National Tax Collection Act

With respect to claims relating to salary, wages, stipend, annual allowances, retirement pensions, and remuneration of a similar nature (hereinafter referred to as "salary, etc."), the portion up to the total amount of the amounts set out in the following items may not be seized. In this case, if the delinquent taxpayer receives payment of two or more items of salary, etc. for the same period, the limit relating to the amount set out in item (iv) or item (v) is to be calculated on the total amount of them.

an amount equivalent to the income tax collected on that salary, etc. pursuant to the provisions of Article 183 (Obligation to Withhold Tax on Salary Income), Article 190 (Year-End Adjustment), Article 192 (Collection of Shortfall Relating to Year-End Adjustment), or Article 212 (Obligation to Withhold Tax on Income of Non-Residents, etc.) of the Income Tax Act;

an amount equivalent to the prefectural inhabitant tax, the municipal inhabitant tax, and the forest environment tax collected on that salary, etc. by the method of special collection pursuant to the provisions of Article 321-3 (Special Collection of Individual Municipal Inhabitant Tax) of the Local Tax Act and other laws and regulations;

an amount equivalent to the social insurance premiums (meaning the social insurance premiums prescribed in Article 74, paragraph (2) (Social Insurance Premium Deduction) of the Income Tax Act) deducted from that salary, etc. pursuant to the provisions of Article 167, paragraph (1) (Deduction of Premiums from Remuneration) of the Health Insurance Act (Act No. 70 of 1922) and other laws and regulations;

an amount specified by Cabinet Order, taking into consideration the amount, corresponding to the period on which the payment of the salary, etc. was based, that would serve as the standard for the assistance if livelihood assistance prescribed in Article 12 (Livelihood Assistance) of the Public Assistance Act (Act No. 144 of 1950) were to be provided to the delinquent taxpayer (including relatives sharing the same livelihood with that person) on the assumption that they have no income;

an amount equivalent to 20 percent of the amount remaining after deducting the total amount of the amounts set out in the preceding items from the amount of the salary, etc. (or, where that amount exceeds an amount equivalent to twice the amount set out in the preceding item, the amount equivalent to twice that amount).

Money received on the basis of salary, etc. may not be seized up to the amount calculated by multiplying the total amount of the amounts set out in items (iv) and (v) of the preceding paragraph by the proportion that the number of days from the date of seizure to the next payment date bears to the number of days in the period that formed the basis for the payment of that salary, etc.

With respect to claims relating to bonuses and remuneration of a similar nature, paragraph (1) applies by deeming them to be salary, etc. at the time they are to be received. In this case, for the calculation of the limit relating to the amount set out in item (iv) or (v) of that paragraph, the period that formed the basis for their payment is deemed to be one month.

With respect to claims relating to retirement allowances and remuneration of a similar nature (hereinafter referred to as "retirement allowance, etc."), the portion of the amount up to the total amount of the following amounts may not be seized:

an amount equivalent to the income tax to be collected on the retirement allowance, etc. pursuant to the provisions of Article 199 (Obligation to Withhold Tax on Retirement Income) or Article 212 of the Income Tax Act;

the amount calculated by applying the provisions of items (ii) and (iii) of paragraph (1), with the term "salary, etc." in those provisions read as "retirement allowance, etc.";

an amount equivalent to three times the amount set out in paragraph (1), item (iv), calculated by taking the period prescribed in that item as one month; and

where the period that formed the basis for the payment of the retirement allowance, etc. exceeds five years, an amount equivalent to 20 percent of the amount set out in the preceding item for each year by which it exceeds five years.

The provisions of paragraphs (1) and (2) and the preceding paragraph do not apply where the delinquent taxpayer consents.

The provisions of the preceding Article apply by deeming claims relating to retirement pensions, old-age pensions, ordinary pensions, work absence allowances and benefits of a similar nature paid under social insurance systems (including pensions paid under the provisions of Article 38, paragraph (1) (Method of Payment of Old-Age Benefits) of the Defined-Benefit Corporate Pension Act (Act No. 50 of 2001), pensions paid under the provisions of Article 35, paragraph (1) (Method of Payment of Old-Age Benefits) of the Defined Contribution Pension Act (Act No. 88 of 2001) (including as applied mutatis mutandis in Article 73 (Application Mutatis Mutandis of Provisions on Corporate-Type Pension Plans) of that Act), and other retirement pensions specified by Cabinet Order) to be salary, etc., and claims relating to lump-sum retirement benefits, lump-sum pensions and benefits of a similar nature (including lump-sum payments paid under the provisions of Article 38, paragraph (2) of the Defined-Benefit Corporate Pension Act, lump-sum withdrawal benefits paid under the provisions of Article 42 (Method of Payment of Lump-Sum Withdrawal Benefits) of that Act, lump-sum payments paid under the provisions of Article 35, paragraph (2) of the Defined Contribution Pension Act (including as applied mutatis mutandis in Article 73 of that Act), and other lump-sum retirement benefits specified by Cabinet Order) to be retirement allowance, etc., respectively.

