Filing a Japanese Tax Return as a Foreign Resident

Who must file

You are required to file if any of these apply for the 2025 calendar year:

• Side or freelance income (excluding employment) over 200,000 JPY
• Multiple employers (e.g. two part-time jobs)
• Annual salary over 20,000,000 JPY
• Capital gains from selling Japanese real estate, certain stocks, or crypto-assets
• Foreign-source income (depending on your residency status)
• Dividends/interest from non-Japanese accounts (resident category)
• You were not on payroll on December 31 (no nenmatsu chosei)
• You are leaving Japan permanently — file a departure return (出国時申告)

If your only income is from one employer in Japan and you stay through December 31, your employer's year-end adjustment (nenmatsu chosei) usually reconciles your tax and you do not need to file separately.

Why you might file even if not required

Filing voluntarily can produce a refund. Common scenarios:

• Medical expenses — total family medical costs over 100,000 JPY (or 5% of income, whichever is lower) are deductible
• Furusato Nozei — donations to municipalities are deductible (use our calculator)
• First-year housing loan deduction — must file for the first year only; subsequent years handled by employer
• Donations to Japanese certified NPOs
• Casualty losses from disaster, theft, or embezzlement
• Foreign tax credit if you paid tax abroad on the same income
• Mid-year departure or arrival — pro-rated deductions can yield a refund

Key dates for the 2026 filing season

• February 16, 2026 — filing window opens
• March 16, 2026 — filing and payment deadline (Monday, since the 15th is a Sunday)
• April 23, 2026 — automatic direct debit date for payments via furikae nozei (preferred for cash flow)
• End of November 2026 — second instalment of estimated tax (yotei nozei) for those with prior-year tax over 150,000 JPY

If you owe tax, payment is due on March 16 unless you sign up for furikae nozei (direct debit) which delays the bank withdrawal to late April — same legal deadline, more time for cash flow.

How to file: 3 options

Documents you will need

• Gensen choshu hyo (源泉徴収票) — withholding statement from each employer
• My Number Card (or notification card + ID)
• Bank account details for refund (Japanese bank only)
• Receipts/certificates for deductions: medical, life insurance, iDeCo, donations
• For freelancers: revenue/expense ledger, invoices, blue-form declaration
• For investors: securities firm annual reports (年間取引報告書)
• Foreign tax payment certificates (if claiming foreign tax credit)

Special considerations for foreign residents

• Tax residency status — see our tax residency guide. Non-permanent residents get favourable treatment on foreign-source income for the first 5 years (out of 10).
• Sending money home — remittances received from abroad can affect your taxable foreign income; see our remittance tax checker.
• Departure tax — if your global financial assets are 100M JPY+ and you leave Japan, exit tax may apply. Calculator here.
• Pension lump-sum withdrawal — if you leave Japan, you can claim back pension contributions, but 20.42% withholding applies; you can recover most of it via a Japanese tax return after departure. Calculator here.
• Treaty benefits — your home country's tax treaty with Japan may reduce withholding on dividends/interest. Submit the treaty application before payment, not after.

Common mistakes to avoid

1. Forgetting to declare a side hustle over 200,000 JPY — penalties of 10–40% plus interest
2. Missing the housing loan deduction in year one (cannot be reclaimed later by year-end adjustment alone)
3. Not filing on departure — leaves an unsettled liability that can complicate re-entry visas
4. Confusing taxable income with gross salary in the deduction worksheets
5. Filing as resident vs non-resident incorrectly — drastically different tax base