I saw something about it being illegal to send items with batteries inside like laptops now but also read a post on this subreddit 5 years ago where OP successfully had the laptop from the U.S. delivered to him in Japan. ([https://www.reddit.com/r/japanlife/comments/62if03/had\_my\_family\_send\_me\_a\_laptop\_from\_the\_us\_to/](https://www.reddit.com/r/japanlife/comments/62if03/had_my_family_send_me_a_laptop_from_the_us_to/)) What are the rules now and are they enforced? Is there an import duty only if the item comes in with the price tag on it or an invoice in the package?
7 comments
Yes you will. Doesnt matter if it has a receipt or not. Border control will likely search the price themselves and calculate the duty based on it.
I’ve sent and received numerous laptops in the last few years, including during Corona times. It’s definitely not illegal to send stuff with batteries you just have to declare it properly and follow shipping instructions.
Do not use original packaging that usual laptops come in – they will have external IATA labels about lithium batteries and you can’t have that when shipping with USPS.
You can keep the internal box (assuming it’s new). Have your friend repack it, send as gift, you can declare it whatever amount you are comfortable with losing in case it’s lost, however I’ve had situations when stuff shipped as gift wasn’t taxed even when amount was over 10k yen.
Technically you should be paying 10% consumption tax on the declared value. There are no further additional taxes on electronics.
Despite what the other post says, nobody at Japan customs is going to look up a price of item and check with what’s declared. That only happens in weird Euro counties.
tldr, make sure no IATA labels, ship as battery in equipment< 100wh, declare as you wish and potentially pay 10% of that on receipt.
From my own personal experience having laptops sent to me from the USA, including warranty repairs and eBay, they are always taxed. With FedEx, eBay, or Amazon they have the fee included in the shipping cost – and if they over charged they credit you back something.
With USPS, had to pay the JP Post guy at the door.
I don’t know of a good way not to get charged. I’ve thought about having someone state-side break it down into parts and send them in separate boxes lol
But that’s the kind of overkill I think about when grumpy for paying Y16,000 in taxes for a warranty repair that took 6 months… Still bitter toward Lenovo because of that and typing on a Dell now.
Lol this customs is ridiculous. I sent some egf (growth factor) in recently and they made me pay taxes. Super impoverished government?
There are no import duty on electronics. But afaik if the value is >10,000 yen you may need to pay 10% consumption tax.
I just received a 2021 iPad Pro from my mom. It was in Chicago with no tracking updates for a while, but otherwise there were no issues.
You’ll pay 10% consumption tax plus a processing fee. If the value is over 250,000yen there is additional import documentation you have to fill out.
You’ll generally get better answers about finance and tax questions in /r/japanfinance.