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Finally we come to the main page.  This is where we put all of the goodies from the previous sections together, do a few simple calculations, and see how much tax we will be getting back

Step 4 shows you how to fill out Tax Declaration Form Page 1.  To download a blank English version of this Japanese tax document in pdf format, please go to our Tax Forms page >>>here< <<.

To download the complete (with numbers written in) Japanese tax form used in this example , please rightclick and save the image below.

1. Name & Address

Year: Heisei 20 (2008)

Date Of Submission (Top Left): 21/2/21 (Heisei 21 = 2009, so, Heisei21/2/21)

Address: 702 Green Mansion, 5-14-2 Azabu, Minato Ku, Tokyo (Postcode 109-0902).

Address At Jan 1 2008: 106 Blue Mansion, 3-2 Ebisu, Tokyo.

Furigana: スミス　ジョン  (Smith, John in Japanese).

Name: Smith, John

Gender: Male

Occupation: Teacher

D.O.B.: 3(year code).  55/08/01.  (Showa55 = 1980).  Year Code 3=Showa.

Phone Number: 090-1234-5678 (Cell/Mobile number is OK).

Name is easy enough.  Furigana means the katakana written over your name to help pronunciation.  If you don’t know it, leave it.

Address goes in here, too.  Do it the same as you have done in the previous steps.  However, you will notice that there is also a section for Address At January 1st, 20_ _.  This is because residential tax is paid to the ward where you were registered living at Jan 1st each year.  So, in the big section, put your current address.  In the Address At January 1st, 20_ _, put your address of where you were living at the Jan 1st THIS YEAR, if different to your current address.  In our example, we were living in 106 Blue Mansion, 3-2 Ebisu, Tokyo at the start of this year. However had moved between then and submitting the tax form.

In the main heading at the top, there are two boxes.  This is for the year of the tax statement, however using the Japanese calendar.  So for 2008, it is “20″, 2007 is “19″, 2006 is “18″ and so on.  In our example, we put “20″.

Gender and Occupation can be left blank, but is easy enough.  ”Teacher”, “Trainer”, “Consultant”, etc., whichever fits you best.

Date Of Birth (D.O.B.) uses the Japanese calendar, and goes YY MM DD.  In the very first box, you should write “3″, which means Year Code “Showa”, to indicate that you were born in the Showa period (December 25, 1926 to January 7, 1989) and then YY MM DD in the subsequent boxes.  So, if you were born in 1980, then you are “Showa 55″.  So July 1, 1980 would be 55 07 01.  Showa 1=1926.  You can workout the rest.   Heisei is Year Code 4.

If you don’t have a home phone number, put your mobile number.

2. Amount Of Earnings

Sales: 588,700yen

Employment: 4,296,506yen

Amount Of Earnings is your total income and sales, BEFORE any deductions or expenses.  Most of you have would have two sources of income.  The first is Sales, and should be the same figure as from the Sales (Receipts)  from Step 1 – your private business sales/private English teaching.

Next is Employment, which should be the total of your Japanese employment earnings as written on your little tax withholding slip, the gen-sen-cho-shu-hyo, you got from your employer.  If you have multiple employers, then add up the totals and write it in here.   You filled this out in the “Details Of Income (Withholding Tax)” in Step 3 with the same information.

Leave the rest blank.

3. Amount Of Income

Sales: -1,534,400yen

Employment: 2,896,800yen

You are probably wondering, how is Amount Of Income different from Amount of Earnings.  Well, it differs from Amount Of Earnings in that Income is AFTER you have deducted expenses.

Sales in this section should be the Net Income figure which you calculated in Step 1, #7. Net Income.  This was the largely negative number, indicated by a small triangle written in the box before the first digit.  (Do not use negative “-” signs).  Remember, we calculated earlier -1,534,400yen.

Employment Income has a fixed rate of deduction, which is given as a simple calculation courtesy of the government, and varies slightly depending on the amount of income.  First, you need your Employment Income amount from #2. Amount of Earnings.  Now, follow the following table (This table is valid for financial year 2007 onwards.  2006 is slightly different):

Employment Earnings	Calculation
0 to 650,999yen	0yen
651,000 to 1,618,999yen	Employment Earnings – 650,000yen
1,619,000 to 1,619,999yen	969,000yen
1,620,000 to 1,621,999yen	970,000yen
1,622,000 to 1,623,999yen	972,000yen
1,624,000 to 1,627,999yen	974,000yen
1,628,000 to 1.799,999yen	Employment Earnings / 4  x 2.4
1,800,000 to 3,599,999yen	Employment Earnings / 4  x 2.8 – 180,000
3,600,000 to 6,599,999yen	Employment Earnings / 4  x 3.2 – 540,000
6,600,000 to 9,999,999yen	Employment Earnings x 0.9 – 1,200,000yen
10,000,000 plus	Employment Earnings x 0.95 – 1,700,000yen

So, lets look at an example.  Our Employment Earnings was 4,296,506yen, so we fall into the 3,600,000 – 5,599,999bracket.  So the calculation would be:

4,296,506 / 4 = 1,074,126.  Now, ROUND DOWN to the lowest 1,000.  So we have 1,074,000.  Then we do: 1,074,000 x 3.2 – 540,000 = 2,896,800yen.  This is the figure you should put for Employment in this section, 3. Amount Of Income.

