Hack the "specifications" of automobile tax too. Blueprint for zero fees + securing JAL Pay miles [Verification Log #37]

How did you all spend your Golden Week?

I spent a slow, peaceful time with my family.
Because of that, there was a slight gap in updates, but I am resuming the laboratory logs again.

Now, speaking of May, there is a notice that arrives at many households.
Yes, it is the automobile tax.

An expenditure in the tens of thousands of yen.
It is a bit of a waste to pay this without thinking.

This time, I will organize
where fees are incurred and where there is room for ingenuity
when paying automobile tax.

Verification Log Summary

Verification Theme for This Time

Automobile tax payment:
avoiding fees and
maximizing mile/point acquisition

What you will learn in this article

• Why direct credit card payment is prone to being a "loss"

• How to think about the JAL Pay × nanaco route as of May 2026

• The background behind why "double dipping," which used to be easy, has become difficult

• How to still maintain "zero fees + miles that can be secured"

1. Direct credit card payment is convenient, but there are fees

You can pay automobile tax by credit card on the Local Tax Payment Site.

However, what is easy to overlook here is the system usage fee.
According to the guidance from the Local Tax Agency, if the payment amount is

• 288 yen for 30,001 yen to 40,000 yen

• 370 yen for 40,001 yen to 50,000 yen

is charged.

In other words, if you pay automobile tax of around 40,000 yen directly with a credit card,
while there is convenience, it can sometimes be difficult to recover the cost with point rewards alone.

It is easy to assume that "paying by credit card is a good deal," but
first,it is important to see if it is truly profitable including fees.

2. JAL Pay × nanaco payment route

What I am practicing is a "bypass route" that secures miles while keeping fees at zero via convenience stores.

However, since this method uses nanaco on Apple Pay, it is basically a route for iPhone users.
I will state this upfront, as the same flow cannot be replicated on Android devices.

Payment blueprint

• Charge JAL Pay from a credit card

• Set JAL Pay to Apple Pay

• Charge to nanaco on Apple Pay

• Pay at a 7-Eleven store using nanaco

The biggest advantage of this route is that
the fee is 0 yen because it is a convenience store payment. 7-Eleven's payment agency service accepts cash or nanaco.

Also, nanaco on Apple Pay can be charged from JCB, Mastercard, and American Express brand credit cards.

Furthermore, JAL Pay has a base mile accumulation of 0.5% for domestic use.
Just by performing the charge operation on your smartphone and connecting it to the payment, you can secure miles compared to doing nothing.

3. The current state of "double dipping." I will speak honestly

Previously, there was a time when
you could also earn points on the credit card side when charging from a credit card to JAL Pay,
making "double dipping" combined with JAL Pay miles relatively easy to understand.

However, as of 2026, the situation has changed significantly.

First,if you charge JAL Pay from a JAL card via credit card, it is not eligible for shopping mile accumulation. Double dipping with an official JAL card is no longer possible.

Also,if you charge JAL Pay from a Visa brand credit card, a 2.75% fee will be incurred. However, cards with the JAL card and Saison card logos are excluded. If you choose the wrong brand, you will actually lose money.

Furthermore, there are conditions for the cards that can be used to charge JAL Pay, and JAL American Express cards, corporate cards, and JAL Diners Business Account cards are not eligible.

In short, it has become an era where
it is difficult to maintain a perfect double-dipping route in the same form forever.

And to be honest, the reason I stopped tracking the details of this route is not just because of the return rate.

Because it has become quite time-consuming to keep researching
"which cards are eligible now"
and "when the specifications changed."

If you spend one or two hours researching just to save a few hundred yen,
the cost-effectiveness of your time is quickly reversed.

The foundation of a side FIRE design is
not selling your time.

Consuming your time to chase after profitable routes is putting the cart before the horse.

That is why I now lean toward the mindset of
maintaining only the parts that can be reliably captured without research.

4. The reason I still "do it"

Even if perfect double-dipping has become difficult,
the reason I don't stop this route is simple.

• Zero fees can still be secured

• The 0.5% domestic usage rate for JAL Pay still remains as a baseline

Because these two things exist.

Taking 40,000 yen in automobile tax as an example,
0.5% from JAL Pay is equivalent to 200 miles.
Furthermore, if you can avoid the 288 yen fee for direct credit card payment,
the difference compared to "paying without thinking" is quite significant in terms of feel.

Just a few minutes of charging operations on your smartphone.
With that short effort, you avoid fees while picking up the miles you can.

Point and mile systems are always changing.
However, the philosophy of
not paying unnecessary fees
and designing a flow to capture the rewards you can
is valid in any era.

Summary. Decipher the specifications of society and pay taxes wisely

Taxes are not something to be "taken from you," but
can be turned into an "opportunity to pick up miles" by devising payment methods.

Rather than chasing the perfect route,
maintaining the basic stance of keeping fees at zero and taking the miles you can
is a design that is easier to continue for a long time.

The accumulation of these small bug fixes
brings greater calm to our family of four's side FIRE life.

Your tax notices,
are you still paying them without thinking?

A "Tax Payment Hack" checklist to start today

• Install the JAL Pay app and complete the basic settings

• Register nanaco to Apple Pay on your iPhone and prepare for convenience store payment

• Check the latest terms and conditions to see if your current card is eligible for JAL Pay top-ups

• Be aware of top-up fees for Visa brand cards

• Compare it with the system usage fee for direct credit card payment and calculate which one is more profitable

*The information in this article is current as of May 2026. JAL Pay top-up conditions, point accrual conditions for each card, and various fees are subject to change. Please be sure to check the latest information on the official website before proceeding.

About the Verification Log series

In this series, I disclose everything regarding
assets of 25 million yen and a family of 4
to maintain a side FIRE lifestyle under these conditions:
・Side hustles
・Investments
・Fixed cost hacks
・Failure stories.
Including not just successes but also failures, I write about

"the reality of how not to get stuck."
If you are interested, please follow me and read the next verification log.