Act on General Rules for National Taxes
国税通則法
The rules shared by most taxes the State imposes (national taxes, 国税): how the tax owed is fixed and paid, the extra taxes for filing or paying late or short, tax inquiries, appeals against the tax authorities, and the investigation of tax crimes.
- Text in force since
- Promulgated
- Articles
- 194
- Amendments on the way
- 6
What this law does
- Where the Acts on a tax require the taxpayer to declare the amount, the amount is fixed by the taxpayer's own return (the self-assessment system, 申告納税方式), and the tax office changes it only if no return is filed, or the return does not follow those Acts or differs from what the office's inquiry finds. For other taxes the amount is fixed only by a decision of the district director of the tax office (税務署長) or the director-general of customs (the official assessment system, 賦課課税方式). Some taxes, among them tax withheld at source, are fixed as soon as the liability arises, with no procedure at all.(Art. 16(1), Art. 16(2), Art. 15(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
Read the full overview
- A taxpayer under the self-assessment system must file a tax return with the district director of the tax office for their place of tax payment (納税地) by the statutory tax return due date (法定申告期限). A return filed after the due date (期限後申告書) is still accepted until the tax office makes a determination (決定), and a taxpayer who declared too little tax can file an amended return (修正申告書) until the office makes a reassessment (更正).(Art. 17(1), Art. 21(1), Art. 18(1), Art. 19(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- A taxpayer whose return declared too much tax, or too little loss or refund, because the calculation broke the tax Acts or was simply wrong, can make a request for reassessment (更正の請求) within five years of the statutory tax return due date — ten years for a corporation-tax loss. A later court judgment that the facts were different, and some similar events, open a further two months from the day after they happen. Making the request does not stop the tax from being collected, unless the tax office finds good reason to hold collection back.(Art. 23(1), Art. 23(2), Art. 23(5)) (the provisions it rests on)
- Tax on a return filed by the due date is paid by the statutory payment due date (法定納期限); extra tax from a late or amended return is paid on the day it is filed, and from a reassessment or determination within a month of the day after the notice is sent. Tax paid late carries delinquent tax (延滞税) from the day after the statutory payment due date until it is paid: 14.6% a year, but 7.3% up to the due date for payment (納期限) and for the two months after it. In any year a special base rate for delinquent tax (延滞税特例基準割合), worked out from average short-term bank lending rates, is below 7.3%, the Act on Special Measures Concerning Taxation (租税特別措置法), Article 94(1), replaces both rates with rates worked out from that base rate.(Art. 35(1), Art. 35(2), Art. 60(1), Art. 60(2), Act on Special Measures Concerning Taxation Art. 94(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- A taxpayer who cannot pay at once because of a disaster or theft, their own illness or that of a relative sharing their household, closing or suspending their business, or heavy business losses — or whose tax was fixed more than a year after its statutory due date — can apply for a tax payment grace period (納税の猶予); the tax office may grant up to a year for the amount it finds they cannot pay at once, and extend it to two years in all. A disaster that caused a substantial loss of property also allows a grace period of up to a year for tax falling due within a year of the loss, if applied for within two months after the disaster ends; security is required only for the other grace periods, and even then not where the amount is 1 million yen or less, the period is three months or less, or there are special circumstances. The office can cancel or shorten a grace period, for example where an instalment is missed without an unavoidable reason or the taxpayer falls into arrears on another tax, as a rule after hearing them.(Art. 46(2), Art. 46(3), Art. 46(7), Art. 46(1), Art. 46(5), Art. 49(1), Art. 49(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
