Japan Tax Season Survival Guide for Foreigners (2025 Income)

Quick answer (30 seconds): Japan's annual income-tax return is called kakutei shinkoku (confirmation/final tax return). For 2025 income, the filing window runs from February 16 to March 16, 2026 (the usual March 15 deadline falls on a Sunday, so it rolls to Monday). Most company employees do NOT need to file because their employer already did the year-end adjustment (nenmatsu chosei). You must file if your salary income exceeds 20 million yen, you have other income over 200,000 yen, you had two or more employers, or you want a refund (medical expenses, furusato nozei outside One-Stop, foreign tax credit). The easiest route is online via e-Tax using your My Number Card.

Disclaimer: This is general information for residents and visitors, not tax advice. Tax rules depend on your residency status, your tax treaty, and your specific income. Always confirm your own situation with the National Tax Agency (NTA / kokuzeicho) or a licensed tax accountant (zeirishi) before filing.

What "kakutei shinkoku" actually is

Kakutei shinkoku is the once-a-year process of declaring your income, calculating the tax due, and either paying the balance or claiming a refund. It covers national income tax (shotokuzei) and the special reconstruction surtax. Your local resident tax (juminzei) is then calculated automatically by your municipality from the same data — you do not file that separately.

The key mental model: Japan's payroll system withholds tax monthly, and for most employees the year-end adjustment (nenmatsu chosei) done by your employer in December settles everything. The annual return only exists for people the year-end adjustment cannot fully handle — high earners, people with side income, people with deductions their employer did not process, and the self-employed.

The 2026 filing window (for 2025 income)

Item	Date (2026)
Filing window opens	Monday, February 16
Filing + payment deadline	Monday, March 16
Why not March 15?	March 15, 2026 is a Sunday, so the deadline rolls to the next business day

Notes worth knowing:

• e-Tax is open 24/7 during the season, so you do not have to go to a tax office in person.
• If you are only claiming a refund (for example, medical expenses), you can generally file from January and you are not bound by the March 16 deadline in the same way — but filing in season keeps it simple.
• Consumption-tax returns for sole proprietors have a separate, slightly later deadline. If that applies to you, confirm the exact date on the NTA site.

Who must file vs who can skip

You can usually skip filing if you are a regular employee with one employer, your salary is 20 million yen or less, your employer did your nenmatsu chosei, and you have no significant other income or special deductions.

You must file a final return if any of these apply (NTA, "Wage earners who must file a final tax return"):

• Your total employment income exceeds 20 million yen.
• You receive salary from one employer and your other income (non-salary, non-retirement) exceeds 200,000 yen — for example side gigs, crypto, rental income, or investment income not handled at source.
• You receive salary from two or more employers and the combined secondary salary plus other income exceeds 200,000 yen.
• You are a director of a family company (or a relative of one) receiving loan interest or rent from that company.
• Your employer is not obliged to withhold tax at source (e.g. some foreign-based payers).

You should file even when not required if you want money back. Common refund cases for foreign residents:

• You paid large medical expenses in 2025.
• You did furusato nozei but did not (or could not) use the One-Stop system.
• You qualify for the foreign tax credit on overseas income already taxed abroad.
• You started or left a job mid-year and too much tax was withheld.

A quick word on residency status

Your tax obligations depend on your status under Japanese tax law, which is not the same as your visa:

• Resident — you have a domicile (jusho) in Japan or have lived here continuously for one year or more. Residents are generally taxed on worldwide income.
• Non-permanent resident — a resident without Japanese nationality who has had a domicile or residence in Japan for five years or less within the last ten years. Foreign-source income is taxed only to the extent it is paid in, or remitted to, Japan.
• Non-resident — taxed only on Japan-source income.

If you have income or accounts outside Japan, this distinction matters a lot. When in doubt, ask the NTA consultation desk or a zeirishi.

Documents to gather before you start

Pull these together early — chasing a missing slip in March is the main reason people miss the deadline.

