AlwaysAisle

Oct. 1, 2019 the consumption tax in Japan will increase to 10%. However, this time around there is little different in consumption tax for food. Like at restaurants if you eat food at their property then the consumption tax will be 10% starting Oct. 1. However, if you take out food and do not eat the food at their property then the consumption tax will be 8%.

Places like fast food place, starting Oct. 1 your totally pay will be slightly different depends on if you eat in or if you take out.

PAX_fips

That will make things more complicated for tourists at non-english counters/machines.

lobsterdog

How is it more complicated? If someone wants take-out, then they have to figure out how to ask for take-out, whatever the tax rate happens to be. It's not like they have to get out a calculator and figure out the consumption on their own.

PAX_fips

I am talking about this "figuring out take-out" (button/kanji) - ofc noone has to calculate the tax on their own.

lobsterdog

Why would figuring out take-out be more complicated after the change in tax?

AlwaysAisle

It is difference between 8% and 10%, 2% difference. For items cost 500 yens will be difference of 10 yens if you do eat in or take out. If many visitors will be that observant is another story. Many visitors use credit cards for payments these days and wonder if people pay attention to individual payments that much when they buy stuff? Many people who uses PASMO and SUICA do not pay attention if they chose most economical route or not.

Anyway, many fast food places in Japan are trying to figure out what to do. 牛丼すき家 (beef bowl Sukiya) and KFC Japan (Kentucky Fried Chicken) and few other have announced that for popular main items they will set different price for eat in and take out so that total payment will be same regardless of eat in or take out.

MOS Burger and few others have stated that they will keep the price same so that there will be difference in total charge between eat in and take out.

McDonalds Japan and few others have stated that they are currently reviewing the situation and have not decided on eat in and take out matter starting Oct. 1.

freecia

There's a reward points system for using cashless payments from Oct 1 2019 to June 2020
https://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0005975383
5% rewards at small and midsize shops
2% rewards at combini

Does anyone know how that's going to work for tourists?

There's rumors of a smartphone based reward system tied to MyNumber being implemented next year
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/20...mber-id-cards/

The 2% difference at eateries & combini sort of resembles a trash can/waste disposal convenience tax to me. Bubble tea seems to be the current food fad and more Japanese people walking about with to-go cups of tea/coffee, yet not noticeably more trash cans. I wonder if this will produce more or less litter along with the combini bag fee (which is useful for packing waste home).

beep88

https://japanese.engadget.com/2019/09/02/10-5/

2 methods of collecting/using points. Couldn't quite get google translate to work.

freecia

Google Translate guessing-
Some QR Payments like PayPay & LinePay reward points issued 1- 3 months later
Seven-Eleven, FamilyMart, Lawson, and Ministop will immediately rebate 2% off transaction. FamilyMart fine print states that overseas credit cards will be rebated 2% but not covered by the initiative's funds and WeChat + Alipay not eligible https://www.family.co.jp/company/new...190830_02.html

Not all cashless methods at all stores will qualify for rewards
https://cashless.go.jp/consumer/branches-typeA.html
Applicable Credit card rebates are domestic issued.

tl;dr: Suica/Icoca/IC transit card better chances of timely rebate for tourists when buying from a qualifying small seller or combini without meeting tax-free tourist minimums when this takes effect until June 2020. Seems YMMV.

JapanFlyerT

I haven't put much effort into learning the new point rebate system, but 2% or more could be worth the effort. Then again, it may be limited to 2% of 20,000 month, so ¥400/month, just ¥4800/year.

Does anyone have a quick suggestion on how which payment method is best? My Saison UA card earns 15 miles ¥1,000 (1.5 miles/$0.92), which is the best overall return I have found. My other go-to is Chase Reserve, which gets me 3 miles per $1, but only on eating out and travel.

Mizunara

I haven't heard of any limits on the rebate. Got a source for that? As far as I know it's free real estate until June when the promotion ends.

So far I think this just makes my dCard Gold even sweeter at Lawson's, since it's 2% right at the counter for the cashless rebate, and then the standard 3% back every month thanks to the Docomo / Lawson partnership. My JGC View card still doesn't get too much use, other than the times that I pop by Aeon for groceries or for auto-charging my Suica. For everything else, Suica off of my phone is just faster and more convenient for everything, and I just take the 2% at JRE point stores and 2% just from using JR lines. My own CSR still gets semi-regular use for plane tickets since I'm not gonna leave those Chase points on the table.

JapanFlyerT

I now see I get 2-5% off using any Japanese credit card (though I haven't yet tried a US card, be interesting if the system denies the discount).

The extra point game dPoint/Tpoint etc is one I haven't played. I don't ride the train much or eat out, so supermarkets are the place for us. We have an Aeon credit card which gets the 5% off, certain days, but apparently we don't get points if we use "credit" option, something I only learned last week.

I guess the limits are tied to the points of some respective programs.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/20...hless-society/


There is no maximum monthly CASHLESS rebate cap with Suica cards (by comparison View Card CASHLESS rebates are capped monthly at ¥15,000)
https://atadistance.net/2018/09/16/s...ing-jre-point/

baby_tux

To date, the only place I've got the rebate (2%) with my Canadian credit card is at the 3 major konbinis.

5khours

I've also see the rebate on a Suica card in convenience stores.

JapanFlyerT

I used my US chase card and got the 2% off at Lawson.