Order for Enforcement of the Income Tax Act

• A person who is a Resident at the end of the year (or on the day they die, or when they leave Japan) but was a Nonresident (非居住者) earlier in that year is taxed on the income of their time as a Resident together with the Japanese-source income (国内源泉所得) taxable while they were a Nonresident; tax on Japanese-source income taxed separately in the Nonresident period is worked out on its own and added. The salary income deduction (給与所得控除), the public pension deduction and similar deductions are worked out on that year's income as a whole. The medical-expense, social-insurance, small business mutual aid, and life- and earthquake-insurance deductions count only what was paid, or deducted from pay, while a Resident.(Art. 258(1), Art. 258(1)(i), Art. 258(1)(vi), Art. 258(2), Art. 258(3)(ii), Art. 258(3)(iii), Art. 258(3)(iv), Income Tax Act Art. 102(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Where the year-end adjustment (年末調整) shows that more tax was withheld from an employee's salary or other wage (給与等) than is due, the employer refunds the excess out of the withholding tax it would otherwise pay to the State. If the employer cannot, because it no longer pays salary or has no more tax to pay over, or has still not refunded all of it two months from the first day of the month after the refund fell due, it files a statement of the amounts with the district tax office director (税務署長), who refunds the rest to the employee.(Art. 312(1), Art. 313(1), Art. 313(1)(i), Art. 313(1)(ii), Art. 313(2), Income Tax Act Art. 191(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• An employee whose return for deduction for dependents (扶養控除等申告書) names a relative who is a Nonresident (国外居住親族) must attach or show, for each one, a document a Ministry of Finance Order (財務省令) names proving that the person is their spouse or relative. To have such a relative counted in the year-end adjustment, the employee files a further return through the employer by the day before the year's last payday, with a document showing that the person shares their living (生計を一にする); the same is needed for a Nonresident spouse or specified relative (特定親族) claimed on the return for spouse deduction (配偶者控除等申告書) or for the special deduction for specified relatives (特定親族特別控除申告書). For a relative aged 30 to 69 counted because they left Japan to study, a document proving that is also needed; for one counted because the employee pays them 380,000 yen or more in the year for living or education, a document proving those payments takes the place of the shared-living one.(Art. 316-2(2), Art. 316-2(2)(iii), Art. 316-2(3), Art. 318-3(1), Art. 318-4(1), Income Tax Act Art. 194(5), Income Tax Act Art. 194(6), Income Tax Act Art. 2(1)(xxxiv-2)(b)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Spending that mixes home and work — household-related expenses (家事関連費) — is not a necessary expense (必要経費), except the part that is mainly needed to carry on work producing real property, business, timber or miscellaneous income and can be clearly separated. For a Resident approved to file blue returns (青色申告), the part that records of transactions show was directly needed for work producing real property, business or timber income also counts.(Art. 96(1), Art. 96(1)(i), Art. 96(1)(ii), Income Tax Act Art. 45(1)(i)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A Resident who starts work producing real property, business, timber or miscellaneous income chooses, for each class of depreciable asset (減価償却資産), a method — the straight-line (定額法) or declining-balance (定率法) method for machinery, vehicles, tools and fixtures, for instance — and notifies the district tax office director in writing by the filing deadline for the year the work starts, or the year an asset of a new class is acquired. Without a notice, an asset acquired on or after 1 April 2007 for which either method could be chosen is depreciated by the straight-line method, or, for a mining asset, by the units-of-production method (生産高比例法). Of assets acquired on or after 1 April 2007 other than mining assets, buildings, and building fixtures and structures acquired on or after 1 April 2016, can be depreciated only by the straight-line method.(Art. 6(1), Art. 120-2(1)(i), Art. 120-2(1)(ii), Art. 120-2(1)(iii), Art. 123(1), Art. 123(2), Art. 123(2)(i), Art. 123(2)(ii), Art. 125(1)(ii), Income Tax Act Art. 49(1)) (the provisions it rests on)

• 22 May 2026

  The text on this site

  Cabinet Order Partially Amending the Order for Enforcement of the Income Tax Act

  所得税法施行令の一部を改正する政令

  Cabinet Order No. 93 of 2026The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 April 2026

  Cabinet Order Partially Amending the Order for Enforcement of the Income Tax Act

  所得税法施行令の一部を改正する政令

  Cabinet Order No. 93 of 2026The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 April 2026

  Cabinet Order Partially Amending the Order for Enforcement of the Income Tax Act, etc.

  所得税法施行令等の一部を改正する政令

  Cabinet Order No. 120 of 2025The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 April 2026

  Cabinet Order Partially Amending the Order for Enforcement of the Income Tax Act

  所得税法施行令の一部を改正する政令

  Cabinet Order No. 141 of 2024The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 January 2026

  Cabinet Order Partially Amending the Order for Enforcement of the Income Tax Act, etc.

