Inheritance Tax Act

• Inheritance tax is first worked out for the whole estate: from the total taxable value of what everyone acquired from the deceased, a basic deduction of 30,000,000 yen plus 6,000,000 yen for each statutory heir is taken, and the rest is taxed as if the heirs had taken it in their statutory shares under the Civil Code (民法), a separate Act, each share at rates rising from 10% on the first 10,000,000 yen to 55% above 600,000,000 yen. Heirs who renounced still count, but adopted children count as at most one, or two where the deceased had no natural child (a child adopted by special adoption, the spouse's child the deceased adopted, and a descendant inheriting in place of a child who died or lost the right to inherit, count as natural). That total is shared among those who acquired property in proportion to what each acquired, and anyone other than the deceased's spouse, parents and children pays 20% more — a descendant inheriting in place of a child who died or lost the right to inherit counts as a child, and a grandchild the deceased adopted does not, unless also inheriting in such a place.(Art. 11(1), Art. 15(1), Art. 15(2), Art. 15(3), Art. 15(3)(i), Art. 15(3)(ii), Art. 16(1), Art. 17(1), Art. 18(1), Art. 18(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Each person who acquired property from the deceased must, where the total taxable value of everyone's acquisitions exceeds the basic deduction and that person has tax to pay before the spouse's relief is applied — so a surviving spouse whose relief would bring their tax to nil must still file, as the relief is given only on a return claiming it — file an inheritance tax return with the district tax office director (税務署長) within ten months from the day after they learned of the death, or by the day they cease to have a domicile or residence in Japan if that happens within that time and they have not notified a tax agent (納税管理人), and pay the tax by the same deadline. Where the estate has not yet been divided among the heirs, each files as if they had taken their share under the Civil Code (民法), a separate Act, and may then ask for a correction (更正の請求) within four months of learning of a division that lowers their tax, or file an amended return where it raises it. A person liable for inheritance or gift tax who has no domicile in Japan, or who will cease to have a domicile or residence here, chooses a place of tax payment (納税地) and declares it to that place's district tax office director; if they do not, the Commissioner of the National Tax Agency (国税庁長官) designates one.(Art. 27(1), Art. 19-2(3), Art. 33(1), Art. 55(1), Art. 32(1), Art. 32(1)(i), Art. 31(1), Art. 62(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Gift tax is charged on what an individual is given in each calendar year: the Act takes a basic deduction of 600,000 yen from the total, which Article 70-2-4 of the Act on Special Measures Concerning Taxation raises to 1,100,000 yen for gifts from 1 January 2001 on, and taxes the rest at rates rising from 10% on the first 2,000,000 yen to 55% above 30,000,000 yen. For gifts from a parent, grandparent or other lineal ascendant (直系尊属) to someone aged 18 or over on 1 January of that year, Article 70-2-5 of that Act sets its own bands instead, from 10% on the first 2,000,000 yen to 55% above 45,000,000 yen. Where tax arises, the recipient files a return with the district tax office director (税務署長) between 1 February and 15 March of the next year — or, if they cease to have a domicile or residence in Japan between 1 January and 15 March of that next year without having notified a tax agent (納税管理人), by the day they do — and pays by the same deadline.