Section 1 Seizure of Property
第一節 財産の差押
Subsection 1 Common Provisions
第一款 通則
Article 47Requirements for Seizure
第四十七条(差押の要件)
If any of the following items applies, a collection official must seize the property of the delinquent taxpayer for the delinquent taxpayer's national tax:
When a delinquent taxpayer has received a demand and has not paid in full the national tax pertaining to that demand by the day on which 10 days have elapsed counting from the day on which the demand letter was issued;
When a taxpayer has not paid in full a national tax listed in the items of Article 37, paragraph (1) (Demand) of the Act on General Rules for National Taxes by its due date for payment (for a national tax for which an advance demand has been made, the due date pertaining to that demand).
納税者が国税通則法第三十七条第一項各号(督促)に掲げる国税をその納期限(繰上請求がされた国税については、当該請求に係る期限)までに完納しないとき。
If, after the due date for payment of a national tax and by the day on which the 10 days prescribed in item (i) of the preceding paragraph have elapsed, a fact falling under any of the items of Article 38, paragraph (1) (Advance Demand) of the Act on General Rules for National Taxes arises with respect to a delinquent taxpayer who has received a demand, a collection official may seize the property immediately.
In the case where paragraph (1) is applied to a secondary taxpayer or a guarantor, the term "demand letter" in that paragraph is deemed to be replaced with "written payment reminder".
Article 48Prohibition of Excessive Seizure and Futile Seizure
第四十八条(超過差押及び無益な差押の禁止)
Property other than that necessary for collecting national tax may not be seized.
国税を徴収するために必要な財産以外の財産は、差し押えることができない。
If there is no prospect that the value of the property that may be seized will exceed the total amount of the expenses for the delinquent tax collection procedure pertaining to the seizure and the amounts of other national taxes, local taxes, and other claims that take priority over the national tax to be collected, that property may not be seized.
Article 49Respect for the Rights of Third Parties in Selecting Seized Property
第四十九条(差押財産の選択に当つての第三者の権利の尊重)
In seizing the property of a delinquent taxpayer (including a holder of property transferred as security; the same applies hereinafter except in Articles 75, 76 and 78 (Property Exempt from Seizure)), a collection official must endeavor not to harm the rights that a third party holds in that property, so long as doing so does not impede the execution of the delinquent tax collection procedure.
Article 50Substitution of Seizure of Property That Is the Subject of Rights of Third Parties
第五十条(第三者の権利の目的となつている財産の差押換)
Where property that is the subject of a pledge, mortgage, statutory lien (limited to a statutory lien listed in the items of Article 19, paragraph (1) (Statutory Liens for Preservation of Real Property, etc.) or the items of Article 20, paragraph (1) (Statutory Liens for Lease of Real Property, etc.); the same applies hereinafter except in this paragraph), right of retention, right of lease, or other right of a third party (excluding statutory liens other than those statutory liens; the same applies hereinafter) has been seized, that third party may, by the date of the public auction notice for that property (or, where it is to be sold by private contract, the date of that sale), request the district director to substitute the seizure, on the ground that the delinquent taxpayer has other property that is easy to realize and is not the subject of rights of other third parties, and that the entire amount of the delinquent taxpayer's national tax can be collected from that property.
質権、抵当権、先取特権(第十九条第一項各号(不動産保存の先取特権等)又は第二十条第一項各号(不動産賃貸の先取特権等)に掲げる先取特権に限る。この項を除き、以下同じ。)、留置権、賃借権その他第三者の権利(これらの先取特権以外の先取特権を除く。以下同じ。)の目的となつている財産が差し押えられた場合には、その第三者は、税務署長に対し、滞納者が他に換価の容易な財産で他の第三者の権利の目的となつていないものを有し、かつ、その財産によりその滞納者の国税の全額を徴収することができることを理由として、その財産の公売公告の日(随意契約による売却をする場合には、その売却の日)までに、その差押換を請求することができる。
When a request under the preceding paragraph is made, the district director is to substitute the seizure if the district director finds the request appropriate, and must notify that third party to that effect if the district director does not find the request appropriate.
税務署長は、前項の請求があつた場合において、その請求を相当と認めるときは、その差押換をしなければならないものとし、その請求を相当と認めないときは、その旨をその第三者に通知しなければならない。
Where notice under the preceding paragraph has been given, and the third party who received the notice has, by the day on which seven days have elapsed counting from the day of receiving the notice, applied for the realization of the property that the third party requested be seized under the provisions of paragraph (1), the property subject to the third party's right prescribed in that paragraph may not be realized unless that property has been seized and put up for realization, except where that property is extremely difficult to realize or is subject to the right of another third party.