- A refund or tax overpaid is paid back in money without delay, or is first applied to other national tax the person owes. Interest on the refund (還付加算金) is added at 7.3% a year under this Act, counted from a date that depends on how the refund arose, unless another Act on national taxes sets a different period. In any year the special base rate for interest on refunds (還付加算金特例基準割合), worked out from average short-term bank lending rates, is below 7.3%, the Act on Special Measures Concerning Taxation (租税特別措置法), Article 95(1), replaces the 7.3% with that base rate.(Art. 56(1), Art. 57(1), Art. 58(1), Act on Special Measures Concerning Taxation Art. 95(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
Contents
194 859 423 100 215
- Chapter I General Provisions第一章 総則Articles 1–14 · 17
- Section 1 General Rules第一節 通則Articles 1–4 · 4
- Section 2 Succession to the Obligation to Pay National Tax, etc.第二節 国税の納付義務の承継等Articles 5–9-3 · 8
- Section 3 Periods and Time Limits第三節 期間及び期限Articles 10–11 · 2
- Section 4 Service第四節 送達Articles 12–14 · 3
- Chapter II Determination of the Obligation to Pay National Tax第二章 国税の納付義務の確定Articles 15–33 · 19
- Section 1 General Rules第一節 通則Articles 15–16 · 2
- Section 2 Procedures for Determining the Tax Amount, etc. of National Tax Using the Self-Assessment System第二節 申告納税方式による国税に係る税額等の確定手続Articles 17–30 · 14
- Subsection 1 Tax Returns第一款 納税申告Articles 17–22 · 6
- Subsection 2 Request for Reassessment第二款 更正の請求Article 23
- Subsection 3 Reassessment or Determination第三款 更正又は決定Articles 24–30 · 7
- Section 3 Procedures for Determining the Tax Amount, etc. of National Tax Using the Official Assessment System第三節 賦課課税方式による国税に係る税額等の確定手続Articles 31–33 · 3
- Chapter III Payment and Collection of National Tax第三章 国税の納付及び徴収Articles 34–45 · 18
- Section 1 Payment of National Tax第一節 国税の納付Articles 34–35 · 8
- Section 2 Collection of National Tax第二節 国税の徴収Articles 36–40 · 5
- Subsection 1 Request for Tax Payment第一款 納税の請求Articles 36–39 · 4
- Subsection 2 Delinquent Tax Collection Procedure第二款 滞納処分Article 40
- Section 3 Miscellaneous Provisions第三節 雑則Articles 41–45 · 5
- Chapter IV Tax Payment Grace Period and Security第四章 納税の猶予及び担保Articles 46–55 · 11
- Section 1 Tax Payment Grace Period第一節 納税の猶予Articles 46–49 · 5
- Section 2 Security第二節 担保Articles 50–55 · 6
- Chapter V Refund of National Tax and Interest on Refund第五章 国税の還付及び還付加算金Articles 56–59 · 4
- Chapter VI Accessory Tax第六章 附帯税Articles 60–69 · 10
- Section 1 Delinquent Tax and Interest Tax第一節 延滞税及び利子税Articles 60–64 · 5
- Section 2 Penalty Tax第二節 加算税Articles 65–69 · 5
- Chapter VII Time Limit for Reassessment, Determination, Collection, Refund, etc. of National Tax第七章 国税の更正、決定、徴収、還付等の期間制限Articles 70–74 · 5
- Section 1 Time Limit for Reassessment, Determination, etc. of National Tax第一節 国税の更正、決定等の期間制限Articles 70–71 · 2
- Section 2 Extinctive Prescription of the National Tax Collection Right第二節 国税の徴収権の消滅時効Articles 72–73 · 2
- Section 3 Extinctive Prescription of Refunds, etc.第三節 還付金等の消滅時効Article 74
- Chapter VII-2 Examination of National Tax第七章の二 国税の調査Articles 74-2–74-13-4 · 16
- Chapter VII-3 Relationship with the Administrative Procedure Act第七章の三 行政手続法との関係Article 74-14
- Chapter VIII Appeals and Litigation第八章 不服審査及び訴訟Articles 75–116 · 49
- Section 1 Appeals第一節 不服審査Articles 75–113-2 · 46
- Subsection 1 General Provisions第一款 総則Articles 75–80 · 7
- Subsection 2 Requests for Reinvestigation第二款 再調査の請求Articles 81–86 · 6
- Subsection 3 Requests for Review第三款 審査請求Articles 87–103 · 22
- Subsection 4 Miscellaneous Provisions第四款 雑則Articles 104–113-2 · 11
- Section 2 Litigation第二節 訴訟Articles 114–116 · 3
- Chapter IX Miscellaneous Provisions第九章 雑則Articles 117–125 · 9
- Chapter X Penal Provisions第十章 罰則Articles 126–130 · 5
- Chapter XI Investigation and Disposition of Criminal Tax Cases第十一章 犯則事件の調査及び処分Articles 131–160 · 30
- Section 1 Investigation of Criminal Tax Cases第一節 犯則事件の調査Articles 131–154 · 24
- Section 2 Disposition of Criminal Tax Cases第二節 犯則事件の処分Articles 155–160 · 6
Amendments
A Japanese law is changed by another law or order that rewrites it — an . This law has 6 amendments on the way — , but . Its amendment history is below. The amendments this site has read the changes of are on this law's amendments page, provision by provision, in Japanese and English.
