What every invoice must show
- The issuer's name and 登録番号. Without a valid T-number the document is not a qualified invoice and the buyer loses the input tax credit — partly, for now: a transitional measure lets the buyer still deduct 80% of the notional input tax until 30 September 2026, then 70% to September 2028, 50% to September 2030 and 30% to September 2031. The March 2026 reform extended this by two years and capped it at ¥100 million of purchases a year from any one unregistered supplier. Most English summaries, including the NTA's own English leaflet, still print the old 50%.
- Totals split by tax rate, with the rate shown. The 10% and 8% subtotals go separately; Japan's reduced 8% rate on food makes this unavoidable for anyone selling groceries.
- The consumption tax amount for each rate band, shown separately.
- A mark against every reduced-rate line, usually ※, and a note saying what it means, plus the buyer's name. Retail, restaurants and taxis may issue a 適格簡易請求書 instead, which drops the buyer's name.
Numbering, keeping and correcting invoices
A registered issuer must keep a copy of every qualified invoice, simplified invoice and return invoice it issues, or the electronic data supplied, for seven years from the day after two months have passed from the end of the taxable period in which it was issued (Enforcement Order Art. 70-13). Books must be kept for the same seven years (NTA Tax Answer No.6621).
A return invoice (適格返還請求書) is required when a sale is reduced by a return, discount or rebate, unless the amount is under JPY 10,000. An invoice with an error must be replaced by a corrected one sent to the buyer (Art. 57-4 paras 3-4).
Art. 57-5 forbids a non-registered business from issuing a document that could be mistaken for a qualified invoice, and a registered issuer from issuing one with false entries. A breach is punishable by up to one year's imprisonment or a fine of up to JPY 500,000 (Art. 65 item 4).
Electronic invoicing in Japan
There is no e-invoicing mandate in Japan and none has been announced. A qualified invoice may be paper or electronic, no format is prescribed, and the NTA says a handwritten document qualifies if it carries the required items. The Digital Agency is Japan's Peppol Authority and maintains the JP PINT specification, but using it is voluntary. A separate obligation is often confused with a mandate: under the Electronic Books Preservation Act an invoice you receive as data must be kept as data. Printing it and discarding the file is not compliant.