In the case under the preceding paragraph, if the district director does not seize the property relating to the application and put it up for realization within two months from the day of the application under that paragraph, the district director must release the seizure of the property subject to the third party's right prescribed in paragraph (1); provided, however, that this does not apply where a provision of an Act relating to national tax under which realization may not be carried out is applicable.
The seizure under paragraph (2) or the preceding paragraph may be carried out notwithstanding any provision of an Act relating to national tax under which the execution of the delinquent tax collection procedure may not be newly carried out.
Article 51Seizure Where Inheritance Has Occurred
第五十一条(相続があつた場合の差押)
When seizing the property of an heir for the national tax of the decedent, a collection official must endeavor to seize the inherited property first, to the extent that doing so does not hinder the execution of the delinquent tax collection procedure.
Where the heir's own property has been seized for the national tax of the decedent, the heir may request the district director to substitute the seizure, on the ground that the heir holds other inherited property that is easy to realize and is not subject to the rights of third parties, and that the entire amount of that national tax can be collected from that property.
被相続人の国税につき相続人の固有財産が差し押えられた場合には、その相続人は、税務署長に対し、他に換価が容易な相続財産で第三者の権利の目的となつていないものを有しており、かつ、その財産により当該国税の全額を徴収することができることを理由として、その差押換を請求することができる。
When a request under the preceding paragraph is made, the district director is to substitute the seizure if the district director finds the request appropriate, and must notify that heir to that effect if the district director does not find the request appropriate. In this case, the provisions of paragraph (5) of the preceding Article apply mutatis mutandis.
Article 52Effect of Seizure on Fruits
第五十二条(果実に対する差押の効力)
The effect of seizure extends to natural fruits arising from the property that has been seized (hereinafter referred to as "seized property"); provided, however, that where the delinquent taxpayer or a third party is able to use or derive profit from the seized property, this does not apply to natural fruits arising from that property (excluding natural fruits not collected by the time of the transfer of rights through the realization of the property).
差押の効力は、差し押えた財産(以下「差押財産」という。)から生ずる天然果実に及ぶ。ただし、滞納者又は第三者が差押財産の使用又は収益をすることができる場合には、その財産から生ずる天然果実(その財産の換価による権利の移転の時までに収取されない天然果実を除く。)については、この限りでない。
The effect of seizure does not extend to legal fruits arising from seized property; provided, however, that this does not apply to interest after the seizure in the case where a claim has been seized.
差押の効力は、差押財産から生ずる法定果実に及ばない。ただし、債権を差し押えた場合における差押後の利息については、この限りでない。
Article 52-2Effect of Seizure of Property with Provisional Registration for Security
第五十二条の二(担保のための仮登記がある財産に対する差押えの効力)
The provisions of Article 15 (Security Provisional Registration in Cases of Compulsory Auction, etc.) of the Act on Contract for Establishment of Security Interests by Use of Provisional Registration (including as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 20 (Application Mutatis Mutandis to Contracts Concerning Rights Other Than Ownership of Land, etc.) of that Act) apply mutatis mutandis to the case where property with a provisional registration for security has been seized. In this case, the phrase "that decision" in Article 15 of that Act is deemed to be replaced with "that seizure", and the phrase "is based on a petition" is deemed to be replaced with "is one".
仮登記担保契約に関する法律第十五条(強制競売等の場合の担保仮登記)(同法第二十条(土地等の所有権以外の権利を目的とする契約への準用)において準用する場合を含む。)の規定は、担保のための仮登記がある財産が差し押さえられた場合について準用する。この場合において、同法第十五条中「その決定」とあるのは「その差押え」と、「申立てに基づく」とあるのは「ものである」と読み替えるものとする。
Article 53Effect of Seizure of Insured Property
第五十三条(保険に付されている財産に対する差押えの効力)
Where seized property is covered by non-life insurance, or is the subject of mutual aid under Article 9-7-2, paragraph (1) (Fire Mutual Aid Business) of the Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Cooperatives Act (Act No. 181 of 1949) or other similar mutual aid under the provisions of an Act, the effect of the seizure extends to the right to receive payment of insurance proceeds or mutual aid proceeds; provided, however, that the seizure cannot be asserted against the insurer or the mutual aid business operator unless notice that the property has been seized is given to them.