  所得税法施行令等の一部を改正する政令

  Cabinet Order No. 120 of 2025The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 December 2025

  Cabinet Order Partially Amending the Order for Enforcement of the Income Tax Act, etc.

  所得税法施行令等の一部を改正する政令

  Cabinet Order No. 120 of 2025The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 20 November 2025

  Cabinet Order Partially Amending the Order for Enforcement of the Income Tax Act

  所得税法施行令の一部を改正する政令

  Cabinet Order No. 380 of 2025The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 April 2025

  Cabinet Order Partially Amending the Order for Enforcement of the Income Tax Act, etc.

  所得税法施行令等の一部を改正する政令

  Cabinet Order No. 120 of 2025The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 April 2025

  Cabinet Order on the Arrangement of Related Cabinet Orders upon the Enforcement of the Act on Japan Institute for Health Security and the Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts upon the Enforcement of the Act on Japan Institute for Health Security

  国立健康危機管理研究機構法及び国立健康危機管理研究機構法の施行に伴う関係法律の整備に関する法律の施行に伴う関係政令の整備に関する政令

  Cabinet Order No. 19 of 2025The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 April 2025

  Cabinet Order on the Arrangement, etc. of Related Cabinet Orders and on Transitional Measures upon the Partial Enforcement of the Act Partially Amending the Basic Act on the Formation of a Digital Society, etc. to Improve Convenience for Persons Concerned in Administrative Procedures, etc. and to Simplify and Streamline Administrative Operations through the Use of Information and Communications Technology

  情報通信技術の活用による行政手続等に係る関係者の利便性の向上並びに行政運営の簡素化及び効率化を図るためのデジタル社会形成基本法等の一部を改正する法律の一部の施行に伴う関係政令の整備等及び経過措置に関する政令

  Cabinet Order No. 6 of 2025The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

All 59 amendments already in force

• A commutation allowance (通勤手当) is free of income tax up to set limits: for those who commute by public transport or toll road, the fare or commuter pass by the most economical and reasonable route, up to 150,000 yen a month; for those who commute 2 km or more each way by car or other vehicle, a monthly amount by one-way distance, from 4,200 yen (under 10 km) to 66,400 yen (95 km or more), plus up to 5,000 yen a month toward parking they pay for, where the conditions of a Ministry of Finance Order are met. A commute that combines the two adds them together, still within 150,000 yen a month. The rule covers allowances due on or after 1 April 2026, but not back pay of an allowance due before then.(Art. 20-2(1), Art. 20-2(1)(i), Art. 20-2(1)(ii), Art. 20-2(1)(iii), Art. 20-2(1)(iv), Art. 20-2(1)(v), Art. 20-2(1)(vi), Suppl. Prov. Art. 4(1), Income Tax Act Art. 9(1)(v)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Also free of income tax for an employee: a uniform or similar item that an employer gives or lends to someone whose duties require wearing it, and the benefit of housing an employer provides where the duties make it unavoidable to live at a place the employer names.(Art. 21(1)(ii), Art. 21(1)(iii), Art. 21(1)(iv), Income Tax Act Art. 9(1)(vi)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A depreciable asset put to use in the work that costs less than 100,000 yen, or can be used for less than a year, is not depreciated: its whole cost is a necessary expense of the year it is put to use. This does not apply to an asset treated as acquired under a lease (リース資産), nor, for the 100,000-yen rule, to an asset let out other than as a main business.(Art. 138(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Depreciable assets costing less than 200,000 yen, other than lease assets (リース資産), assets the 100,000-yen rule already covers and assets let out other than as a main business, may instead be grouped, in whole or in part, and one third of their total cost counted as a necessary expense in each of the three years from the year they are put to use. This needs the return for that first year to have a document stating the total attached and the working to be kept, and each year's return that counts an amount to have a statement of its working attached.(Art. 139(1), Art. 139(2), Art. 139(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A blue-return filer whose real property and business income two years before came to 3,000,000 yen or less, counted before the rule on family employees, may work out real property and business income (other than from timber) from revenue received and expenses paid in the year, by notifying the district tax office director by 15 March of the year (within two months of starting, for work begun after 15 January); this does not cover the year in which all that work is transferred or ended, or the filer dies. Depreciation and losses on assets are still counted the ordinary way, and someone who has left the scheme needs the director's approval to come back to it.(Art. 195(1), Art. 195(1)(i), Art. 195(1)(ii), Art. 196(1), Art. 196(2), Art. 197(1), Income Tax Act Art. 67(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• An individual who rents land or a house from a Nonresident or foreign corporation to live in themselves, or for their relatives to live in, need not withhold income tax from the rent.(Art. 328(1), Art. 328(1)(ii), Income Tax Act Art. 212(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A Nonresident with a permanent establishment in Japan may be paid some kinds of Japanese-source income attributable to it, not salary, without tax withheld, once the district tax office director has certified that they meet the requirements and they show the certificate to the payer. The requirements include having filed the notice of starting business, having appointed a tax agent (納税管理人) if they do not live at their place for tax payment, having filed last year's Tax Return, and never having escaped income tax by deception or other wrongful acts.(Art. 330(1), Art. 330(1)(i), Art. 330(1)(ii), Art. 330(1)(iii), Art. 330(1)(v), Art. 331(1), Income Tax Act Art. 214(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• No income tax is withheld from a Resident's public pension or retirement package (公的年金等) where the amount due in the year, as things stand the day before the year's first payment, is less than 1,180,000 yen.This is the rule until 31 December 2026.(Art. 319-12(1), Income Tax Act Art. 203-7(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• No income tax is withheld from a Resident's public pension or retirement package (公的年金等) where the amount due in the year, as things stand the day before the year's first payment, is less than 1,220,000 yen. Which limit applies goes by the day the pension is payable, under Article 9(1) of the supplementary provisions of Cabinet Order No. 93 of 2026.This is the rule from 1 January 2027.(Art. 319-12(1), Suppl. Prov. Art. 9(1), Income Tax Act Art. 203-7(1)) (the provisions it rests on)

