Article 343Persons Liable for Fixed Assets Tax, etc.

①Fixed assets tax is imposed on the owner of fixed assets (for land that is the object of a pledge or a superficies right of a duration longer than 100 years, the pledgee or superficiary; the same applies hereinafter to fixed assets tax).

②The owner referred to in the preceding paragraph means, for land or houses, the person registered as the owner (for a building held in unit ownership, the unit owner prescribed in Article 2, paragraph (2) of the Act on Building Unit Ownership relating to that building; the same applies hereinafter to fixed assets tax) in the register or the supplementary land tax ledger or supplementary house tax ledger. In this case, where an individual registered as the owner has died before the assessment date, or a corporation registered as the owner has ceased to exist before that date, or a person referred to in Article 348, paragraph (1) who is registered as the owner has ceased to be the owner before that date, it means the person who actually owns that land or house on that date.

③The owner referred to in paragraph (1) means, for depreciable assets, the person registered as the owner in the depreciable assets tax ledger.

④If the whereabouts of the owner of fixed assets are unknown due to an earthquake, storm or flood damage, fire or any other cause, a municipality may deem the user to be the owner, register that user in the fixed assets tax ledger, and impose fixed assets tax on that person. In this case, when the municipality intends to make that registration, it must give that user prior notice to that effect.

⑤If the existence of the owner of fixed assets remains unknown even after a search conducted by a method specified by Cabinet Order as one by which considerable effort is found to have been made (excluding the case prescribed in the preceding paragraph), a municipality may deem the user to be the owner, register that user in the fixed assets tax ledger, and impose fixed assets tax on that person. In this case, when the municipality intends to make that registration, it must give that user prior notice to that effect.

⑥With regard to land that the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries manages pursuant to Article 45, paragraph (1) of the Cropland Act or Article 78, paragraph (1) of the Cropland Act prior to its amendment by Article 1 of the Act Partially Amending the Cropland Act, etc. (Act No. 57 of 2009) (which, pursuant to Article 8, paragraph (1) of the Supplementary Provisions of that Act, is to continue to be governed by the provisions then in force), or cropland that the State has taken in pursuant to Article 52 of the former Inheritance Tax Act (Act No. 87 of 1947), Article 41 or 48-2 of the Inheritance Tax Act, Article 57-4 of the Income Tax Act prior to its amendment by the Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act (Act No. 63 of 1951), Article 23 of the Wartime Compensation Special Measures Act (Act No. 38 of 1946) or Article 56 of the Property Tax Act (Act No. 52 of 1946), the user is deemed to be the owner referred to in paragraph (1) for the period from the day on which it was purchased or taken in until the day on which the State sells that land or cropland to another person and its ownership passes to the counterparty of the sale, and the counterparty of the sale is deemed to be the owner referred to in that paragraph for the period after that day until the day on which the counterparty of the sale is registered as the owner in the register.

