Local Tax Act

Where the total of the gross income prescribed in Article 314-2, paragraph (1) (for the amount of salary for blue-return dedicated employees or the business dedicated employee deduction, the provisions of Article 313, paragraph (3), (4) or (5) are not applied, and the amount is not governed by the provisions of Article 57, paragraphs (1), (3) or (4) of the Income Tax Act; the same applies hereinafter in this paragraph to the calculation of the amount of timber income) calculated for the person liable for national health insurance tax and for the insured persons and specified same-household members belonging to that person's household, and the amount of timber income, does not exceed the amount specified by Cabinet Order in consideration of the ability to pay of low-income households, the municipality is to reduce the per capita levy amount on insured persons and the per capita levy amount on insured persons aged 18 or over, or the per household levy amount, imposed on that person liable for tax, as provided by Municipal Ordinance in accordance with the standards specified by Cabinet Order.

Where there is, in the household to which a person liable for national health insurance tax belongs, an insured person who is on or before the first March 31 on or after the day on which the person reaches the age of 18, the municipality is to reduce the per capita levy amount on insured persons imposed on that person liable for tax, as provided by Municipal Ordinance in accordance with the standards specified by Cabinet Order.

Where a person liable for national health insurance tax or an insured person belonging to that person's household is scheduled to give birth or has given birth, the municipality is to reduce the income levy amount, the per capita levy amount on insured persons and the per capita levy amount on insured persons aged 18 or over imposed on that person liable for tax, as provided by Municipal Ordinance in accordance with the standards specified by Cabinet Order.

Where there is, in the household to which a person liable for national health insurance tax belongs, an insured person who is on or before the first March 31 on or after the day on which the person reaches the age of 18, the municipality is to reduce the per capita levy amount on insured persons under Article 703-4, paragraph (30) imposed on that person liable for tax, as provided by Municipal Ordinance in accordance with the standards specified by Cabinet Order.

In applying Article 703-4, paragraph (6) and paragraph (1) of the preceding Article where a person liable for national health insurance tax, or an insured person or specified same-household member belonging to that person's household, is a special-treatment insured person, etc., the phrase "prescribed in Article 314-2, paragraph (1)" in Article 703-4, paragraph (6) is deemed to be replaced with "prescribed in Article 314-2, paragraph (1) (where salary income is included in the gross income of a special-treatment insured person, etc. prescribed in Article 703-5-2, paragraph (2), that salary income is to be the amount equivalent to 30 percent of the amount calculated under Article 28, paragraph (2) of the Income Tax Act; the same applies in the following paragraph)", the phrase "paragraph (2) of that Article" with "Article 314-2, paragraph (2)", and in paragraph (1) of the preceding Article, the phrase "Article 314-2, paragraph (1) (" is deemed to be replaced with "Article 314-2, paragraph (1) (where salary income is included in the gross income of a special-treatment insured person, etc. prescribed in paragraph (2) of the following Article, that salary income is to be the amount equivalent to 30 percent of the amount calculated under Article 28, paragraph (2) of the Income Tax Act, and", and the phrase "Income Tax Act" with "that Act".

A special-treatment insured person, etc. prescribed in the preceding paragraph means a person falling under any of the following items among insured persons or specified same-household members (limited to those in the period until the last day of the fiscal year following the fiscal year containing the day following the date of separation from employment prescribed in Article 4, paragraph (2) of the Employment Insurance Act relating to their qualification prescribed in Article 14, paragraph (2), item (i) of that Act (hereinafter in this paragraph referred to as "recipient qualification")).

A specified qualified recipient prescribed in Article 23, paragraph (2) of the Employment Insurance Act;

A person who left employment for a specified reason as prescribed in Article 13, paragraph (3) of the Employment Insurance Act and who has recipient qualification.

A local government may not impose water utilization and land benefit tax or joint facility tax on the State, tax-exempt incorporated administrative agencies and national university corporations, etc., or on prefectures, municipalities, special wards, unions of these, property wards, special merger districts and local incorporated administrative agency.

A municipality may not impose residential land development tax on the State, tax-exempt incorporated administrative agencies and national university corporations, etc., or on prefectures, municipalities, special wards, unions of these, property wards, special merger districts and local incorporated administrative agency.

The assessment date and payment period of water utilization and land benefit tax and joint facility tax, and the payment period of residential land development tax and national health insurance tax (excluding the payment period where collection is by special collection under Article 706, paragraphs (2) and (3), Article 718-7, paragraphs (1) and (2), and Article 718-8, paragraph (1)), are determined by Prefectural or Municipal Ordinance of the local government concerned.

The assessment date of national health insurance tax is April 1.

Water utilization and land benefit tax, joint facility tax, residential land development tax and national health insurance tax (hereinafter referred to as "water utilization and land benefit tax, etc.") must be collected by ordinary collection or special collection, as is convenient for collection, as provided by Prefectural or Municipal Ordinance of the local government concerned.

Notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding paragraph, where, on the first day of the fiscal year concerned, a person liable for national health insurance tax of the municipality is a householder who is an insured person aged 65 or over receiving payment of an old age, etc. pension benefit (meaning the old-age basic pension under the National Pension Act and other pension benefits specified by Cabinet Order for which old age, disability or death is the ground for payment under that Act or the Employees' Pension Insurance Act, and pension benefits similar to these specified by Cabinet Order for which old age or retirement, disability or death is the ground for payment; the same applies hereinafter in this Section) (excluding a person found to be one for whom collection of national health insurance tax by special collection is extremely difficult due to a disaster or other special circumstances, and others specified by Cabinet Order; hereinafter in this Section referred to as an "insured person subject to special collection"), the municipality is to collect the national health insurance tax imposed on that householder by special collection; provided, however, that this does not apply in a municipality in which it is found inappropriate to carry out special collection due to special circumstances such as there being few insured persons subject to special collection.

Where, between April 2 and August 1 of the year containing the first day of the fiscal year concerned, a person liable for national health insurance tax of the municipality (excluding a municipality prescribed in the proviso to the preceding paragraph; the same applies hereinafter in this paragraph and in Articles 718-2 to 718-10) has become an insured person subject to special collection, the municipality may collect the national health insurance tax imposed on that insured person subject to special collection by special collection.

Where a municipality cannot finalize the amount of national health insurance tax for the fiscal year concerned because the total of the gross income and the amount of timber income after the deduction prescribed in Article 703-4, paragraph (6), which is used as the basis for calculating the income levy amount of national health insurance tax, has not been finalized, it may, solely with respect to the national health insurance tax to be collected by ordinary collection in the payment periods that arrive up to the date of finalization, collect from a person liable for national health insurance tax the tax for each payment period within the limit of the amount obtained by dividing that person's amount of national health insurance tax for the previous fiscal year by the number of payment periods of the fiscal year concerned, or of the amount equivalent to the tax amount for the last payment period of that person's national health insurance tax for the previous fiscal year; provided, however, that the total of the amounts that may be so collected may not exceed the amount equivalent to one half of the amount of national health insurance tax for the previous fiscal year.

Where a municipality has imposed national health insurance tax under the provisions of the preceding paragraph, if that amount of national health insurance tax comes to be less than the amount of national health insurance tax for the fiscal year concerned, it must collect the shortfall in the payment periods on or after the day on which the amount of national health insurance tax for the fiscal year concerned is finalized, and if the amount of national health insurance tax already collected comes to exceed the amount of national health insurance tax for the fiscal year concerned, it must refund the overpaid amount, or appropriate it to the local government levies unpaid by that person liable for tax, in accordance with the rules of Article 17 or Article 17-2.

Where national health insurance tax has been imposed under the provisions of paragraph (1) of the preceding Article, and it is found that the amount of national health insurance tax for the fiscal year concerned will be less than the amount equivalent to one half of the amount of national health insurance tax for the previous fiscal year, a person from whom national health insurance tax is to be collected under the provisions of that paragraph may, by the time limit specified by Municipal Ordinance, apply to the mayor of the municipality for revision of the amount of national health insurance tax to be collected under the provisions of that paragraph.

Where an application for revision has been made under the provisions of the preceding paragraph and the application is found to have reasonable grounds, the mayor of the municipality must revise the amount of national health insurance tax to be collected under the provisions of paragraph (1) of the preceding Article, on the basis of the estimated amount of national health insurance tax for the fiscal year concerned.

The provisions of Article 364-2, paragraphs (2), (3), (5) and (6) apply mutatis mutandis to an application for revision and the revision under the provisions of the preceding two paragraphs.

A tax collection official of a local government may, where necessary for an examination concerning the assessment and collection of water utilization and land benefit tax, etc., question the following persons, or inspect the books and documents relating to the business of a person listed in items (i) through (iii) (including, where electronic or magnetic records have been created or retained in lieu of the creation or retention of those books and documents, those electronic or magnetic records (meaning records made in electronic form, magnetic form or any other form not perceivable by human senses and used for information processing by computers); the same applies in paragraph (1), items (i) and (ii) of the following Article) and other articles, or request the presentation or submission of those articles (including copies thereof).

a person liable for tax or a person found to have tax liability;

a special collection agent;

a person found to have an obligation to provide money or articles to a person listed in the preceding two items;

a person other than those listed in the preceding three items who is found to be directly related to the assessment and collection of the water utilization and land benefit tax, etc. concerned.

A successor corporation in a company split (meaning a corporation that has received a transfer of assets and liabilities from a splitting corporation through a company split; the same applies hereinafter in this paragraph) in a company split whose splitting corporation (meaning a corporation that has transferred the assets and liabilities it holds through a company split; the same applies hereinafter in this paragraph) is a person listed in item (i) or (ii) of the preceding paragraph, and a splitting corporation in a company split whose successor corporation in a company split is a person listed in item (i) or (ii) of the preceding paragraph, are included in the persons found to have an obligation to provide money or articles prescribed in item (iii) of that paragraph.

In the case referred to in paragraph (1), the tax collection official in question must carry an identification card certifying the official's status and present it when requested by a person concerned.

A tax collection official of a local government may, as provided by Cabinet Order, retain the articles submitted pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1).

With regard to an investigation concerning delinquent tax collection procedures for water utilization and land benefit tax, etc., notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1), the matter is as provided in Article 728, paragraph (7).

The authority of tax collection officials of a local government under the provisions of paragraph (1) or (4) must not be construed as having been granted for criminal investigation.