How to Read a Japanese Receipt: Reshīto, Tax Marks and Ryōshūsho

The core idea: a receipt tells the story of the purchase

Think of the receipt as a short story told in the order things happened. The shop introduces itself at the top. Then comes the moment of the sale: date, time, register and staff number. Then the items, one line each, in the order they were scanned. Then the arithmetic: subtotal, tax, total. Last comes the ending: the money you handed over, your change and how you paid. If you know where you are in the story, you know what a line is for before you can read every character.

The diagram shows a receipt from a fictional supermarket of the kind that adds tax at the end. Read it top to bottom, then use the table as a key. Note that shōkei is literally 'small total' and gōkei 'combined total': on some receipts they are different numbers.

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レシートはご入用にゅうようですか。(Staff) Do you need the receipt?

At the till: the receipt question from both sides

At a convenience store at lunchtime the cashier works fast, and the receipt question is folded into handing over your change. Many shops keep a small box by the register for unwanted receipts, and dropping yours in it is normal. Staff speak shop keigo; customers answer in short polite fragments, and that is not rude.

Daijōbu desu literally means it is fine, and in a shop it is the standard light way to say no, thank you.

Item lines and the rice mark for 8% goods

Each item gets one line: a name and a price. Names are often shortened to fit the paper, sometimes in narrow katakana. For several of one thing, a second line shows the count and unit price: 2個×@98 is two at 98 yen each, and @ marks the unit price, tanka (単価), literally 'single price'. A discount appears as its own line underneath, with a minus sign.

Since October 2019 Japan has had two consumption tax rates: 10% as standard, and a reduced 8%, keigen zeiritsu (軽減税率), for food and non-alcoholic drinks bought to take away, and for newspaper subscriptions. Alcohol, medicine and meals eaten in are at 10%. The receipt must show which items were at 8%, so the register marks them and explains the mark in a legend line. The commonest mark is ※, called kome-jirushi, literally 'rice mark', because it looks like the kanji for rice. Some shops use ★, ＊ or the kanji 軽 instead. At a café counter, the cashier's question decides the rate.

Sotozei and uchizei: tax on top or tax inside

This is the pair that confuses newcomers most. Sotozei (外税), literally 'outside tax', means item prices are before tax and the tax is added below the subtotal. Uchizei (内税), literally 'inside tax' and also read naizei, means item prices already include tax; the tax is shown in brackets for information and not added again. Price tags must show the tax-inclusive total, but many supermarkets still calculate tax at the till on the pre-tax sum, while convenience stores and most restaurants print tax-included prices. Here is the same purchase printed both ways.

Read the brackets as 'of which': 内消費税等 ¥113 says of which consumption tax and the like, 113 yen, the tō covering local consumption tax. Either way, gōkei is what you pay. The kanji on price tags for tax included and tax excluded belong to a separate guide to money and shopping kanji.

The ending: oazukari, otsuri and how you paid

Oazukari comes from azukaru, to take into safekeeping: the cashier politely treats your note as held on your behalf until the change comes back. Otsuri is the change. Other methods replace both lines with one: kurejitto for a credit card, denshi manē for prepaid e-money, kōtsūkei IC for a transit card, kōdo kessai for a QR code app. At a supermarket, a cashier might say the following.

Ikkatsu, one lump sum, is the answer almost everyone gives; the question exists because Japanese credit cards can split a purchase into instalments.

Beyond the basics: the T number and the invoice system

Since October 2023 Japan has run an invoice system for consumption tax, the inboisu seido. Businesses that register as qualified invoice issuers get a registration number, tōroku bangō (登録番号), the letter T and thirteen digits, and print it on receipts along with a breakdown by tax rate. Such a receipt counts as a simplified invoice that a business buyer can keep as evidence when deducting the consumption tax it paid.

For a private shopper the T number changes nothing. It matters if you buy for a company or run a business. Registration is optional and some small businesses do not register, so a missing number does not mean anything is wrong. The claiming rules are an accounting matter: ask your accounts team or a tax adviser. A colleague checking your expenses might ask these.

Asking for a ryōshūsho: atena and tadashigaki

A reshīto answers what did you buy. A ryōshūsho, literally 'receive and take in document', answers who paid, how much and for what. Companies have traditionally wanted it for expenses, and you usually have to ask, best before you pay. After a team lunch, staff will ask two questions. The first is the atena (宛名), literally 'addressed name': who it is made out to. The second is the tadashigaki (但し書き), the purpose line, from tadashi, 'provided that': oshinadai for goods, inshokudai for food and drink.

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領収りょうしゅう書しょをお願いおねがいします。A formal receipt, please.

Maekabu and atokabu, literally 'front share' and 'back share', ask whether kabushiki-gaisha comes before or after the name, because the name must match exactly. If you ask for a ryōshūsho after receiving a reshīto, many shops take the reshīto back, so one payment does not produce two proofs. For the same reason the amount has a yen sign in front and a dash after it, so no digit can be added. Tax-free shopping has its own paperwork at a separate counter, covered in its own guide.

Common mistakes with Japanese receipts

Paying the shōkei. On a sotozei receipt the subtotal comes first, in the same size as everything else, and learners who spot a familiar number stop reading. What you owe is always gōkei, the figure on the customer display.

Reading ※ as small print. In English an asterisk points to conditions, so learners worry about returns or discounts. On a Japanese receipt it only means 8% tax.

Asking for a reshīto when the office needs a ryōshūsho. English receipt covers both, so learners ask for the wrong one. Company rules differ; ask which your office wants before the trip.

Letting uesama through by accident. A nervous learner says hai to every question, and the ryōshūsho comes back addressed to nobody. Say the company name.

Throwing the receipt away unchecked. Most shops ask for it before a return or exchange, and a double-scanned item is easy to fix the same day. Check it at the bagging table.