Act on General Rules for National Taxes

The provisions of Articles 436, 437 and 441 through 445 (Effect of Joint and Several Obligations, etc.) of the Civil Code apply mutatis mutandis to the obligation to jointly and severally pay national tax under the provisions of national tax laws.

The taxpayers are jointly and severally obligated to pay national tax on jointly owned property, a joint business, or property belonging to that business.

If a judgment invalidating a merger or a company split (hereinafter referred to as a "merger, etc." in this Article) has become final and binding, the corporation that effected the merger, etc. is jointly and severally obligated to pay the national tax (including its accessory tax) of the corporation surviving the merger, the corporation incorporated through the merger, or the corporation that succeeded to a business through the split, for which the tax liability (meaning the tax liability prescribed in Article 15, paragraph (1) (Establishment of Tax Liability and Determination of the Payable Tax Amount); the same applies in the following Article) was established on or after the date of the merger, etc.

If a corporation has effected a company split (excluding a split-off type company split as prescribed in Article 2, item (xii)-10 (Definitions) of the Corporation Tax Act; hereinafter the same applies in this Article), the corporation that succeeded to a business through the split is jointly and severally liable for payment of the following national taxes of the corporation that effected the split (including their accessory tax, and excluding those for which the obligation to pay has been succeeded to by a corporation that succeeded to the rights and obligations as trustee pursuant to Article 7-2, paragraph (4) (Succession to the Obligation to Pay National Tax Pertaining to a Trust) and those for which the obligation to pay constitutes an obligation covered only by the trust property (meaning an obligation covered only by the trust property as prescribed in Article 154 (Scope of Obligations Covered by the Trust Property of a Trust after a Consolidation of Trusts) of the Trust Act; the same applies in Article 57, paragraph (1) (Appropriation))); provided, however, that this liability is limited to the value of the property succeeded to from the corporation that effected the split (excluding property belonging to the trust property succeeded to from the corporation that effected the split):

national tax for which the tax liability was established before the date of the split (excluding consumption tax, etc. other than consumption tax, etc. on goods withdrawn from a bonded area (meaning a bonded area as prescribed in Article 29 (Types of Bonded Areas) of the Customs Act (Act No. 61 of 1954); the same applies hereinafter) and consumption tax on the transfer, etc. of a taxable asset (referred to as "liquor tax, etc. on shipments" in the following item), and aviation fuel tax);

liquor tax, etc. on shipments and aviation fuel tax for which the tax liability was established by the last day of the month preceding the month that includes the date of the split.

Periods prescribed in days, months or years in national tax laws are computed as follows:

the first day of the period is not included; provided, however, that this does not apply if the period begins at midnight or if national tax laws provide otherwise;

if a period is prescribed in months or years, it is computed according to the calendar;

in the case referred to in the preceding item, if the period does not begin at the beginning of a month or year, it expires on the day preceding the day in the last month or year that corresponds to the starting date; provided, however, that if there is no such corresponding day in the last month, it expires on the last day of that month.

If a time limit prescribed in national tax laws for filing a return, application, request or notification or submitting any other document, giving notice, making payment or collecting (excluding a time limit prescribed by the hour and any other time limit specified by Cabinet Order) falls on a Sunday, a holiday prescribed in the Act on National Holidays (Act No. 178 of 1948) or any other general holiday, or a day specified by Cabinet Order, the day following that day is deemed to be the time limit.

If the Commissioner of the National Tax Agency, the President of the National Tax Tribunal, a regional commissioner, a district director or the director-general of a customs house finds that an act cannot be performed by the time limit for filing a return, application, request or notification or submitting any other document, making payment or collecting under national tax laws due to a disaster or any other unavoidable reason, they may, pursuant to Cabinet Order, extend that time limit by no more than two months from the day on which that reason ceased to exist.