1 November 2026
in 41 days
Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.
所得税法等の一部を改正する法律
1 October 2027
in 12 months
Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.
所得税法等の一部を改正する法律
Date not yet set
Not yet in force
Act on the Arrangement, etc. of Related Acts upon the Enforcement of the Act on Security Assignment Contracts and Retention of Title Contracts
譲渡担保契約及び所有権留保契約に関する法律の施行に伴う関係法律の整備等に関する法律
On the day Act No. 56 of 2025 (譲渡担保契約及び所有権留保契約に関する法律) . The exact day is not fixed yet.
1 April 2028
in 2 years
Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.
所得税法等の一部を改正する法律
By 13 June 2028
at the latest, in 2 years
Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts to Promote the Use of Information and Communications Technology in Civil Procedures, etc.
民事関係手続等における情報通信技術の活用等の推進を図るための関係法律の整備に関する法律
On a day set by , no later than 13 June 2028 — the amending law allows up to five years from . The exact day is not fixed yet.
Date not yet set
Not yet in force
Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts upon the Enforcement of the Act Partially Amending the Civil Code, etc.
民法等の一部を改正する法律の施行に伴う関係法律の整備等に関する法律
The date on which the Act Partially Amending the Civil Code, etc. (Act No. 45 of 2026) comes into force. The exact day is not fixed yet.
47 amendments already in force
24 June 2026
The text on this site
Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts upon the Enforcement of the Act Partially Amending the Civil Code, etc.
民法等の一部を改正する法律の施行に伴う関係法律の整備等に関する法律
25 May 2026
Act on the Promotion of Business Financing, etc.
事業性融資の推進等に関する法律
21 May 2026
Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.
所得税法等の一部を改正する法律
1 April 2026
Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.
所得税法等の一部を改正する法律
1 April 2026
Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.
所得税法等の一部を改正する法律
1 October 2025
Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts to Promote the Use of Information and Communications Technology in Civil Procedures, etc.
民事関係手続等における情報通信技術の活用等の推進を図るための関係法律の整備に関する法律
6 June 2025
Act on the Arrangement, etc. of Related Acts upon the Enforcement of the Act on Security Assignment Contracts and Retention of Title Contracts
譲渡担保契約及び所有権留保契約に関する法律の施行に伴う関係法律の整備等に関する法律
1 June 2025
Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts upon the Enforcement of the Act Partially Amending the Penal Code, etc. (extract)
刑法等の一部を改正する法律の施行に伴う関係法律の整理等に関する法律 抄
1 April 2025
Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.
所得税法等の一部を改正する法律
1 April 2025
Act Partially Amending the Basic Act on the Formation of a Digital Society, etc. to Improve Convenience for Persons Concerned in Administrative Procedures, etc. and to Simplify and Streamline Administrative Operations through the Use of Information and Communications Technology
情報通信技術の活用による行政手続等に係る関係者の利便性の向上並びに行政運営の簡素化及び効率化を図るためのデジタル社会形成基本法等の一部を改正する法律
1 January 2025
Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.
所得税法等の一部を改正する法律
1 October 2024
Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.
所得税法等の一部を改正する法律
14 June 2024
Act on the Promotion of Business Financing, etc.
事業性融資の推進等に関する法律
1 April 2024
Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.
所得税法等の一部を改正する法律
1 April 2024
Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.
所得税法等の一部を改正する法律
1 January 2024
Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.
所得税法等の一部を改正する法律
1 January 2024
Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.
所得税法等の一部を改正する法律
1 October 2023
Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.