Total is the toal of your Sales and Employment amounts, but remember that your Sales is NEGATIVE:

TOTAL = -1,543,400 + 2,896,800 = 1,362,400yen.

4. Deductions From Income

Spouses: 380,000yen

Dependents: 380,000yen

Basic Deduction: 380,000yen

Total: 1,140,000yen

If you filled out any of the deductions in Step 3, then put them here.  Particularly Medical Expenses, Social Insurance Premiums, and the Spouse & Dependants sections.  In our example, we have a wife and child.  So, remember the spouse deduction and 8year old child form Step 3?  Put those figures in here.

For Spouses, put 380,000yen.  For Dependents, 380,000yen.

Basic Deduction is 380,000yen.  This is a standard amount given by the government – DO NOT FORGET THIS!.

Total is the sum of all these deductions – we have 1,140,000yen, however for many of you who are unmarried and childless, it will be equivilant to the Basic Deduction, 380,000yen.

5. Tax Calculation

Taxable Income: 222,000yen

Amount Of Tax Imposted on 26 Above: 11,100yen

Balance Of Tax Amount: 11,100yen

Tax Withheld: 166,144yen

Balance Of Tax Amount: -155,044yen

Estimated Tax (1st&2nd Installments): 0yen

Surplus: -155,044yen

Now, we calculate your tax contribution, and REFUND!

Taxable Income is your Total from 3. Amount Of Income (1,362,400yen), minus the Total from 4. Amount Of Deductions (1,140,000).  So Taxable Income = 1,362,400-1,140,000= 222,400yen.

Amount of Tax Imposed On 26 Above, is the tax which you need to pay, and is calculated differently depending on the year.  It follows the following table (this table is for 2007 onwards):

Taxable Income	Tax Imposed
Under 1,950,000yen	5%
1,950,000 to 3,300,000yen	10% – 97,500yen
3,300,000 to 6,950,000yen	20% – 427,500yen
6,950,000 to 9,000,000yen	23% – 636,000yen

Our 222,400yen falls into the Under 1,950,000yen bracket, so 222,400 x 5% = 11,100yen.  Not bad.

The next few rows you probably don’t need (Dividend Credits through to Digital Signiture), so go to the next row, Balance Of Tax Amount (34).  This should equal the Amount of Tax Imposed On 26 Above (you probably left blank the rows Dividend Credits through to Digital Signiture, however if you didn’t then you should subtract these amounts from your Amount of Tax Imposed On 26 Above to get the Balance Of Tax Amount).

Tax Withheld is the amount of withholding tax you calculated in Step 3.#2 Details Of Income (Withholding Tax).  This should be the total from all employers, which we calculated earlier as 166,144yen.

The next Balance Of Tax Amount (37) is your previous Balance Of Tax Amount (34) minus your Tax Withheld.  If the number is negative, it means that you have paid more withholding tax than the tax you really need to pay, and thus should get a refund from the government! We paid 166,144yen withholding tax, but really only need to pay 11,100yen tax, so we have overpaid 155,044yen.

In Estimated Tax (1st & 2nd Installment), put  zero, “0″.  In 3rd Installment, Surplus, put the Balance Of Tax Amount (38), which means that you have paid extra.  Notice that there is already a triangle in the very left box, indicating that it is a negative number.  (Please note that if you did not come up with a negative number, then you probably owe the government some more tax, which should go in the Deficit box, not Surplus.)

6. Other

This section can be left blank.  If you really want to find our more details of what goes here, you can visit the Japanese National Tax Agency website.

7. Tax Postponement Notification

Again, blank.

8. Bank Details

Bank: Resona, circle BANK

Branch: Shinjuku, circle BRANCH

Account Type: Circle REGULAR

Account No: 301-1234567  (Branch number 301, Account number 1234567).

This is where you enter your bank account details for a refund.  In the top left box, put the name of your bank (MitsuiSumitomo, Resona, Mitsubishi UFJ, Shinsei, etc., or “YUCHO” if you have a Post Office Bank Account) and circle “Bank”.   You will most likely not be using the “local bank”, which refers to much smaller institutions.

In the top right box, write the name of the branch.  For example, “Shinjuku”, and circle either “Main”, if it’s the head office, or “Branch”, if its just a branch office.  Most likely it will be “branch”.

If you are using the Japan Post banking system, then put the name of the post office branch in Post Office.

Acc. Type will almost always be “regular”, so circle that first box.

In the squares in the bottom, put you branch and account number, with a hypen in between.

ALL DONE!

And there you have it.  Now all you have to do go down to the tax office of the town which you are currently registered as a resident, transpose the details onto the official Japanese forms, and you’re done!  And be sure to include your Withholding Tax slip from your employer!

Refunds are generally given after about 1-2months of submitting your documents.  If there is a problem you will get contacted within 1month.

I certainly hope you found this guide useful.  Our intention was to make a horrid and often bewildering task as pain free as possible.  And please, let your friends know about us!  Click the “Tell-A-Friend” button in the side menu, and you will be able to send a link to this guide to everyone in your Hotmail/Gmail address book, and FaceBook/My Space friends lists etc. (it’s a very nice little tool).

Thanks again, and if you have any questions, comments, criticisms or suggestions, then please let us know via the “Contact Us” page.

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