⑦With regard to land for which a land readjustment project under the Land Readjustment Act (including the project under Article 7, paragraph (1), item (i) of the Farming and Residence Association Act to which the provisions of the Land Readjustment Act apply pursuant to Article 8, paragraph (1) of the Farming and Residence Association Act, the project under Article 45, paragraph (1), item (i) of the Act on Promotion of Improvement of Disaster Control Districts in Populated Urban Districts to which the provisions of the Land Readjustment Act apply pursuant to Article 46, paragraph (1) of that Act, and residential block improvement projects under the Act on Special Measures concerning Promotion of Supply of Houses and Housing Lands in Urban Districts; the same applies hereinafter in this paragraph) or a land improvement project under the Land Improvement Act is carried out, in the case where provisional replotting land, land for temporary use or other land that may be provisionally used or profited from has been designated as provided by laws and regulations or articles of association, etc. (hereinafter in this paragraph, Article 349-3-3, paragraph (3) and Article 381, paragraph (8) collectively referred to as "provisional replotting land, etc.") or in the case where there is land managed by the implementer of a land readjustment project under the Land Readjustment Act pursuant to Article 100-2 of that Act (including as applied pursuant to Article 8, paragraph (1) of the Farming and Residence Association Act and Article 46, paragraph (1) of the Act on Promotion of Improvement of Disaster Control Districts in Populated Urban Districts, and as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 83 of the Act on Special Measures concerning Promotion of Supply of Houses and Housing Lands in Urban Districts) that is provisionally used by a person other than that implementer (hereinafter in this paragraph and Article 381, paragraph (8) referred to as "provisionally used land"), for the period from the day on which it became possible to use or profit from that provisional replotting land, etc. or provisionally used land until the day of public notice of the replotting disposition or the day of public notice of approval of the replotting plan, the person registered as the owner in the register or the supplementary land tax ledger with respect to the former land corresponding to that provisional replotting land, etc. in the case of provisional replotting land, etc., or the user of the provisionally used land other than the implementer of the land readjustment project under the Land Readjustment Act in the case of provisionally used land, may be deemed to be the owner referred to in paragraph (1) with respect to that provisional replotting land, etc. or provisionally used land, and for the period from the day of public notice of the replotting disposition or the day of public notice of approval of the replotting plan until the day on which a person who acquired replotted land or reserved land is registered in the register as the owner of that replotted land or reserved land, the person who acquired that replotted land or reserved land may be deemed to be the owner referred to in that paragraph with respect to that replotted land or reserved land.

⑧With regard to reclaimed land or polder land used pursuant to Article 23, paragraph (1) of the Act on Reclamation of Publicly-owned Water Surface (Act No. 57 of 1921) (hereinafter in this paragraph referred to as "reclaimed land, etc.") or reclaimed land, etc. created by the State by reclamation or polder construction (limited to reclaimed land, etc. prior to the notice under Article 42, paragraph (2) of that Act; the same applies hereinafter in this paragraph) that is used in the same state as where structures are installed or the land is otherwise used (excluding that used in connection with works relating to reclamation or polder construction), those reclaimed land, etc. are deemed to be land; among those reclaimed land, etc., for reclaimed land, etc. used pursuant to Article 23, paragraph (1) of that Act by a person other than a prefecture, municipality, special ward, union of these, property ward or special merger district (hereinafter in this paragraph referred to as "prefecture, etc."), the person using that reclaimed land, etc. is deemed to be the owner referred to in paragraph (1) with respect to that reclaimed land, etc., and for reclaimed land, etc. used by a prefecture, etc. pursuant to Article 23, paragraph (1) of that Act or created by the State by reclamation or polder construction, only where the prefecture, etc. or the State has allowed a person other than a prefecture, etc. or the State to use that reclaimed land, etc., the person using that reclaimed land, etc. (excluding a person specified by Cabinet Order who uses reclaimed land, etc. created by a project under item (i) of Article 87-2, paragraph (1) of the Land Improvement Act carried out by the State or a prefecture pursuant to that paragraph) is deemed to be the owner referred to in paragraph (1) with respect to that reclaimed land, etc.; and fixed assets tax may be imposed by deeming the municipality in which the land adjacent to those reclaimed land, etc. is located to be the municipality in which those reclaimed land, etc. are located.

⑨With regard to depreciable assets for which a trust company (including a financial institution prescribed in Article 1, paragraph (1) of the Act on Engagement in Trust Business by Financial Institutions (Act No. 43 of 1943) that engages in the trust business prescribed in that paragraph pursuant to that Act; the same applies hereinafter in this paragraph) has accepted a trust and which that trust company leases to another person on the condition that it transfer them to that other person in accordance with the terms of the trust instrument, where those depreciable assets are to be used for the business of that other person, that other person is deemed to be the owner referred to in paragraph (1).

⑩With regard to ancillary equipment of a house (including the part of a house belonging to ancillary equipment and other things specified by Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications) that was installed by a person other than the owner of the house for use in that person's business and that has come to be owned by the owner of the house by being affixed to the house (hereinafter in this paragraph referred to as "specified ancillary equipment"), only where it is an asset that can be used for the business of the person who installed it, that person who installed it may be deemed to be the owner referred to in paragraph (1), and the part of that specified ancillary equipment belonging to the house may be treated as an asset other than a house and fixed assets tax imposed.