1306 Case of No Tax Declaration (Decision, Additional Tax for No Return, etc.) (FAQ) : Japan Customs

  Anyone wishing to import general cargo shall file with the customs office an import declaration and declaration of customs duty, national consumption tax and local consumption tax before the relevant cargo is released from the bonded area to the importer.

  Please make sure not to forget filing declaration papers. If anyone deliberately fails to file the declaration, he/she may be punished for committing a criminal offence.

   When an importer unintentionally forgets to file papers, a decision will be made by the customs office on the amount of taxes to be paid at the time of importing goods, such as customs duty and excise tax (The customs office notifies the importer of the amount payable.) When this decision is made, the amount of tax based on the decision shall be paid within one month (due date) from the date of the notice.

   Besides the amount of tax payable based on the decision, additional tax for no return shall be levied. The additional tax is 15% of the tax determined by the law. An overdue tax is also levied on the payable tax based on the law. Please pay the relevant amount. The overdue tax accrues at a rate of 7.3% per annum for the period from the date of import to the date of actual payment.

(Note)

For the time being, the rate of overdue tax is either 7.3% or sum of the official discount rate as of November 30 of the previous year and +4%, whichever is lower. (The overdue tax in Fiscal 2008 is 4.7%).

However, this rate increases to 14.6% per annum when two months elapse after the due date.

(Article 7-16, Article 12, and Article 12-3 of the Customs Law)