinping’s government already has asked its citizens to avoid traveling to Japan, which has resulted in the cancellation of tens and tens of thousands of trips. Now the Takaichi Government must decide whether to raise rates against this backdrop.

Images | Tiplada M (Unsplash) and Matt Cramblett (Unsplash)

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