Taxes for workers in Japan: income tax, resident tax and the year-end adjustment

Rules, fees and services change often. Last checked: 7 November 2026. Always confirm with the official sources below or with your city office before you act.

As a worker in Japan you pay two main taxes on your income: income tax to the national government and resident tax to your prefecture and city. Your employer handles most of it, but the timing of resident tax surprises many people in their second year. This guide explains why.

Income tax: taken from every salary

Your employer withholds income tax (源泉徴収, gensen chōshū) from each salary and bonus. The tax year is the calendar year, January to December. Rates go from 5% to 45% in 7 bands on taxable income, plus a special reconstruction income tax of 2.1% of the income tax. A 2026 tax reform changes this surtax from 2027.

Your tax depends on whether you are a resident for tax purposes. People with an address (domicile) in Japan, or who have lived here for a year or more, are residents. Most foreign workers are residents from the start. Non-residents are taxed only on income earned in Japan.

The year-end adjustment

The tax withheld during the year is only an estimate. In the year-end adjustment (年末調整, nenmatsu chōsei), usually in your last pay of the year, your employer calculates the exact tax for the year and refunds or collects the difference.

1. At the start of the job (and every year), give your employer the “declaration for dependents” form (扶養控除等申告書). Only employees who submit it get the year-end adjustment.
2. Before the adjustment, your employer may ask for proof of deductions, such as insurance premiums you paid yourself.
3. In December or January, your employer adjusts the tax.
4. You receive a withholding slip (源泉徴収票, gensen chōshūhyō) showing your total pay and tax. Keep it: you need it if you file a tax return.

Who must file a tax return

Most employees do not need to file. You must file, in principle, if for example:

• your salary is more than ¥20 million a year,
• you have one employer and other income (not salary or retirement pay) of more than ¥200,000,
• you have two or more employers and the salary not covered by the year-end adjustment, plus other income, is more than ¥200,000,
• your salary is paid by someone who does not withhold Japanese tax (for example from abroad).

Returns are filed from 16 February to 15 March of the following year, at the tax office or online. You can also file to get a refund, for example for large medical expenses.

Supporting family abroad

If you support family members who live abroad, you may get a deduction. You must show documents proving your relationship (for example a family register or birth certificate, translated) and proof that you sent them money (such as remittance receipts). Since 2023, most dependents abroad aged 30 to 69 no longer qualify. Exceptions include those studying abroad, those with a disability, and those you send ¥380,000 or more a year for living or education costs. Ask your employer or the tax office before you claim.

Resident tax

Resident tax (住民税, jūminzei) goes to your prefecture and city. You must pay it if you had an address in Japan on 1 January and earned more than a certain amount in the previous year (January to December). It has an income-based part and a flat part. You pay it to the city where you lived on 1 January, even if you move or leave Japan after 2 January.

Why resident tax arrives in your second year

Because resident tax is based on the previous year’s income, you usually pay nothing in your first months. For example:

• April 2026: you arrive and start work. Income tax is taken from your salary right away. No resident tax yet.
• 1 January 2027: you live in Japan, so you owe resident tax on your 2026 income.
• June 2027: resident tax starts. Your take-home pay goes down even though your salary is the same.

Plan for this drop in your budget. It is not a mistake by your employer.

How resident tax is paid

• Special collection (特別徴収): the normal method for company employees, according to MIC. Your employer deducts it from your monthly salary and pays the city, so you do not pay the city yourself. It runs in 12 monthly instalments from June to the following May (Inagi City, Tokyo).
• Ordinary collection (普通徴収): mainly for people who are not paid a salary by an employer that deducts it, for example the self-employed, or after you leave a job. Around June the city sends a tax notice with payment slips, and you pay at a bank or another place shown on the notice. The year is often split into four instalments, but the dates vary by city: Inagi City, for example, uses June, August, October and December. Check your own notice.

Resident tax and your visa. MIC warns that if you have not paid resident tax you owe, your visa extension or other application may be refused.

Changing jobs or leaving Japan

• If you quit, the rest of the year’s resident tax can be taken from your last salary or retirement pay. If you leave a job between January and May, it must be. Otherwise you pay it yourself with slips from the city.
• Before leaving Japan, pay your remaining resident tax, or choose a tax agent (a person living in Japan) and register them with the city.
• For income tax, you either settle your tax before you leave, or appoint a tax agent and file by the normal deadline.
• If you will claim the pension lump-sum, appoint a tax agent before you go to get back the 20.42% tax (see our pension guide).

Common mistakes

• Spending all your take-home pay in year one, then being surprised by resident tax in June of year two.
• Not giving your employer the dependents declaration, and paying too much tax all year.
• Ignoring city tax letters after you change jobs. Your new employer may not have taken over the payment.
• Leaving Japan in the spring without paying the resident tax you owe for the year.
• Having a side job and not filing a tax return.

Tax offices in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya answer general questions in English (Tokyo 03-3821-9070, Osaka 06-4965-8298, Nagoya 052-971-2059, according to the ISA guidebook). For visa rules about working hours, see our student visa guide and Engineer / Humanities guide.