差押財産が損害保険に付され、又は中小企業等協同組合法(昭和二十四年法律第百八十一号)第九条の七の二第一項(火災共済事業)の規定による共済その他法律の規定による共済でこれに類するものの目的となつているときは、その差押えの効力は、保険金又は共済金の支払を受ける権利に及ぶ。ただし、財産を差し押さえた旨を保険者又は共済事業者に通知しなければ、その差押えをもつてこれらの者に対抗することができない。
Where a collection official has received payment of the insurance proceeds or mutual aid proceeds under the preceding paragraph relating to the seizure, and the property was the subject of a statutory lien, pledge, or mortgage at the time the accident relating to that insurance or mutual aid occurred, the holder of the statutory lien, the pledgee, or the mortgagee is deemed to have made the seizure before the payment, for the purpose of applying the proviso to Article 304, paragraph (1) (Subrogation of Statutory Lien) of the Civil Code and other provisions that require the seizure of the right to receive payment of the insurance proceeds or mutual aid proceeds before the payment in order to exercise those rights.
徴収職員が差押に係る前項の保険金又は共済金の支払を受けた場合において、その財産がその保険又は共済に係る事故が生じた時に先取特権、質権又は抵当権の目的となつていたときは、その先取特権者、質権者又は抵当権者は、民法第三百四条第一項ただし書(先取特権の物上代位)その他これらの権利の行使のためその保険金又は共済金の支払を受ける権利をその支払前に差し押えることを必要とする規定の適用については、その支払前にその差押をしたものとみなす。
第五十四条(差押調書)
When a collection official has seized the property of a delinquent taxpayer, the official must prepare a seizure record and, where the property is any of the following, deliver a certified copy of it to the delinquent taxpayer.
Movables or securities;
動産又は有価証券
Changes on (Act No. 12 of 2026)
Claims (excluding telephone subscription rights, rights of lease, property subject to the provisions of Article 73-2 (Seizure of Book-Entry Corporate Bonds, etc.), and other claims that cannot be collected; the same applies hereinafter in this Chapter); or
債権(電話加入権、賃借権、第七十三条の二(振替社債等の差押え)の規定の適用を受ける財産その他取り立てることができない債権を除く。以下この章において同じ。)
Changes on (Act No. 12 of 2026)
Property subject to the provisions of Article 73 (Seizure of Telephone Subscription Rights, etc.) or Article 73-2 (Seizure of Book-Entry Corporate Bonds, etc.).
Article 55Notice of Seizure to Pledgees, etc.
第五十五条(質権者等に対する差押えの通知)
When property listed in the following items has been seized, the district director must notify those who are known among the persons listed in the relevant item to that effect and of other necessary particulars.
次の各号に掲げる財産を差し押さえたときは、税務署長は、当該各号に掲げる者のうち知れている者に対し、その旨その他必要な事項を通知しなければならない。
Property that is the subject of a pledge, mortgage, statutory lien, right of retention, right of lease, or other right of a third party (excluding rights relating to a provisional registration for security): the persons who hold these rights
質権、抵当権、先取特権、留置権、賃借権その他の第三者の権利(担保のための仮登記に係る権利を除く。)の目的となつている財産 これらの権利を有する者
Property with a provisional registration: the right holder of the provisional registration
仮登記がある財産 仮登記の権利者
Property that has been provisionally seized or subject to a provisional disposition: the court of preservative execution or the court enforcement officer that carried out the provisional seizure or provisional disposition
仮差押え又は仮処分がされている財産 仮差押え又は仮処分をした保全執行裁判所又は執行官
Subsection 2 Seizure of Movables or Securities
第二款 動産又は有価証券の差押
Article 56Procedures for Seizure and Time of Taking Effect, etc.
第五十六条(差押の手続及び効力発生時期等)
Seizure of movables or securities is carried out by a collection official taking possession of the property.
動産又は有価証券の差押は、徴収職員がその財産を占有して行う。
The effect of the seizure under the preceding paragraph arises at the time the collection official takes possession of the property.
When a collection official has seized money, the national tax relating to the seizure is deemed to have been collected from the delinquent taxpayer to that extent.
Article 57Collection of Claims Relating to Securities
第五十七条(有価証券に係る債権の取立)
When securities have been seized, the collection official may collect the monetary claim relating to those securities.
有価証券を差し押えたときは、徴収職員は、その有価証券に係る金銭債権の取立をすることができる。
When a collection official has collected money under the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the national tax relating to the seizure is deemed to have been collected from the delinquent taxpayer to that extent.
Article 58Procedures for Seizure of Movables, etc. in the Possession of a Third Party
第五十八条(第三者が占有する動産等の差押手続)
Movables or securities of a delinquent taxpayer that are in the possession of a third party other than a relative or other person with a special relationship cannot be seized if that third party refuses to deliver them.