所得税法等の一部を改正する法律
14 June 2023
Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts to Promote the Use of Information and Communications Technology in Civil Procedures, etc.
民事関係手続等における情報通信技術の活用等の推進を図るための関係法律の整備に関する法律
1 April 2023
Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.
所得税法等の一部を改正する法律
31 December 2022
Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.
所得税法等の一部を改正する法律
1 November 2022
Act Partially Amending the Act on Special Measures Concerning the Handling of Legal Services by Foreign Lawyers
外国弁護士による法律事務の取扱いに関する特別措置法の一部を改正する法律
17 June 2022
Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts upon the Enforcement of the Act Partially Amending the Penal Code, etc.
刑法等の一部を改正する法律の施行に伴う関係法律の整理等に関する法律
1 April 2022
Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.
所得税法等の一部を改正する法律
1 April 2022
Act Partially Amending the Electricity Business Act, etc. to Establish a Resilient and Sustainable Electricity Supply System
強靱かつ持続可能な電気供給体制の確立を図るための電気事業法等の一部を改正する法律
1 April 2022
Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.
所得税法等の一部を改正する法律
4 January 2022
Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.
所得税法等の一部を改正する法律
1 January 2022
Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.
所得税法等の一部を改正する法律
1 July 2021
Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.
所得税法等の一部を改正する法律
1 April 2021
Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.
所得税法等の一部を改正する法律
1 April 2020
Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.
所得税法等の一部を改正する法律
1 April 2020
Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.
所得税法等の一部を改正する法律
1 April 2020
Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.
所得税法等の一部を改正する法律
1 April 2020
Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts upon the Enforcement of the Act Partially Amending the Civil Code
民法の一部を改正する法律の施行に伴う関係法律の整備等に関する法律
1 January 2020
Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.
所得税法等の一部を改正する法律
1 October 2019
Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.
所得税法等の一部を改正する法律
1 April 2019
Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.
所得税法等の一部を改正する法律
7 January 2019
1 January 2019
Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.
所得税法等の一部を改正する法律
1 April 2018
Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.
所得税法等の一部を改正する法律
1 April 2018
Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc., and Other Matters
所得税法等の一部を改正する等の法律
1 April 2018
Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.
所得税法等の一部を改正する法律
1 January 2018
Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc., and Other Matters
所得税法等の一部を改正する等の法律
1 January 2018
Act Partially Amending the Act on the Protection of Personal Information and the Act on the Use of Numbers to Identify a Specific Individual in Administrative Procedures
個人情報の保護に関する法律及び行政手続における特定の個人を識別するための番号の利用等に関する法律の一部を改正する法律
1 October 2017
Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc., and Other Matters
所得税法等の一部を改正する等の法律
2 June 2017
Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts upon the Enforcement of the Act Partially Amending the Civil Code
民法の一部を改正する法律の施行に伴う関係法律の整備等に関する法律
1 April 2017
Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc., and Other Matters
所得税法等の一部を改正する等の法律
Who it applies to
It applies to
- Taxpayers (納税者): anyone the Acts on national taxes make liable to pay a national tax, and anyone who must collect a tax at source and pay it to the State — though not, in that capacity, a secondary taxpayer (第二次納税義務者) under the National Tax Collection Act, a separate Act, or a guarantor of national tax. A national tax (国税) is any tax the State imposes other than customs duty, tonnage tax, special tonnage tax, the forest environment tax and the special corporate business tax.(Art. 2(1)(v), Art. 2(1)(ii), Art. 2(1)(i)) (the provisions it rests on)
- An association or foundation without legal personality that has a representative or manager is treated as a corporation under this Act. National tax on co-owned property or a joint business, or on that business's property, is owed jointly and severally by the taxpayers concerned.(Art. 3(1), Art. 9(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
4 more
- Heirs take over a deceased person's national tax, each in proportion to their share of the estate; an heir who accepted the inheritance with limited liability (限定承認) pays only up to what they inherited, and an heir who inherited more than their share of the tax is also liable for the others' share, up to the excess. A corporation that survives or is formed by a merger takes over the taxes of the corporation merged into it.