Income Tax Act

The income taxes prescribed in the preceding Article constitute the amount calculated when the domestic source income prescribed in that Article is multiplied by a tax rate of 20 percent (or by a tax rate of 15 percent, for domestic source income as set forth in Article 161, paragraph (1), item (viii) and item (xv) (Domestic Source Income)).

Notwithstanding the preceding Article, if a Nonresident as prescribed in Article 169 (Tax Base) is paid severance pay or other such compensation (meaning severance pay or other such compensation as prescribed in Article 30, paragraph (1) (Retirement Income); hereinafter the same applies in this Section) that falls under the provisions of Article 161, paragraph (1), item (xii), (c) (Domestic Source Income), the Nonresident may elect to have it deemed that the total amount of the severance pay and other such compensation that the Nonresident is paid in that year by reason of a separation from employment constituting a cause for its payment (or by reason of each separation from employment constituting a cause for payment, if the Nonresident is paid multiple packages of severance pay or other such compensation in the relevant year) has been paid thereto as if to a Resident, and to have income taxes imposed on the severance pay and other such compensation in line with the amount equivalent to taxes imposed when Article 30 and Article 89 (Tax Rates) are applied to the total amount of severance pay and other such compensation that the Nonresident is deemed to have received as a Resident.

If a Nonresident as prescribed in Article 169 (Tax Base) is paid a salary or remuneration as set forth in Article 161, paragraph (1), item (xii), (a) or (c) (Domestic Source Income), and the provisions of Part IV, Chapter V (Withholding from the Income of Nonresidents and Corporations) do not apply to that salary or remuneration, unless the Nonresident may file a return under the following Article, the Nonresident must file a return with the district director no later than March 15 of the following year (or by the day on which the Nonresident ceases to have a residence in Japan, if this is the case), giving the following information:

any part of the salary or remuneration as set forth in Article 161, paragraph (1), item (xii), (a) or (c) which the Nonresident is paid during the year and to which the provisions of Part IV, Chapter V do not apply (this excludes any severance pay or other such compensation that is among the part of the salary or remuneration to which those provisions do not apply, if the Nonresident elects to have that severance pay or other such compensation taxed as referred to in that Article), and the income taxes calculated when Article 170 (Tax Rates) is applied thereto;

any part of the salary or remuneration as prescribed in the preceding item that must be indicated in a return under this paragraph which is filed due to the Nonresident having ceased to have a residence in Japan partway through the year, and the income taxes calculated when Article 170 is applied thereto;

income taxes as set forth in item (i) less income taxes set forth in the preceding item;

the basis for calculating the amount set forth in item (i), the type of work carried out by the Nonresident in Japan, and the information prescribed by Ministry of Finance Order.

If a Nonresident that must file a return under the preceding paragraph for severance pay or other such compensation as prescribed in the preceding Article elects to have that severance pay or other such compensation taxed as referred to in that Article, the Nonresident must give the following information in the return, in addition to the information set forth in the items of that paragraph:

the total amount of the severance pay and other such compensation that the Nonresident will be paid that year (but only the part that is subject to the preceding Article), and the income taxes calculated when that Article is applied thereto;

any income taxes that have been withheld or are required to be withheld pursuant to the provisions of Part IV, Chapter V from the severance pay or other such compensation that the Nonresident is to be paid that year (this includes the income taxes calculated when Article 170 is applied to any part of the severance pay or other such compensation that must be indicated in a return under the preceding paragraph which is filed due to the Nonresident having ceased to have a residence in Japan partway through the year);

income taxes as set forth in item (i) less income taxes as set forth in the preceding item;

the breakdown of the total amount of severance pay and other such compensation as set forth in item (i) by payer, giving each payer's name and each payer's domicile, residence, or location of the head office or principal office;

the basis for calculating the amount of income taxes set forth in item (i).

A Nonresident filing a return under paragraph (1) must pay income taxes to the national government in an amount equivalent to what is set forth in item (iii) of that paragraph (or in an amount equivalent to what is set forth in item (iii) of that paragraph and item (iii) of the preceding paragraph, if the Nonresident is subject to the provisions of the preceding paragraph), by the deadline for filing the return.

If a Nonresident prescribed in Article 169 (Tax Base) is subject to Part IV, Chapter V (Withholding from the Income of Nonresidents and Corporations), as regards severance pay or other such compensation as prescribed in Article 171 (Elective Treatment for Taxation of Retirement Income) that is paid thereto and elects to have that severance pay or other such compensation taxed as referred to in that Article, the Nonresident may file a return with the district tax office director on or after January 1 of the following year (or on or after the day that the total amount of the severance pay and other such compensation as prescribed in Article 171 becomes fixed, if this is before January 1 of the following year), giving the following information, so as to be issued an income tax refund for that severance pay or other such compensation:

the total severance pay and other such compensation and income taxes as set forth in paragraph (2), item (i) of the preceding Article;

income taxes as set forth in paragraph (2), item (ii) of the preceding Article;

income taxes as set forth in the preceding item, less income taxes as set forth in item (i);

the information set forth in paragraph (2), item (iv) and item (v) of the preceding Article, and the information prescribed by Ministry of Finance Order.

When a return under the preceding paragraph is filed, the district tax office director issues an income tax refund in an amount equivalent to what is set forth in item (iii) of that paragraph.

In a case as referred to in the preceding paragraph, if any part of the income taxes set forth in paragraph (1), item (ii) which are indicated in the return referred to in the preceding paragraph (limited to income taxes that are required to be withheld pursuant to the provisions of Part IV, Chapter V) has not yet been paid over to the national government, an amount equivalent to the part of the refund under the preceding paragraph which is from income taxes not yet paid over is not refunded until those income taxes are paid over.

When the amount of Interest on a refund under paragraph (2) is calculated, the period referred to in Article 58, paragraph (1) of the Act on General Rules for National Taxes (Interest on Refunds) which serves as the basis for the calculation is the period beginning on the day after that on which the return is filed pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1) (or beginning on the day after that on which any income taxes which are subject to a refund as prescribed in the preceding paragraph are paid, if this is after the date on which the return is filed) and ending on the day on which the tax-office decision to pay the refund is reached or on the day on which the refund is Appropriated to cover a required tax payment (or ending on the day on which the refund first could have been Appropriated, if this is before the date of the Appropriation).

Beyond what is prescribed in the preceding two paragraphs, Cabinet Order provides for the procedures for issuing a refund as referred to in paragraph (2) and for other necessary particulars concerning the application of the provisions of that paragraph.