Local Tax Act

A taxpayer or special collection agent may not claim a refund of an amount paid or remitted upon the person's application as any of the following local government levies.

Local government levies for which the amount to be paid or remitted has been finalized but the payment period has not yet arrived;

Local government levies for which the finalization of the amount to be paid or remitted in the near term is found to be certain.

Where, for all or part of local government levies paid or remitted as the local government levies listed in the items of the preceding paragraph, payment or remittance has become unnecessary owing to an amendment of a law or Prefectural or Municipal Ordinance or for any other reason, the provisions of the preceding three Articles apply as if an overpayment or payment by mistake had been paid or remitted at that time.

When the head of a local government refunds or appropriates an overpayment or payment by mistake under Article 17 or Article 17-2, paragraphs (1) through (3), the head must, in accordance with the classification of overpayments or payments by mistake set out in the following items, add to the amount to be refunded or appropriated an amount calculated by multiplying that amount by a rate of 7.3 percent per annum for the number of days in the period from the day following the day specified in the relevant item until the day on which the head decided on the expenditure for the refund or the day on which the appropriation was made (or, if there is a day before that day on which it became suitable to make the appropriation, that day) (hereinafter referred to as "interest on refund").

Overpayments (excluding those listed in the following item and item (iii)) of local government levies (including delinquency charges on the local tax relating to those local government levies) for which the amount to be paid or remitted has been finalized by a reassessment, determination or assessment determination (meaning a disposition finalizing the amount of local tax collected by the method of ordinary collection, and including a disposition finalizing the special collection tax amount relating to individual prefectural inhabitant tax and municipal inhabitant tax and national health insurance tax collected by the method of special collection; the same applies hereinafter in this Chapter), by the submission of a return under Article 53, paragraph (33) or (35) or Article 321-8, paragraph (33) or (35) (limited to one relating to the corporation tax levy amount of prefectural inhabitant tax or municipal inhabitant tax calculated with the amount of corporation tax payable by a reassessment or determination relating to corporation tax as the tax base), a return under Article 72-31, paragraph (1) or (2) (limited to one relating to enterprise tax calculated on the basis of the tax base of corporation tax relating to a reassessment or determination by the tax office, where a corporation other than a corporation that is to file and pay only the revenue levy has received a reassessment or determination by the tax office with respect to the tax base of corporation tax for the business year that was the basis of calculating the enterprise tax relating to that return), an amended return under paragraph (3) of that Article, or a return under Article 72-89, paragraph (1) or (3) (limited to one relating to the transfer levy amount of local consumption tax calculated with the amount of consumption tax payable by a reassessment or determination relating to consumption tax as the tax base), or by the determination of an additional charge for understatement, additional charge for failure to file or substantial additional charge (hereinafter in this Chapter referred to as "additional charge"): the day on which the payment or remittance of the local government levies relating to the overpayment was made;

Overpayments of local tax (including delinquency charges on that local tax; the same applies in the following item) for which the amount to be paid or remitted has decreased as a result of a reassessment based on a request for reassessment (including a decision or judgment on a request for review or action relating to the disposition on that request): the earlier of the day on which three months have elapsed counting from the day following the day of the request for reassessment and the day on which one month has elapsed counting from the day following the day of the reassessment;

Overpayments relating to local tax for which the amount to be paid or remitted has decreased as a result of an assessment determination made on the basis of a reassessment of income tax (in the case of a reassessment made for an amount of income tax for which the tax payable has been finalized by reassessment or determination, limited to one based on a request for reassessment; the same applies hereinafter in this item and paragraph (5)) or the submission of an income tax return (meaning a final return prescribed in Article 2, paragraph (1), item (xxxvii) of the Income Tax Act (Act No. 33 of 1965) and an amended return prescribed in item (xxxix) of that paragraph; the same applies hereinafter in this item and paragraph (5)): the day on which one month has elapsed counting from the day following the day on which notice of the reassessment of income tax that was the basis of that assessment determination was issued, or the day on which one month has elapsed counting from the day following the day on which the income tax return was submitted;

Overpayments or payments by mistake relating to local government levies other than the overpayments listed in the preceding three items: the day on which one month has elapsed counting from the day following the day specified by Cabinet Order as the day on which the overpayment or payment by mistake arose.

In the case of the preceding paragraph, if any of the following items applies, the period specified in the relevant item must be deducted from the period prescribed in that paragraph.

Where the head of a local government has notified a taxpayer or special collection agent that there is an overpayment or payment by mistake, and the person does not claim a refund of it by the day on which 30 days have elapsed from the day the notice was issued: the period from the day following that day until the day on which the claim for refund was made;

Where an order of seizure or a disposition of seizure under the provisions of the Civil Enforcement Act has been issued with respect to the claim for return of the overpayment or payment by mistake: the period until the day on which one week has elapsed counting from the day following the day on which service of the order or disposition of seizure was received;

Where a provisional seizure has been made with respect to the claim for return of the overpayment or payment by mistake: the period during which that provisional seizure is in effect.

Where an overpayment or payment by mistake has arisen in local government levies relating to two or more payment periods or two or more installment payments or installment remittances, paragraph (1) applies to that overpayment or payment by mistake as if it consisted of the amounts obtained by going back successively, in the order of the dates of payment or remittance, from the amount last paid or remitted, until local government levies equal to the amount of that overpayment or payment by mistake are reached.

Where local government levies that were lawfully paid or remitted have become overpaid on the basis of a provision of a law or Prefectural or Municipal Ordinance that changes the amount to be paid or remitted without affecting that lawful payment or remittance, paragraph (1) applies to that overpayment as if it were an overpayment or payment by mistake listed in paragraph (1), item (iv), and as if the day on which it became an overpayment were the day specified in that item.

Where local government levies have been paid or remitted and a reassessment (excluding a reassessment based on a request for reassessment) or an assessment determination (excluding an assessment determination made on the basis of a reassessment of income tax or the submission of an income tax return) has been made with respect to that local tax on the ground that an economic result arising from a void act included in the facts that were the basis of calculating the tax base has been lost because of the voidness of that act, that a voidable act included in those facts has been rescinded, or another ground equivalent to these specified by Cabinet Order, paragraph (1) applies, for the local government levies equivalent to the amount overpaid by that reassessment or assessment determination, as if the day on which one month has elapsed counting from the day following the day of that reassessment or assessment determination (or, for local tax collected by the method of ordinary collection, where before that assessment determination an application has been made, on any of those grounds, to the effect that the tax amount payable would be overpaid, the earlier of the day on which one month has elapsed and the day on which three months have elapsed counting from the day following the day of that application) were the day specified in the items of paragraph (1).

Where calculating interest on refund under paragraph (1) relating to individual municipal inhabitant tax (excluding the per capita levy imposed on a person listed in Article 294, paragraph (1), item (ii) and the income levy imposed under Article 328; the same applies hereinafter in this paragraph), individual prefectural inhabitant tax assessed and collected together therewith under Article 41, paragraph (1) (excluding the per capita levy imposed on a person listed in Article 24, paragraph (1), item (ii) and the income levy imposed under Article 50-2; the same applies hereinafter in this paragraph) and forest environment tax assessed and collected together with those under Article 7, paragraph (1) of the Act on the Forest Environment Tax and the Forest Environment Transfer Tax, the calculation is to be made on the aggregate amount of the overpayments or payments by mistake relating to individual municipal inhabitant tax, individual prefectural inhabitant tax and forest environment tax.