(Art. 5(1), Art. 5(2), Art. 5(3), Art. 6(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- A taxpayer who has, or is about to have, no domicile or residence in the area where this Act is in force — or a corporation with no head office and no office there — must, when tax matters such as filing a return need handling, appoint a tax agent (納税管理人) who lives there, and notify the tax office. If they do not, the regional commissioner or district director may ask them in writing to do so by a set date within 60 days, and after that date designate a tax agent from among residents it has asked to take the role — for an individual, for example an adult relative sharing their household, or a business that runs the platform on which they trade. Tax documents then go to the tax agent; where a person's domicile and residence are unknown, or service abroad is difficult, a document can be served by public notice (公示送達), and counts as served seven days after the notice starts.(Art. 117(1), Art. 117(2), Art. 117(3), Art. 117(4), Art. 117(5), Art. 12(1), Art. 14(1), Art. 14(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
- People other than the taxpayer, among them those who paid or were paid by the taxpayer, can be questioned in a tax inquiry, and businesses and public offices can be asked to cooperate. Where a tax inquiry needs it, a regional commissioner, with the approval of the Commissioner of the National Tax Agency (国税庁長官), can require a business or public office that hosts or takes part in certain online or other transactions to report, by a date within 60 days, the names, addresses and identification numbers of those trading. This is allowed only in the cases Article 74-7-2(2) lists: past inquiries found that more than half of those with over 10 million yen of tax base from such transactions needed correcting, or the transactions are expected to be used to break the tax Acts.(Art. 74-2(1), Art. 74-12(1), Art. 74-7-2(1), Art. 74-7-2(2), Art. 74-7-2(3), Art. 74-7-2(4)) (the provisions it rests on)
- Anyone who submits a return, application or other tax document must write on it their name, address and identification number — the individual number or corporate number under a separate Act on numbers used in administrative procedures — or, without a number, their name and address. Banks and other deposit-taking financial institutions must keep depositors' information searchable by that number.(Art. 124(1), Art. 74-7-2(3)(iv), Art. 74-13-2(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
Special rules and exceptions (8)
- Where another Act on national taxes provides otherwise on a matter this Act covers, that Act's rule applies.(Art. 4(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- Penalty tax for understatement is not charged on the part of the extra tax resting on facts that there was a justifiable reason (正当な理由) for leaving out, and penalty tax for failure to file and for non-payment is not charged at all where there was a justifiable reason for the late filing or payment. Nor is penalty tax for failure to file charged on a return filed within one month of the statutory tax return due date, or penalty tax for non-payment on withholding tax paid within one month of the statutory payment due date, where the circumstances a Cabinet Order sets show the person meant to file or pay on time and they did not act in anticipation of the outcome of an inquiry.(Art. 65(5)(i), Art. 66(1), Art. 67(1), Art. 66(9), Art. 67(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
- For tax from an amended return or a reassessment, delinquent tax does not run from one year after the statutory tax return due date (or after a late return was filed) until the amended return is filed or the reassessment notice is sent, unless tax was evaded or a refund obtained by deception or other wrongful acts. The same one-year cut-off applies to tax collected at source that is paid, or for which a notice is sent, more than a year after the statutory payment due date, unless there was deception.(Art. 61(1), Art. 61(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
- Delinquent tax for a grace period is waived in full when the grace was granted for disaster, theft or illness, and by half (for the time more than two months after the due date) when it was granted for closing or losses of the business; the office may withhold the waiver for the time after a ground for cancelling the grace arises. In any year the special base rate for grace periods (猶予特例基準割合), worked out from average short-term bank lending rates, is below this Act's lower rate of delinquent tax, the Act on Special Measures Concerning Taxation (租税特別措置法), Article 94(2), changes the half waiver: it then drops the two-month limit and leaves only the delinquent tax that base rate would give.(Art. 63(1), Act on Special Measures Concerning Taxation Art. 94(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
- A deadline under the tax Acts that falls on a Sunday, a national holiday or another general holiday moves to the next day. Where a disaster or other unavoidable cause prevents filing or paying on time, the tax authorities can extend the deadline by up to two months after the cause ends, and the delinquent tax for the extension is waived.(Art. 10(2), Art. 11(1), Art. 63(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
