Japan Receipt Revenue Stamp Rules: the 50,000-Yen Test, Duty Table, PDF Receipts and Missing Stamps

A revenue stamp is the stamp you affix to a paper receipt to pay stamp duty (印紙税). A paper receipt is a Category 17 document under the Stamp Tax Act: a “receipt for money or securities”. The title does not matter. A cash register receipt, or an invoice marked “代済” or “相済” (paid), counts too if it is made to prove that money was received^[1].

This page focuses on receipts for sales proceeds (Category 17-1 documents). Check in this order.

1. Is it handed over on paper? A receipt sent as a PDF or by email is not subject to stamp duty^[6].
2. Is it exempt? A receipt not issued in the course of trade, and a receipt stating under 50,000 yen, are not taxable^[1].
3. Is the stated amount 50,000 yen or more? The amount tested depends on how consumption tax is written and on whether the issuer is a consumption taxpayer or tax-exempt^[3].
4. Look up the duty in the table. The issuer affixes the stamp to the receipt and cancels it^[1][8].

What a receipt should contain is covered in How to write a receipt in Japan. The stamp duty rules on this page follow National Tax Agency materials current as of April 1, 2026. The Q&A cases are current as of August 1, 2025.

The test uses the amount received as written on the receipt (the stated amount, 記載金額). If a consumption taxpayer shows the consumption tax separately, that tax is left out of the stated amount. The same applies when the receipt writes both the tax-inclusive and the tax-exclusive amount so the tax is clear^[3].

“Shown separately” (区分記載) means the tax amount is clearly written in the document. A line like “消費税等込5万円受領” (50,000 yen received, tax included) is not treated as showing the tax clearly^[4]. Writing only “税込” (tax included) or “消費税10%を含む” (includes 10% tax) does not make the tax clear either, so the tax-inclusive total is the stated amount^[3].

A tax-exempt business has no consumption tax on the transaction, so even if it writes an amount as consumption tax, that amount is included in the stated amount^[3][5].

The rule of thumb “test the tax-exclusive amount” holds only when the issuer is a consumption taxpayer, the transaction is subject to consumption tax, and the tax is written as an amount (or both the tax-inclusive and tax-exclusive amounts are written)^[3]. A tax-exempt business’s receipt is tested on the amount written.

If one receipt covers both sales proceeds and other money (such as repayment of loan principal), whether it is under 50,000 yen is judged on the total. The duty itself depends on the sales-proceeds amount alone^[1][12]. If the two cannot be separated, the whole amount is treated as sales proceeds^[1].

A receipt issued for consumption tax alone has no stated amount. But if that tax amount is under 50,000 yen, it is treated as a non-taxable document^[4].

For a receipt for sales proceeds (Category 17-1), the duty depends on the amount received as written. Use the stated amount you worked out in the previous section^[1][2].

A receipt for money or securities other than sales proceeds is a Category 17-2 document. Examples are receipts for borrowed money, insurance payouts, damages, compensation and refunds. Under 50,000 yen it is not taxable, and from 50,000 yen it is 200 yen^[2].

• Receipts sent as a PDF or by email — electronic data is not a “document” listed in the taxable-items table, so no stamp duty applies^[6]. If you also hand over paper, see the next section.
• Receipts stating under 50,000 yen — not taxable. The amount tested is the one explained above^[1].
• Receipts not issued in the course of trade (営業に関しない受取書) — “trade” (営業) here means repeating the same kind of activity for profit. Activities of for-profit companies and of individuals who are merchants count as trade; activities of public-interest corporations and of individuals who are not merchants do not^[1]. The work of doctors, dentists, lawyers, certified public accountants and the like is generally not treated as trade either^[13].
• Receipts for credit card payments — no money changes hands, so they are not Category 17-1 documents. But if the receipt does not state that the payment was made by credit card, it is taxable^[14].
• Receipts for QR-code payments and debit card payments — the treatment depends on how the service and its contracts are structured and cannot be decided in general. Check the National Tax Agency’s Q&A cases for your case^[15][16].

Stamp duty applies to “documents” listed in the taxable-items table. Electronic records are not documents, so a PDF sent by email is not subject to stamp duty^[6]. However, that National Tax Agency Q&A concerns an order confirmation (注文請書), not a receipt.

A 2008 written reply from the Fukuoka Regional Taxation Bureau (also about an order confirmation) said that, on the facts given, it was acceptable to treat a paper copy handed over separately after the email was sent as the making of a taxable document^[7][17]. The same document also quotes an explanation that no stamp duty arises when invoices or receipts are submitted by email or similar means^[17]. The reply is the bureau’s own view and does not bind the party who asked^[7].

What to do when a client asks for a paper receipt is covered in the FAQ of How to write a receipt in Japan.

The person liable for stamp duty is the maker of the taxable document^[11]. For a receipt, that is the side issuing it — not the client who asked for it^[18].

As a rule, stamp duty is paid by affixing a stamp to the receipt^[8]. Affix it by the time the receipt is made^[11]. For a receipt handed to the other party, it is made when it is handed over. For one that is posted, it is made when it is sent, not when it arrives^[9]. So affix the stamp before you hand it over or put it in the mail.

Once affixed, cancel it clearly with the seal or signature of the maker, an agent, an employee or similar, placed across both the receipt and the stamp’s pattern (彩紋)^[8][11].

• You did not affix a stamp — a penalty tax (過怠税) of three times the unpaid duty applies. If the total comes to less than 1,000 yen, it is 1,000 yen. If you forget a 200-yen stamp, the penalty is 1,000 yen, not 600 yen^[10][11].
• You report it yourself — if you file a “印紙税不納付事実申出書” (report of unpaid stamp duty) on your own, before you learn that a tax audit will lead to the duty being assessed, the penalty is 1.1 times the original duty. The 1,000-yen minimum does not apply in this case^[10][11].
• You affixed a stamp but did not cancel it — the penalty is the face value of the uncanceled stamp. Here too, if the total comes to less than 1,000 yen, it is 1,000 yen. If you forget to cancel a 200-yen stamp, the penalty is 1,000 yen, not 200 yen^[10][11].
• Expense treatment — the penalty tax cannot be deducted, either as a deductible expense (損金) for corporate tax or as a necessary expense (必要経費) for income tax^[10].

Even if you make several paper documents for one receipt of money, each one made to prove the receipt is treated as a receipt for money. A provisional receipt (仮領収書) is the same^[21].

A reissued receipt is also a Category 17 document. The person liable is the maker of the receipt, not the client who asked for the reissue^[18].

Whether a stamp is actually needed follows the same tests as above. A reissued paper receipt issued in the course of trade, with a stated amount of 50,000 yen or more, needs a stamp again. A receipt under 50,000 yen and a receipt not issued in the course of trade are not taxable, and if you resend a PDF no stamp duty applies^[18][1][6]. For a receipt that was issued as a qualified invoice and is corrected and handed over again, see Correcting or reissuing a Japanese invoice.