(Art. 21-2(1), Art. 21-5(1), Art. 21-7(1), Art. 28(1), Art. 33(1), Act on Special Measures Concerning Taxation Art. 70-2-4(1), Act on Special Measures Concerning Taxation Art. 70-2-5(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Where someone who acquires property at a death received gifts from the deceased in the three years before the death, those gifts are added, at their value when given, to that person's inheritance-tax base, and the gift tax paid on them is taken off their inheritance tax; the part covered by the spouse's home deduction, and gifts under settlement at inheritance (相続時精算課税), are left out. For everyone who acquires property at a death from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2026, whenever the gift was made, Article 19 applies with its seven years read as three (supplementary provisions (附則) of Act No. 3 of 2023, Article 19, paragraph (2)).This is the rule until 31 December 2026.(Art. 19(1), Art. 19(2), Art. 22(1), Suppl. Prov. Art. 19(1), Suppl. Prov. Art. 19(2), Art. 21-15(2), Art. 21-16(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Where someone who acquires property at a death received gifts from the deceased from 1 January 2024 until the death, those gifts are added, at their value when given, to that person's inheritance-tax base — those received more than three years before the death only after 1,000,000 yen is taken from their total — and the gift tax paid on them is taken off their inheritance tax; the part covered by the spouse's home deduction, and gifts under settlement at inheritance (相続時精算課税), are left out. This window applies to those who acquire property at a death up to 31 December 2030; after that it is the seven years before the death.This is the rule from 1 January 2027.(Art. 19(1), Art. 19(2), Art. 22(1), Suppl. Prov. Art. 19(1), Suppl. Prov. Art. 19(3), Art. 21-15(2), Art. 21-16(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A lineal descendant who is a presumptive heir (推定相続人) of a giver aged 60 or over, and is 18 or over, both on 1 January of the year of the gift, may choose settlement at inheritance (相続時精算課税) for that giver by filing a notice with the tax office within the gift-tax filing period; the choice cannot be withdrawn. Gifts from that giver are then taxed each year at a flat 20% on what remains after a basic deduction — 600,000 yen in this Act, 1,100,000 yen for gifts from 2024 on under Article 70-3-2 of the Act on Special Measures Concerning Taxation — and a special deduction of up to 25,000,000 yen in all, which is given only where it is claimed on a return filed by the deadline. At the giver's death those gifts, at their value when given less the basic deduction, are added to the recipient's inheritance-tax base even if they acquire nothing else, and the gift tax paid on them is taken off, with any excess refunded on a return filed for that purpose.(Art. 21-9(1), Art. 21-9(2), Art. 21-9(3), Art. 21-9(6), Art. 21-11-2(1), Art. 21-12(1), Art. 21-12(2), Art. 21-13(1), Art. 21-15(1), Art. 21-15(3), Art. 21-16(1), Art. 21-16(3), Art. 27(3), Art. 33-2(1), Act on Special Measures Concerning Taxation Art. 70-3-2(1)) (the provisions it rests on)