The social insurance systems prescribed in the preceding paragraph are systems relating to insurance, mutual aid or pensions based on the following Acts, and other similar systems specified by Cabinet Order:

Employees' Pension Insurance Act (Act No. 115 of 1954);

Mariners Insurance Act (Act No. 73 of 1939);

National Pension Act (Act No. 141 of 1959);

Public Officers Pension Act (Act No. 48 of 1923) (including as applied mutatis mutandis in other Acts);

National Public Officers Mutual Aid Association Act (Act No. 128 of 1958);

Local Public Officers, etc. Mutual Aid Association Act (Act No. 152 of 1962);

Private School Personnel Mutual Aid Association Act (Act No. 245 of 1953).

The following property (excluding the property set out in Article 75, paragraph (1), items (iii) through (v) (Property Indispensable for Agriculture, etc.)) is not to be seized, at the delinquent taxpayer's election, where the delinquent taxpayer offers property from which the full amount of the national tax can be collected, which is not difficult to realize, and which is not the object of the right of a third party:

machinery, implements, livestock, feed, seeds and other agricultural products, fertilizers, farmland, and grassland for cutting and grazing necessary for agriculture;

fishing nets and other fishing gear, bait, fry and other marine products, and fishing boats necessary for fishery; and

machinery, implements and other equipment, and raw materials and other assets subject to inventory, necessary for the continuation of a profession or business (excluding a business prescribed in the preceding two items).

A collection official must release a seizure when any of the following applies:

the entire amount of the national tax for which the seizure was made is extinguished through payment, appropriation, cancellation of a correction or any other reason; or

the value of the seized property is no longer expected to exceed the total amount of the expenses for the delinquent tax collection procedure relating to the seizure and the national taxes, local taxes and other claims that take priority over the national tax for which the seizure was made.

A collection official may release the seizure of all or part of the seized property when any of the following applies:

When, due to partial payment of the national tax for which the seizure was made, appropriation, partial cancellation of a correction, a rise in the value of the seized property, or any other reason, its value is found to significantly exceed the total amount of the national tax for which the seizure was made and the other national taxes, local taxes, and other claims that take priority over it;

When the delinquent taxpayer has offered other appropriate property that can be seized, and that property has been seized; or

When, in the case where there has been no application for purchase by bidding or auction (hereinafter referred to as a "bid, etc.") even after the seized property has been put up for public auction three times, it is found that there would be no purchaser even if it were put up for public auction again, and also that there is no prospect of sale by private contract, taking into consideration the shape and use of the seized property, restrictions on its use under laws and regulations, and other circumstances.

In the case where the real property subject to the seizure has been sold and the delinquent taxpayer has made an application for release of the seizure of that real property as provided by Ministry of Finance Order, when all of the following apply:

Payment of national tax has been made in an amount equivalent to the remainder obtained by deducting the total amount of other national taxes, local taxes, and other claims that take priority over the national tax for which the seizure was made from the sale price of that real property (where that sale price is less than the price specified by Ministry of Finance Order as equivalent to the market value of that real property at the time of that application, that price specified by Ministry of Finance Order), or, where that equivalent amount exceeds the amount of the national tax for which the seizure was made, in the amount of the national tax for which the seizure was made; and

It is found that there is no hindrance to the collection of national tax.

The release of a seizure is effected by notifying the delinquent taxpayer to that effect; provided, however, that the release of the seizure of claims and of incorporeal property, etc. for which there is a third-party debtor, etc. is effected by notifying the third-party debtor, etc. to that effect.

When a collection official has released the seizure of property listed in the following items, the official must carry out the procedures prescribed in the relevant item; provided, however, that the removal prescribed in item (i) may be carried out by the delinquent taxpayer or by a third party in possession of the property.

Movables or securities: delivery thereof, and removal of seals, public notices, and other things used to make the seizure evident;

Claims or incorporeal property, etc. for which there is a third-party debtor, etc.: notice to the delinquent taxpayer.

Specified electronically transferred property rights: transfer to the control of the delinquent taxpayer.

When the district director has released the seizure of real property or other property for which a registration of seizure has been made, the district director must commission the relevant authority to cancel that registration.

The delivery of movables or securities under paragraph (2), item (i) must be made to the delinquent taxpayer, at the place prescribed in the relevant item according to the category of cases listed in the following items; provided, however, that property that was in the possession of a third party other than the delinquent taxpayer at the time of the seizure must be delivered to that third party, unless the third party makes an application that it be delivered to the delinquent taxpayer.

Among cases falling under any item of paragraph (1) of the preceding Article or under paragraph (2), item (i) of that Article, cases arising from cancellation of a correction or any other reason attributable to the national government: the place where the property existed at the time of the seizure;

Other cases: the place where the property exists at the time the seizure is released.

The provisions of paragraph (2), item (i) and the preceding paragraph apply mutatis mutandis where the seizure of a claim, motor vehicle, construction machinery, or small vessel has been released and there is an instrument taken up pursuant to the provisions of Article 65 (Taking Up of Instruments Evidencing a Claim) (including as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 73, paragraph (5) (Procedures for Seizure of Telephone Subscription Rights, etc. and Time of Taking Effect)), or a motor vehicle, construction machinery, or small vessel of which a collection official took possession pursuant to the provisions of Article 71, paragraph (3) (Seizure of Motor Vehicles, Construction Machinery or Small Vessels).

When the district director has released a seizure, if there are any known persons among those listed in the items of Article 55 (Notice of Seizure to Pledgees, etc.) or any persons who have made a request for share distribution, the district director must notify them to that effect and of other necessary matters.