Act on Special Measures Concerning Taxation

In the case where a depositing heir who has acquired a specified work of art by inheritance or bequest from a person who had concluded a deposit contract for the specified work of art with the founder of a depositary art museum and had deposited that specified work of art with the founder of that depositary art museum based on a certified preservation and utilization plan continues the deposit of that specified work of art with the founder of that depositary art museum, then, with regard to the inheritance tax equivalent to the inheritance tax subject to deferral relating to that specified work of art for which a statement is made in the inheritance tax return that the depositing heir seeks the application of the provisions of this paragraph, out of the amount of inheritance tax that the depositing heir must pay by filing the return filed by the due date under the provisions of Article 27, paragraph (1) of the Inheritance Tax Act relating to that inheritance (referred to as the "inheritance tax return" in this Article), notwithstanding the provisions of Article 33 of that Act, a grace period is granted for the payment of that tax until the day of the death of that depositing heir, only if the depositing heir has provided security equivalent to that inheritance tax subject to deferral by the due date for filing that inheritance tax return.

In this Article, the meanings of the terms listed in the following items are as prescribed respectively in those items:

specified work of art: any of the following stated in a certified preservation and utilization plan:

movable property that is a painting, sculpture, craft product or other tangible cultural product designated as an Important Cultural Property under the provisions of Article 27, paragraph (1) of the Act on Protection of Cultural Properties;

out of the registered tangible cultural properties prescribed in Article 58, paragraph (1) of the Act on Protection of Cultural Properties (excluding those that are buildings; referred to as "registered tangible cultural property" in items (iv) and (vi) of the following paragraph), one that has particularly high historical, artistic or academic value from the viewpoint of world culture;

deposit contract: a contract concerning the deposit of a specified work of art concluded between the owner of the specified work of art and the founder of a depositary art museum, in which the contract period and other matters specified by Order of the Ministry of Finance are stated;

certified preservation and utilization plan: the following:

a certified Important Cultural Property preservation and utilization plan prescribed in Article 53-6 of the Act on Protection of Cultural Properties in which the matters listed in Article 53-2, paragraph (3), item (iii) of that Act are stated;

a certified registered tangible cultural property preservation and utilization plan prescribed in Article 67-5 of the Act on Protection of Cultural Properties in which the matters listed in Article 67-2, paragraph (3), item (ii) of that Act are stated;

depositing heir: an individual who has acquired a specified work of art by inheritance or bequest;

depositary art museum: out of the museums prescribed in Article 2, paragraph (1) of the Museum Act (Act No. 285 of 1951) or the designated facilities prescribed in Article 31, paragraph (2) of that Act, one that carries out the public exhibition (meaning making them available for public viewing) and storage of specified works of art;

inheritance tax subject to deferral: the amount obtained by deducting the amount listed in (b) from the amount listed in (a):

the amount of inheritance tax of the depositing heir referred to in the preceding paragraph calculated, pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Order, by applying the provisions of Articles 13 through 19 of the Inheritance Tax Act, deeming the value of the specified work of art to which the provisions of that paragraph apply to be the taxable value of inheritance tax relating to that depositing heir;

the amount of inheritance tax of the depositing heir referred to in the preceding paragraph calculated, pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Order, by applying the provisions of Articles 13 through 19 of the Inheritance Tax Act, deeming the amount calculated by multiplying the value of the specified work of art to which the provisions of that paragraph apply by 20 percent to be the taxable value of inheritance tax relating to that depositing heir.

