Japan to pay 1,000-yen 'sayonara tax' from

January 2019
PUBLISHED
APR 11, 2018, 6:06 PM SGT
UPDATED
APR 12, 2018, 7:07 PM

TOKYO - Starting next year (2019), all travellers leaving Japan will be
required to pay a "Sayonara levy" of 1,000 yen (S$12.20), reported
Japanese media. Japan's Parliament, or the Diet, enacted on Wednesday
(April 11) a Bill to introduce the departure tax of 1,000 yen.The new tax
is scheduled to kick in on Jan 7, 2019, and applies to both Japanese and
foreign travellers leaving the country by plane or ship. The levy will be
added to airfares and ship fares specifically.Under the law endorsed by
the Upper House, toddlers under the age of two and transit passengers
leaving Japan within 24 hours of arrival will be exempted.Revenue from
the tax is estimated to amount to around 43 billion yen per fiscal year,
reported Jiji Press. There were about 40 million departures from Japan
in 2016, including 17 million by Japanese nationals.Seeking to capitalise
on one of the few growth sectors in the rapidly ageing country, the
government aims to use the extra tax revenue to boost tourism
infrastructure and promote travel destinations in rural Japan, as well as
fund global tourism campaigns.According to the legislation, the
government also plans to get public transportation operators to expand
free wireless Internet services as well as roll out electronic payment
systems.Between January and March next year, Tokyo estimates revenue
from the new tax will reach six billion yen and plans to allocate part of it
to the installation of gates equipped with facial recognition, reported
Kyodo news agency.On Tuesday, the Japanese Parliament passed
legislation limiting the use of the departure tax revenue to tourism-
related projects, countering criticism that it could be diverted for other
purposes.Japan has enjoyed a surge in the number of inbound tourist
numbers, who have helped lift the world's third-largest economy in
recent years.The nation attracted a record 28.69 million tourists in 2017,
up 19.3 per cent from the previous year and reflecting the sixth
consecutive yearly increase, reported Japan Times.The government of
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe aims to increase that figure to 40 million by
2020, when Tokyo will be hosting the Summer Olympic and Paralympic
Games, and to 60 million by 2030.
According to the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO),
travellers from Singapore made around 400,000 trips to Japan last year,
accounting for 1.4 per cent of the total number of in-bound trips made by
foreigners. China and South Korea are the top two tourist sources for
Japan, each accounting for around 25 per cent of the total number of
visits last year. Similar departure levies are in place in countries such as
the United States, Australia and South Korea: The US slaps a fee of 1,500
yen on international travellers in its visa waiver programme; Australia
collects about 5,000 yen per person; South Korea imposes a 1,000 yen
departure fee on air travellers. Some critics fear the new levy could
dampen the travel appetites of budget tourists.Within Japan, the Tokyo
Metropolitan Government and the Osaka Prefectural Government
charge a lodging tax of 100 to 300 yen per person per night respectively
to finance local tourism promotion and other measures.Kyoto plans to
follow suit from October this year.