• The penalties are in the Income Tax Act. Under it, a payer who does not pay over tax it had to withhold faces imprisonment (拘禁刑) of up to 10 years or a fine of up to 2,000,000 yen, or both, and where the unpaid tax is more than 2,000,000 yen the fine may, depending on the circumstances, go up to the tax unpaid. A payer who does not withhold the tax faces up to 1 year or a fine of up to 500,000 yen (Articles 240 and 242(1) of the Act).(Income Tax Act Art. 240(1), Income Tax Act Art. 240(2), Income Tax Act Art. 242(1), Income Tax Act Art. 242(1)(iii)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Where the year-end adjustment leaves tax still owed and the employee's pay in the last month is much smaller than usual, the employee may apply, through the employer and by the day before the year's last payday, to the district tax office director to have part of the shortfall collected from the next year's pay instead, half each in January and February. The director must approve where that month's pay after tax is less than 70% of the average monthly pay after tax for the earlier months of the year, and tells the employee in writing through the employer.(Art. 316(1), Art. 316(2), Art. 316(3), Art. 315(1), Income Tax Act Art. 192(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A Resident who wants to change the depreciation method they chose, or the one that applied for want of a notice, must apply to the district tax office director by 15 March of the year the new method is to start, giving reasons. The director may reject the application if the current method has not been used for a reasonable period or the new one would not give a proper figure of income, and gives the decision in writing; if none is made by 31 December of that year (or by the time of death or departure from Japan, for an applicant who dies or leaves during the year), the change is deemed approved.(Art. 124(1), Art. 124(2), Art. 124(3), Art. 124(4), Art. 124(5)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A blue-return filer whose depreciable asset will plainly not last its statutory useful life, because of unusual materials or manufacture, a rise or fall of the ground, obsolescence, corrosion, or similar causes, may apply through the district tax office to the regional taxation bureau director (国税局長) to depreciate it over the period it can still be used. The regional director examines the application and approves it, fixing that period, or rejects it, and may later revoke the approval or lengthen the period where special grounds arise.(Art. 130(1), Art. 130(2), Art. 130(3), Art. 130(4)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Where a taxpayer's place for tax payment (納税地) is unsuitable given their income, the regional taxation bureau director may designate another one; the Commissioner of the National Tax Agency (国税庁長官) does so instead where the place to be designated is outside that director's area.(Art. 56(1), Income Tax Act Art. 18(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A Nonresident holding a certificate that frees income from withholding who stops meeting the requirements, or no longer has a permanent establishment, must without delay notify the district tax office director, attaching the certificate, and tell each payer they showed it to. The director publishes a notice, and the certificate then ceases to have effect; it also ceases when the period of validity the director set runs out.(Art. 333(1), Income Tax Act Art. 214(2), Income Tax Act Art. 214(5), Income Tax Act Art. 214(6)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Escaping withholding tax by deception or other wrongful acts is punishable under the Act by imprisonment of up to 10 years or a fine of up to 1,000,000 yen (where the tax evaded is more than 1,000,000 yen, the fine may, on the circumstances, go up to the amount evaded), or both; obtaining that certificate by a false application, or not giving the notice or telling the payers when it stops applying, by up to 1 year or a fine of up to 500,000 yen (Articles 239 and 242(1)(ii) of the Act). Where a representative, agent or employee commits one of these offences in the course of a corporation's or individual's business, the corporation or individual is fined as well as the offender (Article 243 of the Act).(Income Tax Act Art. 239(1), Income Tax Act Art. 239(2), Income Tax Act Art. 242(1), Income Tax Act Art. 242(1)(ii), Income Tax Act Art. 243(1)) (the provisions it rests on)