滞納者の動産又は有価証券でその親族その他の特殊関係者以外の第三者が占有しているものは、その第三者が引渡を拒むときは、差し押えることができない。
Where there are movables or securities under the preceding paragraph and the third party under that paragraph refuses to deliver them, the district director may, only where it is found that the delinquent taxpayer has no other property that is easy to realize and from which the entire amount of the national tax relating to the delinquency can be collected, order the third party under that paragraph in writing, designating a time limit, to deliver the movables or securities to a collection official. In this case, the district director who gave the order must notify the delinquent taxpayer to that effect.
When the movables or securities relating to the order under the preceding paragraph have been delivered to a collection official, or when the third party who received the order under that paragraph does not deliver them to a collection official by the designated time limit, the collection official may, notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1), seize those movables or securities.
national taxmachine translation
「国税」
A tax imposed by the national government, other than customs duty, tonnage tax, special tonnage tax, the forest environment tax and the special corporate business tax.
Defined inArticle 2, paragraph (1), item (i)· applies throughout the law
local taxmachine translation
「地方税」
Local government collections (地方団体の徴収金) as defined in Article 1, paragraph 1, item 14 of the Local Tax Act, including the like collections of the Tokyo Metropolis (都) and its special wards (特別区), money collected for the forest environment tax under the Act on the Forest Environment Tax and the Forest Environment Transfer Tax, and money collected for the special corporate business tax under the Act on the Special Corporate Business Tax and the Special Corporate Business Transfer Tax.
Defined inArticle 2, paragraph (1), item (ii)· applies throughout the law
taxpayermachine translation
「納税者」
A person liable under the national tax laws to pay a national tax other than tax collected by withholding (源泉徴収等による国税), and a person who must collect such withheld tax and pay it to the State.
Defined inArticle 2, paragraph (1), item (vi)· applies throughout the law
secondary taxpayermachine translation
「第二次納税義務者」
A person liable under Articles 33 to 41 to pay a taxpayer's national tax as a secondary tax liability (第二次納税義務).
Defined inArticle 2, paragraph (1), item (vii)· applies throughout the law
guarantormachine translation
「保証人」
A person who has guaranteed, under the national tax laws, a taxpayer's payment of a national tax.
Defined inArticle 2, paragraph (1), item (viii)· applies throughout the law
delinquent taxpayermachine translation
「滞納者」
A taxpayer (納税者) who has not paid a national tax they owe by its due date for payment, the original due date being the one that counts: a later date to which a tax payment grace period (納税の猶予) or a grace period for collection or for the delinquent tax collection procedure (滞納処分) has extended it does not.
Defined inArticle 2, paragraph (1), item (ix)· applies throughout the law
collection officialmachine translation
「徴収職員」
The district director of a tax office (税務署長) or any other official engaged in the work of collecting national taxes.
Defined inArticle 2, paragraph (1), item (xi)· applies throughout the law
advance demandmachine translation
「繰上請求」
A demand under Article 38, paragraph 1 of the Act on General Rules for National Taxes that a taxpayer pay a national tax before its due date.
Short name set inArticle 15, paragraph (1), item (ii)
provisional registration for securitymachine translation
「担保のための仮登記」
A provisional registration (仮登記) or provisional recording (仮登録) based on a provisional registration security contract (仮登記担保契約) as Article 1 of the Act on Contract for Establishment of Security Interests by Use of Provisional Registration defines it.
Short name set inArticle 23, paragraph (1)
holder of property transferred as securitymachine translation
「譲渡担保権者」
The person who holds the rights in property transferred as security (譲渡担保財産).
Short name set inArticle 24, paragraph (2)
relative or other person with a special relationshipmachine translation
「親族その他の特殊関係者」
A relative of the delinquent taxpayer, another individual with a special relationship to them, or a family corporation (同族会社) or similar corporation, of the kinds a Cabinet Order (政令) sets.
Short name set inArticle 39, paragraph (1)· applies only in this provision and in Article 58, paragraph (1); and Article 142, paragraph (2), item (ii)
seized propertymachine translation
「差押財産」
Property seized under this Act.
Short name set inArticle 52, paragraph (1)
assert against
対抗
To be able to rely on a right, or on a fact about it, against someone who is not a party to it. Acquiring, losing or changing a right in rem (物権) in land or a building cannot be asserted against third parties until it is registered (登記) (Civil Code, Article 177), and a registered lease of land or a building can be asserted against a person who acquires a right in rem in it, such as a buyer, and against other third parties (Article 605). The Act on Land and Building Leases lets a tenant do without registering the lease itself: a right to use land for a building (借地権) can be asserted against third parties once the tenant owns a registered building on the land (Article 10, paragraph (1)), and a building lease takes effect against anyone who later acquires a right in rem in the building, such as a new owner, once the building has been handed over (Article 31). Some rules protect only a third party who did not know: a rescission for fraud cannot be asserted against a third party who did not know of the fraud and was not careless in not knowing (善意でかつ過失がない) (Civil Code, Article 96, paragraph (3)).
