Japan mulls raising visa fees and departure tax to boost revenue
Plan would lift tourist visa charges and the international tourist tax, with proceeds earmarked for tackling overtourism and upgrading consular and immigration systems.
- The Japanese government is considering raising visa fees and its international tourist tax to generate an estimated 350 billion yen in annual revenue.
- The proposal includes a fivefold increase in tourist visa fees, from 3,000 yen to 15,000 yen.
- The international tourist tax, a departure levy for everyone leaving Japan, is set to triple from 1,000 yen to 3,000 yen.
- The additional revenue is intended to offset budget losses, with funds allocated to combat overtourism and improve consular and immigration services.
Nikkei Asia reported that the Japanese government plans to raise visa fees and the tourist tax to generate about 350 billion yen a year in revenue, to offset budget losses from the additional gasoline tax cut introduced last month.
The measures are expected to bring in 225 billion yen in fiscal 2026, rising to 350 billion yen in subsequent years.
The government plans to allocate 60% of the revenue to address overtourism, upgrade consular services and improve immigration systems, with the remaining 40% used for other budget needs.
Tourist visa fees to rise fivefold
The report said tourist visa fees will increase from 3,000 yen to 15,000 yen, a fivefold jump.
Fees for renewals or changes of visa status will rise from 6,000 yen to about 40,000 yen, depending on the length of stay.
Japan’s international tourist tax, an exit levy included in airline tickets, will be raised from 1,000 yen to 3,000 yen, effective in July.
It will apply to everyone leaving Japan, including Japanese citizens.
To ease the impact on Japanese residents from the higher exit tax, the government has ordered a near-halving of the 10-year passport fee, from about 16,000 yen to about 9,000 yen.
The report said the government is seeking to extract greater value from tourism as it expects state revenue to fall by as much as 2.2 trillion yen in fiscal 2026 due to free-education programmes and the lost fuel-tax revenue.
It aims to raise an additional 1.2 trillion yen through higher taxes on the wealthy and by scaling back tax breaks for the private sector.
Nikkei Asia