• 1 April 2026

  The text on this site

  Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.

  所得税法等の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 8 of 2024The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 June 2025

  Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts upon the Enforcement of the Act Partially Amending the Penal Code, etc. (extract)

  刑法等の一部を改正する法律の施行に伴う関係法律の整理等に関する法律　抄

  Act No. 68 of 2022The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 April 2024

  Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.

  所得税法等の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 8 of 2024The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 March 2024

  Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.

  所得税法等の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 4 of 2022The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 January 2024

  Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.

  所得税法等の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 3 of 2023The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 January 2024

  Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.

  所得税法等の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 4 of 2022The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 April 2023

  Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.

  所得税法等の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 3 of 2023The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 April 2023

  Act Partially Amending the Civil Code, etc.

  民法等の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 24 of 2021The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 17 June 2022

  Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts upon the Enforcement of the Act Partially Amending the Penal Code, etc.

  刑法等の一部を改正する法律の施行に伴う関係法律の整理等に関する法律

  Act No. 68 of 2022The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 April 2022

  Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.

  所得税法等の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 4 of 2022The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

All 31 amendments already in force

• A surviving spouse who acquires property from the deceased has the inheritance tax on what they acquire taken off, as far as it does not exceed the larger of 160,000,000 yen and the spouse's statutory share of the estate under the Civil Code (民法), a separate Act — the whole estate where the spouse is the only heir. Property not yet divided among the heirs by the filing deadline does not count toward it unless divided within three years after, or — where a lawsuit or another reason a Cabinet Order names delayed it and the tax office approves — within four months after the day division became possible. The relief applies where a return or request for correction claims it with the documents a Ministry of Finance Order lists, or where they were missing for an unavoidable reason and are handed in later.(Art. 19-2(1), Art. 19-2(1)(ii), Art. 19-2(2), Art. 19-2(3), Art. 19-2(4)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Left out of the inheritance-tax base are, among others, graves, family shrines and ritual items; property a body a Cabinet Order names acquires for religious, charitable, scientific or other public-interest work, if put to that work within two years; benefits from a local-government mutual-aid scheme for people with disabilities that a Cabinet Order names; and, for heirs, life insurance paid on the death and retirement allowances, each up to 5,000,000 yen times the number of statutory heirs, shared among the heirs in proportion to what each received. From what an heir or comprehensive legatee taxed on all their property acquires are deducted the share they bear of the deceased's debts that are certain at the death, and of the funeral costs. One taxed only on property in Japan deducts only the deceased's debts tied to that property, such as taxes on it and debts it secures, and no funeral costs.(Art. 12(1)(ii), Art. 12(1)(iii), Art. 12(1)(v), Art. 12(1)(vi), Art. 12(1)(vii), Art. 12(2), Art. 13(1), Art. 13(2), Art. 14(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Gift tax is not charged on, among other things, money for living or education costs given between people bound to support each other (扶養義務者: spouses and the relatives the Civil Code (民法), a separate Act, names), as far as normally needed; property given by a corporation; property a body a Cabinet Order names receives for public-interest work and puts to it within two years; benefits from a local-government mutual-aid scheme for people with disabilities; or campaign gifts to an election candidate that are reported under the Public Offices Election Act (公職選挙法).(Art. 1-2(1)(i), Art. 21-3(1)(i), Art. 21-3(1)(ii), Art. 21-3(1)(iii), Art. 21-3(1)(v), Art. 21-3(1)(vi), Art. 21-3(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A statutory heir under 18 has 100,000 yen taken off their inheritance tax for each year until they turn 18, and one with a disability 100,000 yen (200,000 yen for a severe disability) for each year until 85, a part year counting as a year; any part they cannot use comes off the tax of someone bound to support them who inherits from the same person. Someone who had either deduction on an earlier inheritance gets only what was left unused the first time. Heirs who owe tax only on property in Japan get neither, and heirs domiciled abroad do not get the disability deduction.(Art. 19-3(1), Art. 19-3(2), Art. 19-3(3), Art. 19-4(1), Art. 19-4(2), Art. 19-4(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Where a spouse of twenty years or more is given a home in Japan, or money to buy one, and by 15 March of the next year lives in it and expects to go on living there, up to 20,000,000 yen is taken off that year's gift tax base, only once from the same spouse, on a return with the documents a Ministry of Finance Order lists.(Art. 21-6(1), Art. 21-6(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Where tax like Japan's inheritance or gift tax was charged abroad on property outside Japan, it is credited against the Japanese tax, up to the Japanese tax on that property. An heir of someone who had themselves inherited and paid inheritance tax in the ten years before their own death has part of that earlier tax taken off, the part shrinking with the time between the two deaths.(Art. 20-2(1), Art. 21-8(1), Art. 20(1), Art. 20(1)(iii)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A person with a severe disability (特別障害者), or with a mental disability a Cabinet Order names, who becomes the beneficiary of a support trust set up at the office in Japan of a trust company or other trustee a Cabinet Order names pays no gift tax on up to 60,000,000 yen of it (30,000,000 yen for those without a severe disability), if a declaration is filed with the district tax office director when the trust is made; this does not apply to those domiciled abroad or taxed only on property in Japan.(Art. 21-4(1), Art. 21-4(2)) (the provisions it rests on)