Documents issued by a district director or the head of any other administrative organ, or by its officials, under the provisions of national tax laws are served at the domicile or residence (including an office or place of business; the same applies hereinafter) of the person to be served, by service by mail or by correspondence delivery as prescribed in Article 2, paragraph (2) of the Act on Correspondence Delivery by Private Business Operators (Act No. 99 of 2002) provided by a general correspondence delivery business operator as prescribed in paragraph (6) (Definitions) of that Article or a specified correspondence delivery business operator as prescribed in paragraph (9) of that Article (hereinafter referred to as "correspondence delivery"), or by service by delivery; provided, however, that if the person to be served has a tax agent, they are served at the domicile or residence of the tax agent.

If a document prescribed in the preceding paragraph has been sent by mail or correspondence delivery handled in the ordinary manner, the mail or the item of correspondence delivery as prescribed in Article 2, paragraph (3) (Definitions) of the Act on Correspondence Delivery by Private Business Operators (hereinafter referred to as an "item of correspondence delivery") is presumed to have been served at the time at which it would ordinarily have arrived.

In the case prescribed in the preceding paragraph, the district director or the head of any other administrative organ must prepare and keep a record sufficient to confirm the title of the document, the name of the person to be served (or, in the case referred to in the proviso to paragraph (1), the tax agent; the same applies hereinafter in this Section) (or, for a corporation, its name; the same applies in Article 14, paragraph (2) (Service by Public Notice)), the address, and the date of dispatch.

Service by delivery is effected by an official of the relevant administrative organ delivering the document to the person to be served at the place where it is to be served pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1); provided, however, that if the person has no objection, the document may be delivered at another place.

In a case set forth in one of the following items, service by delivery may be effected by the act set forth in that item in lieu of delivery under the provisions of the preceding paragraph:

if the person to be served with the document is not met at the place where it is to be served: delivering the document to an employee or other worker of that person, or a person living with that person, who has reasonable discretion with regard to receiving documents;

if neither the person to be served with the document nor any other person prescribed in the preceding item is at the place where it is to be served, or if those persons have refused to receive the document without justifiable grounds: leaving the document at the place where it is to be served.

If an inheritance has occurred and there are two or more heirs, those heirs may designate from among themselves a representative to receive documents concerning the national tax of the decedent that are issued by a district director or the head of any other administrative organ (including a National Tax Tribunal judge) under the provisions of national tax laws (excluding documents concerning a delinquent tax collection procedure (including a disposition conducted in accordance with the rules for that procedure)). In this case, the heir so designated must notify that district director or head of any other administrative organ (or, for documents issued by a National Tax Tribunal judge, the President of the National Tax Tribunal) to that effect.

In the case referred to in the first sentence of the preceding paragraph, if the name of any of the heirs is unknown and the notification referred to in the second sentence of that paragraph is not made within a reasonable period, the district director or the head of any other administrative organ referred to in the second sentence of that paragraph may designate one of the heirs and make that heir the representative prescribed in that paragraph. In this case, the district director or the head of any other administrative organ that made the designation must notify the heir so designated to that effect.

Beyond what is provided for in the preceding two paragraphs, necessary matters concerning the designation of the representative prescribed in paragraph (1) are specified by Cabinet Order.

A disposition under national tax laws requiring the service of a document that was made, with regard to the national tax of a decedent, in the name of the decedent after the decedent's death without knowledge of that death is deemed to have been made against all heirs with regard to that national tax if the document has been served on one of the heirs.

With regard to a document to be served pursuant to the provisions of Article 12 (Service of Documents), if the domicile and residence of the person to be served are unknown, or if it is found that there are difficulties in effecting service in a foreign country, the district director or the head of any other administrative organ may effect service by public notice in lieu of that service.

Service by public notice is effected by taking measures to make the information necessary to identify the document to be served, the name of the person to be served and a statement to the effect that the district director or the head of any other administrative organ will deliver the document to the person to be served at any time (hereinafter referred to as the "particulars of the public notice" in this paragraph) available for inspection by an unspecified large number of persons by a method specified by Ministry of Finance Order, and by either posting a document stating the particulars of the public notice on the bulletin board of the relevant administrative organ or taking measures to make the particulars of the public notice, as displayed on the screen of a computer installed at the relevant administrative organ, available for inspection.

In the case referred to in the preceding paragraph, the document is deemed to have been served when seven days have elapsed counting from the day on which the measures under that paragraph were commenced.