- The chapters of the Administrative Procedure Act, a separate Act, on how applications are dealt with and on adverse dispositions do not apply to dispositions under the Acts on national taxes, except its rules that the reasons must be given (Articles 8 and 14 of that Act). This does not cover licences under Chapter 2 of the Liquor Tax Act.(Art. 74-14(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- Appeals against dispositions on liquor licences under Chapter 2 of the Liquor Tax Act, a separate Act, follow the Administrative Complaint Review Act instead of this Act's appeal rules.(Art. 80(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
- The present rules on penalty tax for failure to file, and the increase in heavy penalty tax for repeat cases, apply to tax whose statutory tax return due date fell on or after 1 January 2024, and the present heavy penalty tax rules as a whole to tax whose due date fell on or after 1 January 2025. Tax whose due date fell earlier stays under the rules in force before those dates.(Suppl. Prov. Art. 23(3), Suppl. Prov. Art. 19(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
How it is enforced (14)
- The district director of the tax office reassesses (更正) a return whose figures break the tax Acts or differ from the office's inquiry, and makes a determination (決定) of the tax of a person who should have filed a return and did not; either is made by serving a written notice. Neither can be made more than five years after the statutory tax return due date — ten years for a corporation-tax loss, seven where tax was evaded or a refund obtained by deception or other wrongful acts — subject to the extensions in Article 70(3) and Article 71, such as after a request for reassessment or an appeal decision. The State's right to collect a tax lapses if unused for five years from the statutory payment due date, and does not start to run for up to two years where tax was evaded by deception; a claim to a refund lapses after five years.(Art. 24(1), Art. 25(1), Art. 28(1), Art. 70(1), Art. 70(2), Art. 70(3), Art. 70(5), Art. 71(1), Art. 72(1), Art. 73(3), Art. 74(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- Officials of the National Tax Agency (国税庁), a Regional Taxation Bureau (国税局) or a tax office may, where an inquiry into income tax, corporation tax, local corporation tax or consumption tax needs it, question the taxpayer and people who paid or were paid by them, inspect their business books and other items, and ask for those to be shown or handed over; similar powers cover inheritance, gift, liquor and other national taxes. These powers must not be read as given for criminal investigation.(Art. 74-2(1), Art. 74-3(1), Art. 74-4(1), Art. 74-5(1), Art. 74-8(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- Before an on-site inquiry the tax authorities are to tell the taxpayer, and their tax representative (税務代理人) if they have one, the date and time it starts, the place, its purpose, the taxes and periods it covers and the books to be examined — unless information they hold makes them judge that notice would hinder the inquiry. When it ends, they notify the taxpayer in writing that no reassessment is called for, or explain what they found, with the amount and the reasons. They may then recommend an amended return, and must tell the taxpayer in writing that filing one means they cannot appeal against it, though they can still request reassessment.(Art. 74-9(1), Art. 74-9(3), Art. 74-10(1), Art. 74-11(1), Art. 74-11(2), Art. 74-11(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
- Penalty tax for understatement (過少申告加算税) is charged when an amended return or a reassessment raises the tax on a return filed by the due date — after a late first return, penalty tax for failure to file is charged instead: 10% of the extra tax, plus 5% of the part above the greater of the tax first declared and 500,000 yen. The rate is 5% if the amended return was not filed in anticipation of a reassessment after an inquiry, and nothing is charged if it was also filed before the taxpayer was notified of the inquiry.(Art. 65(1), Art. 65(2), Art. 65(6), Art. 66(1)(ii)) (the provisions it rests on)
- Penalty tax for failure to file (無申告加算税) is charged on the tax due from a return filed after the due date or from a determination, and from any later amended return or reassessment: 15% of the tax up to 500,000 yen, 20% of the part from 500,000 to 3 million yen and 30% of the part above that. The rates are 5 points lower where the return was not filed in anticipation of a determination after an inquiry, and the charge is a flat 5% if it was also filed before the taxpayer was notified of the inquiry. They rise by 10 points where the taxpayer was charged penalty tax for failure to file or heavy penalty tax on the same kind of tax within the previous five years after an inquiry, or on the same kind of tax for either of the two previous years.(Art. 66(1), Art. 66(2), Art. 66(3), Art. 66(6), Art. 66(8)) (the provisions it rests on)