• Escaping inheritance or gift tax by deception or other wrongful acts is punishable by imprisonment (拘禁刑) of up to ten years or a fine of up to 10,000,000 yen, or both, and the fine can be raised to the tax escaped where that is higher. Escaping it by not filing a return by its deadline is punishable by imprisonment of up to five years or a fine of up to 5,000,000 yen, or both, and that fine too can be raised to the tax escaped.(Art. 68(1), Art. 68(2), Art. 68(3), Art. 68(4)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Not filing a return by its deadline without good reason is punishable by imprisonment of up to one year or a fine of up to 500,000 yen, though the punishment may be waived in light of the circumstances; not submitting a report the Act requires, or submitting a false one, carries the same penalty. Where a representative, agent or employee commits one of these offences, or tax evasion, in the course of a business or in managing property, the business owner, company or other body is fined as well.(Art. 69(1), Art. 70(1), Art. 71(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• The district tax office director (税務署長) reassesses (更正) a return whose figures are wrong and determines (決定) the tax of someone who should have filed and did not, under Articles 24 and 25 of the Act on General Rules for National Taxes; for gift tax this can be done until six years after the filing deadline, or seven where tax was escaped by deception or other wrongful acts. In doing so the director may leave out of the count of heirs adopted children whose counting would unfairly reduce the inheritance tax, and may set aside acts or accounts of a family company (同族会社) that would unfairly reduce the inheritance or gift tax of its shareholders, their relatives or others specially related to them.(Art. 1-2(1)(v), Art. 1-2(1)(vi), Act on General Rules for National Taxes Art. 24(1), Act on General Rules for National Taxes Art. 25(1), Art. 37(1), Art. 37(4), Art. 63(1), Art. 64(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Under-declaring or filing late brings the additional taxes (加算税) of the Act on General Rules for National Taxes: an under-reporting penalty of 10% of the extra tax and a no-filing penalty of 15% of the tax, each higher on larger amounts. A return not prompted by an investigation brings 5% or 10% instead, and none or 5% if it is also filed before the investigation is notified; there is no no-filing penalty where there was good reason for the delay, or where a return filed within a month of the deadline shows that the taxpayer meant to file on time, in cases a Cabinet Order names. In their place, a heavy penalty of 35% or 40% is charged where facts were hidden or disguised, and delinquency tax (延滞税) is charged on tax paid after its statutory deadline.(Act on General Rules for National Taxes Art. 65(1), Act on General Rules for National Taxes Art. 65(2), Act on General Rules for National Taxes Art. 65(6), Act on General Rules for National Taxes Art. 66(1), Act on General Rules for National Taxes Art. 66(2), Act on General Rules for National Taxes Art. 66(8), Act on General Rules for National Taxes Art. 66(9), Act on General Rules for National Taxes Art. 68(1), Act on General Rules for National Taxes Art. 68(2), Act on General Rules for National Taxes Art. 60(1), Act on General Rules for National Taxes Art. 60(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
• When someone dies, the Minister of Justice passes the death registration information to the Commissioner of the National Tax Agency (国税庁長官), and the mayor of the municipality reports to the tax office the land and buildings the deceased owned, each by the end of the following month; the tax office for the place where the inheritance opened investigates the estate and passes its findings to the tax offices of everyone who acquired property from the deceased by inheritance or bequest (including those under settlement taxation at inheritance). Tax officials may, where needed, question taxpayers and those who owed them or were owed by them, held their property, transferred property to them or received property from them, and inspect the taxpayer's property and the records about it, under Article 74-3 of the Act on General Rules for National Taxes.(Art. 58(1), Art. 58(2), Art. 61(1), Act on General Rules for National Taxes Art. 74-3(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Everyone who acquired property from the same deceased is jointly liable for the others' inheritance tax on that inheritance, up to the value of what they received, and a giver is likewise liable for the gift tax on what they gave, up to its value. If a taxpayer's inheritance tax is not paid within a month of a demand (督促), the director tells the others and may collect from them by a payment notice; this liability does not reach tax for which instalments were allowed, tax whose payment was deferred in cases a Cabinet Order names, or tax for which no payment notice was sent within five years of the filing deadline.(Art. 34(1), Art. 34(1)(i), Art. 34(1)(ii), Art. 34(1)(iii), Art. 34(4), Art. 34(5), Art. 34(6)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Where inheritance tax due exceeds 100,000 yen and paying it in cash by the deadline is hard, the district tax office director may, on an application made by that deadline, allow the part that is hard to pay, as a Cabinet Order works it out, to be paid in yearly instalments over up to five years — up to fifteen years for the part matching real estate and similar property where that makes up half or more of the taxed estate, and up to ten for the rest — with security unless the amount is 1,000,000 yen or less and the period three years or less. Where the tax put on instalments is under 500,000 yen (1,500,000 yen in that real-estate case), the period may not exceed one year for each 100,000 yen of it. The director may likewise allow gift tax over 100,000 yen to be paid in instalments over up to five years, and interest tax (利子税) is paid with each instalment.(Art. 38(1), Art. 38(3), Art. 38(4), Art. 39(1), Art. 52(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Where even instalments would not make cash payment possible, the director may, on application, accept property in payment of inheritance tax (物納) for the part that cannot be paid in cash, taken from the property in Japan on which the tax was worked out, gifts under settlement at inheritance (相続時精算課税) excepted: first real estate, ships, government and municipal bonds and listed shares and similar securities, then other shares and securities the Act lists, and movables only where none of those is suitable, with property a Cabinet Order ranks lower used last; property unfit to manage or dispose of is refused. It is accepted at the value used for the tax, unless its condition has changed markedly by the time it is received. The director decides within three months (longer where the Act allows), and an application left undecided past that time is treated as granted.(Art. 41(1), Art. 41(2), Art. 41(4), Art. 41(5), Art. 42(1), Art. 42(2), Art. 42(31), Art. 43(1)) (the provisions it rests on)