Document (Japanese term)	What it is
Withholding slip (gensen choshu hyo)	Your annual income + tax-withheld summary from each employer
My Number Card (mai nanba kado)	Needed for smooth e-Tax filing; or your My Number notification + ID
Bank account details	For receiving a refund
Medical receipts	Total for the household, for the medical-expense deduction
Furusato nozei certificates	The donation receipts (kifukin juryosho) from each municipality
Insurance / pension certificates	Life insurance, iDeCo, National Pension contribution proofs
Foreign tax records	Proof of tax paid abroad, for the foreign tax credit

Filing with e-Tax and My Number

Most foreign residents file online through the NTA's e-Tax system, usually via the browser-based filing-form corner (kakutei shinkoku sho sakusei coner) which builds the return for you with on-screen prompts.

The smoothest setup:

1. Have a My Number Card and know its PINs.
2. Use the NTA smartphone app or an IC-card reader to authenticate.
3. Walk through the questionnaire, enter the figures from your withholding slip, add deductions, and submit.

No My Number Card? You can still file using an ID/password issued by a tax office, or print and mail the return. The card route is fastest and lets refunds process sooner.

Deductions foreigners most often miss

Medical expenses (iryohi kojo)

If your out-of-pocket medical costs for the household (minus any reimbursements) exceed the threshold — the lesser of 100,000 yen or 5% of your total income — you can deduct the excess, up to a 2,000,000 yen maximum. Keep every receipt. This deduction requires filing a return; it is not done at year-end adjustment.

Furusato nozei (hometown tax)

Furusato nozei lets you donate to municipalities, receive local "thank-you" gifts, and have most of the amount (above a 2,000 yen floor) credited against your taxes. Two ways to claim it:

• One-Stop Exception — if you are a salaried employee who did nenmatsu chosei, donated to five municipalities or fewer, and sent each One-Stop form in (typically by January 10 of the following year), you do not need to file a return.
• Via the tax return — if you exceeded five municipalities, missed the One-Stop deadline, or are filing anyway (e.g. for medical expenses), you must include all your furusato nozei donations in the return. Important trap: once you file a return, any One-Stop applications you sent are voided, so list every donation.

Foreign tax credit (gaikoku zeigaku kojo)

If you are a Japanese tax resident with income already taxed in another country, the foreign tax credit lets you offset that foreign tax against your Japanese income tax, up to a calculated limit, to avoid double taxation. It applies only if you file a final return with the required supporting statement and proof of foreign tax paid. This is where many internationally-mobile residents leave money on the table.

Others to check

Life-insurance premium deduction, the iDeCo / small-enterprise mutual-aid deduction, the spouse and dependent deductions, and the donation deduction can all reduce your bill if your employer did not already process them.

Software options to make filing easier

You have three broad routes:

1. NTA's free filing-form corner — official, free, and now reasonably guided. Best if your situation is simple (one employer plus a deduction or two). The English support is limited, so budget time or get help.
2. Commercial tax software — services such as freee and Money Forward are popular with sole proprietors and people with side income. They import bank/card data, sort expenses, and generate the e-Tax file. There is usually a paid plan for the full final-return export.
3. A licensed tax accountant (zeirishi) — worth it if you have foreign income, a tax-treaty question, a business, or simply want certainty.

If you run a side business or freelance, accounting software can pay for itself in saved hours. We will add a recommended option here once the affiliate partner is confirmed.

Compare Japanese tax-filing software

A simple timeline that works

• December–January: collect your withholding slip, receipts, and donation certificates. Get a My Number Card if you do not have one.
• By January 10: mail any furusato nozei One-Stop forms (if you are using that route).
• From February 16: file via e-Tax. Refund-only returns can often go earlier.
• By March 16, 2026: file and pay any balance due.

Do not leave it to the final week — the help desks and the e-Tax system get busy, and a missing document can cost you days.

Sources / last updated

Last updated 2026-06-25. Filing dates and who-must-file rules verified against the National Tax Agency (NTA / kokuzeicho) English pages and the NTA's official 2025-income filing announcement: the 2026 window is February 16 to March 16, 2026 (March 15 is a Sunday). Deduction figures (medical-expense threshold, foreign tax credit) reflect NTA guidance current at the time of writing. Rules and thresholds can change each year — always confirm your specifics on the NTA website (nta.go.jp/english) or with a licensed zeirishi before filing.