- Penalty tax for understatement or for failure to file rises by a further 10% of the tax concerned (5% where the entries were merely insufficient) where, before the amended return, late return, reassessment or determination, officials asked for the taxpayer's books and the taxpayer did not show them, or key entries in them were missing — for tax whose statutory tax return due date fell on or after 1 January 2024. Penalty tax for non-payment (不納付加算税) is 10% of tax that had to be collected at source and was not paid by the statutory payment due date, or 5% if it was paid late without a notice of tax payment and not in anticipation of one.(Art. 65(4), Art. 66(5), Suppl. Prov. Art. 20(2), Art. 2(1)(ii), Art. 67(1), Art. 67(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
- Where the taxpayer concealed or disguised facts and filed, failed to file or failed to pay on that basis, heavy penalty tax (重加算税) is charged instead of the other penalty tax: 35% of the tax concerned, or 40% where it replaces penalty tax for failure to file. It is not charged in place of the penalty for understatement or failure to file where the return was filed of the taxpayer's own accord, not in anticipation of an inquiry's outcome. It rises by 10 points for a repeat case, such as one where a penalty tax for failure to file or a heavy penalty tax was charged on the same kind of tax within the previous five years.(Art. 68(1), Art. 68(2), Art. 68(3), Art. 68(4)) (the provisions it rests on)
- If tax is not paid in full by its due date, the district director of the tax office sends a demand letter (督促状), as a rule within 50 days of that date; if the tax is still unpaid ten days after the letter was sent, the delinquent tax collection procedure (滞納処分), in which property can be seized, follows under the National Tax Collection Act, a separate Act. Where the tax is found unlikely to be paid in full by its due date and one of the events Article 38 lists has happened — among them the taxpayer leaving the area where this Act is in force without appointing a tax agent, or being found to have evaded tax by deception — the office can bring the due date forward to an earlier deadline (繰上請求). On the same events it can, before the tax is even fixed, set an amount needed to secure collection, and officials can seize the person's property at once up to that amount.(Art. 37(1), Art. 37(2), Art. 40(1), Art. 48(2), Art. 38(1), Art. 38(2), Art. 38(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
- A person dissatisfied with a disposition of a district director of the tax office, a regional commissioner of a Regional Taxation Bureau (国税局長) or a director-general of customs may choose between a request for reinvestigation (再調査の請求) to the office that made it and a request for review (審査請求) to the head of the National Tax Tribunal (国税不服審判所長), and can still request review after a reinvestigation decision. Where the notice of a district director's disposition says officials of a Regional Taxation Bureau or of the National Tax Agency did the investigation, it counts as a disposition of that regional commissioner, with the same choice, or of the Commissioner of the National Tax Agency, when the only appeal is a request for review to the Commissioner. The appeal must be made within three months of learning of the disposition (one month after the reinvestigation decision is served, for the later review), and never more than a year after the disposition, unless there is a justifiable reason.(Art. 75(1), Art. 75(2), Art. 75(3), Art. 77(1), Art. 77(2), Art. 77(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
- A court action to cancel a tax disposition can be brought only after the request for review has been decided, unless three months pass without a decision or another listed exception applies. An appeal does not stop the disposition or its enforcement, but property seized for the tax is not sold until the appeal is decided, unless its value may fall sharply or the appellant asks for the sale.(Art. 115(1), Art. 105(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- Until 30 September 2027: The crimes this Act itself sets are: inciting taxpayers not to file, to file falsely or not to pay, or using violence or threats to that end (up to three years' imprisonment (拘禁刑) or a fine of up to 200,000 yen); refusing to answer, answering falsely or obstructing inspection in a tax inquiry, failing without justifiable reason to show or hand over items asked for, or filing a false request for reassessment (up to one year's imprisonment or a fine of up to 500,000 yen); obstructing the inquiries of the National Tax Tribunal, other than by the appellant themselves (a fine of up to 300,000 yen); and tax officials leaking or misusing secrets learned in their work (up to two years' imprisonment or a fine of up to 1 million yen). Where a representative or employee commits an offence in Article 128 or 129 in the course of a business, the business is fined as well.