Written by AI using Civil Code, Arts. 96, 177, 605 and Act on Land and Building Leases, Arts. 10, 31 as a reference.
district director
税務署長
The head of a tax office (税務署), the local office of the National Tax Agency that deals with taxpayers in its district (Act for Establishment of the Ministry of Finance, Article 24). It is the office a person usually deals with: an income tax return is filed with a district director (Income Tax Act, Article 120, paragraph (1)), and reassessments, determinations and the collection of national tax are done by the district director for the taxpayer's current place for tax payment (Act on General Rules for National Taxes, Articles 30 and 43). A person who objects to what a district director has decided can ask that director to look at it again (再調査の請求) or go straight to the National Tax Tribunal (Article 75, paragraph (1), item (i)) — unless the notice of the decision says officials of a Regional Taxation Bureau or of the National Tax Agency investigated, in which case it counts as the regional commissioner's decision, with the same choice, or as the Commissioner of the National Tax Agency's, which can only be challenged by a request for review to the Commissioner (Article 75, paragraph (2)).
Written by AI using Act for Establishment of the Ministry of Finance, Art. 24, Act on General Rules for National Taxes, Arts. 30, 43, 75 and Income Tax Act, Art. 120 as a reference.
registration
登記
Entry in a public register kept by a registry office (登記所) — a Legal Affairs Bureau or one of its branch offices — so that the matter is made public (Real Property Registration Act, Articles 1 and 6, paragraph (1)). Rights in land and buildings, such as ownership, a superficies (地上権), a statutory lien (先取特権), a mortgage and a right of lease (賃借権), can be registered under that Act (Article 3), and matters the Commercial Code, the Companies Act and other Acts require to be registered are registered under the Commercial Registration Act (Article 1). Registration also lets a right be asserted against third parties: acquiring, losing or changing a right in rem (物権) in land or a building, such as ownership, cannot be asserted against third parties until it is registered (Civil Code, Article 177), and a matter the Companies Act requires to be registered cannot be asserted against a third party who does not know of it until it has been registered, nor, even after that, against one who had a justifiable reason for not knowing of the registration (Companies Act, Article 908, paragraph (1)).
Written by AI using Real Property Registration Act, Arts. 1, 3, 6, Commercial Registration Act, Art. 1, Civil Code, Art. 177 and Companies Act, Art. 908 as a reference.
right of lease
賃借権
The right a lessee (賃借人) has under a lease (賃貸借): to use the leased thing and take what it yields, in return for paying rent (Civil Code, Article 601). The lessee may not transfer it, or sublet the thing, without the lessor's (賃貸人) consent (Article 612, paragraph (1)). A registered lease of land or a building can be asserted against a person who acquires a right in rem (物権) in the property, such as a buyer, and against other third parties (Article 605), and a right of lease can be registered (Real Property Registration Act, Article 3, item (viii)). The Act on Land and Building Leases also protects a tenant who has not registered the lease: a right to use land for a building (借地権) can be asserted against third parties once the tenant owns a registered building on the land (Article 10, paragraph (1)), and a building lease takes effect against anyone who later acquires a right in rem in the building once the building has been handed over (Article 31).
Written by AI using Civil Code, Arts. 601, 605, 612, Real Property Registration Act, Art. 3 and Act on Land and Building Leases, Arts. 10, 31 as a reference.
statutory lien
先取特権
A right the law itself gives certain creditors to be paid out of the debtor's property ahead of other creditors (Civil Code, Article 303). Some reach all of the debtor's property, such as a claim arising from employment (Article 306, item (ii)); others reach particular property only, such as a landlord's claim for rent and other debts under a lease of land or a building, which reaches, for land, the movables furnished to it or to a building used with it, the movables used on it and the crops or other fruits of it the tenant holds, and for a building, the movables the tenant has furnished it with (Articles 311 to 313). The Act on Land and Building Leases gives a landowner one over the tenant's building on the land for the last two years' rent that has fallen due (Article 12, paragraph (1)), which keeps its effect by the registration of the superficies or the land lease (Article 12, paragraph (2)).
Written by AI using Civil Code, Arts. 303, 306, 311, 312, 313 and Act on Land and Building Leases, Art. 12 as a reference.