(Art. 126(1), Art. 126(2), Art. 128(1), Art. 129(1), Art. 127(1), Art. 130(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- From 1 October 2027: The crimes this Act itself sets are: inciting taxpayers not to file, to file falsely or not to pay, or using violence or threats to that end (up to three years' imprisonment (拘禁刑) or a fine of up to 200,000 yen); refusing to answer, answering falsely or obstructing inspection in a tax inquiry, failing without justifiable reason to show or hand over items asked for, or filing a false request for reassessment (up to one year's imprisonment or a fine of up to 500,000 yen); breaching, without justifiable reason, an order in a criminal tax case to provide electronic records (電磁的記録提供命令) or an order to keep it secret (up to one year's imprisonment or a fine of up to 3,000,000 yen); obstructing the inquiries of the National Tax Tribunal, other than by the appellant themselves (a fine of up to 300,000 yen); and tax officials leaking or misusing secrets learned in their work (up to two years' imprisonment or a fine of up to 1 million yen). Where a representative or employee commits an offence in Article 127-2, 128 or 129 in the course of a business, the business is fined as well.(Art. 126(1), Art. 126(2), Art. 127-2(1), Art. 128(1), Art. 129(1), Art. 127(1), Art. 130(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- Until 30 September 2027: In a criminal tax case (犯則事件), officials of the National Tax Agency, a Regional Taxation Bureau or a tax office may ask suspects and witnesses to appear and question them, and, with a warrant a judge issues in advance — or, in an indirect-tax case where the offence is being or has just been committed and there is no time to get one, without it — inspect premises, search and seize. For taxes other than indirect taxes (間接国税), and some indirect-tax cases, they must file an accusation with a public prosecutor when they believe an offence was committed. For other indirect-tax cases the regional commissioner or district director as a rule instead notifies the offender to pay an amount equal to the fine (通告処分); an offender who complies is not prosecuted for that case, and one who does not comply within 20 days is reported to a prosecutor.(Art. 131(1), Art. 132(1), Art. 135(1), Art. 135(2), Art. 155(1), Art. 157(1), Art. 157(5), Art. 158(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- From 1 October 2027: In a criminal tax case (犯則事件), officials of the National Tax Agency, a Regional Taxation Bureau or a tax office may ask suspects and witnesses to appear and question them, and, with a warrant a judge issues in advance — or, in an indirect-tax case where the offence is being or has just been committed and there is no time to get one, without it — inspect premises, search and seize; with a warrant they may also order a person who keeps electronic records, or has authority to use them, to provide the records the order names (電磁的記録提供命令). For taxes other than indirect taxes (間接国税), and some indirect-tax cases, they must file an accusation with a public prosecutor when they believe an offence was committed. For other indirect-tax cases the regional commissioner or district director as a rule instead notifies the offender to pay an amount equal to the fine (通告処分); an offender who complies is not prosecuted for that case, and one who does not comply within 20 days is reported to a prosecutor.(Art. 131(1), Art. 132(1), Art. 135(1), Art. 135(2), Art. 155(1), Art. 157(1), Art. 157(5), Art. 158(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
How it connects to other laws
- Income Tax Act1219
It also names 56 laws not yet held here.
Where the translation comes from
- 84
- 1,831
The Ministry of Justice translated only part of this law — an extract, as the law stood after Act No. 13 of 2009 amended it. The rest of the law has no Ministry translation.
The Ministry of Justice's translation is shown only where the Japanese it translates matches the law in force today. Everywhere else the English is a machine translation, marked on the paragraph itself.
Only the Japanese is the law, and no lawyer has reviewed the machine translation.
Sources
Everything this page rests on
- e-Gov (Digital Agency)国税通則法 — the text in force from 2026-06-24Original
- e-Gov (Digital Agency)国税通則法 — revision historyOriginal
- Japanese Law Translation, Ministry of JusticeAct on General Rules for National Taxes — Ministry of Justice translationOriginal
- Machine translation, not official
- Written for this site with AIEnglish titles of amending laws, written for this site
- Written for this site with AIDescriptions of each law, written for this site
- Written for this site with AINotes that an Act outside this collection changes a figure, written for this site
- Worked out by this site from e-Gov's text