In the case where the depositing heir to whom the provisions of paragraph (1) apply, the specified work of art, or the depositary art museum referred to in that paragraph has come to fall under any of the cases listed in the following items, notwithstanding the provisions of that paragraph, the deadline of the tax payment grace period under the provisions of paragraph (1) is the day on which two months have elapsed from the day specified in the relevant item (or, in the case where that depositing heir has died during the period from the day specified in the relevant item until the day on which those two months elapse, the day on which six months have elapsed from the day following the day on which the heir of that depositing heir (including a universal legatee; the same applies in paragraph (11)) came to know of the commencement of the succession due to the death of that depositing heir):

in the case where that depositing heir has transferred that specified work of art (excluding the case where the depositing heir has given that specified work of art as a gift to the founder of its depositary art museum): the day on which the district director with jurisdiction over the place for tax payment of that depositing heir received a notice from the Commissioner of the Agency for Cultural Affairs under the provisions of paragraph (17) concerning the transfer of that specified work of art;

in the case where that specified work of art has been destroyed (excluding destruction due to a disaster (meaning an earthquake disaster, storm and flood damage or any other disaster specified by Cabinet Order; the same applies in item (vi) and paragraph (14))), or has been lost or stolen at the depositary art museum: the day on which the district director with jurisdiction over the place for tax payment of that depositing heir received a notice from the Commissioner of the Agency for Cultural Affairs under the provisions of paragraph (17) concerning the occurrence of that event;

in the case where the contract period of the deposit contract relating to that specified work of art has ended: the day on which it ended;

in the case where the certification (referred to as "certification" in the following item) of the certified preservation and utilization plan relating to that specified work of art under the provisions of Article 53-2, paragraph (4) or Article 67-2, paragraph (4) of the Act on Protection of Cultural Properties has been revoked under the provisions of Article 53-7, paragraph (1) or Article 67-6, paragraph (1) of that Act (excluding the case specified by Cabinet Order as a case where it has been revoked as a result of the registration of a registered tangible cultural property having been deleted under the provisions of Article 59, paragraph (1) of that Act): the day on which that certification was revoked;

in the case where, on the day on which four months have elapsed from the day on which the plan period listed in Article 53-2, paragraph (2), item (iii) of the Act on Protection of Cultural Properties or the plan period listed in Article 67-2, paragraph (2), item (iii) of that Act of the certified preservation and utilization plan relating to that specified work of art expired (or, in the case where the provisions of the following paragraph are being applied, that day or the day on which one year has elapsed from the day of the end of the contract period referred to in that paragraph, whichever is later; the same applies hereinafter in this item), a new certification has not been obtained for that specified work of art stated in that certified preservation and utilization plan: the day on which four months have elapsed from the day on which that plan period expired;

in the case where, with regard to that specified work of art, the designation as an Important Cultural Property has been cancelled under the provisions of Article 29, paragraph (1) of the Act on Protection of Cultural Properties, or the registration as a registered tangible cultural property has been deleted under the provisions of Article 59, paragraph (2) or (3) of that Act (excluding the case where it has been cancelled or deleted due to destruction caused by a disaster): the day on which that designation was cancelled or the day on which that registration was deleted;

in the case where, with regard to the depositary art museum, the registration referred to in Article 11 of the Museum Act has been revoked under the provisions of Article 19, paragraph (1) of that Act or deleted under the provisions of Article 20, paragraph (2) of that Act, or the designation under the provisions of Article 31, paragraph (1) of that Act has been revoked under the provisions of paragraph (2) of that Article: the day on which that event occurred.

In the case listed in item (iii) of the preceding paragraph, when the end of the contract period of the deposit contract is due to the cancellation of the contract by the founder of the depositary art museum or a request by that founder not to renew that deposit contract, if the depositing heir to whom the provisions of paragraph (1) apply has obtained approval from the district director with jurisdiction over the place for tax payment, pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Order, for the expectation that, within one year from the day of the end specified in that item, the depositing heir will conclude a deposit contract with the founder of a new depositary art museum (referred to as a "new depositary art museum" in this paragraph) and deposit with the founder of the new depositary art museum the specified work of art that had been deposited with the founder of the depositary art museum, the following provisions apply with regard to the application of the provisions of the preceding paragraph:

the contract period of the deposit contract referred to in item (iii) of the preceding paragraph is deemed not to have ended;

in the case where, on the day on which one year has elapsed from the day of that end, the depositing heir has not deposited the specified work of art relating to that approval with the founder of that new depositary art museum based on a deposit contract with the founder of that new depositary art museum, the contract period of the deposit contract referred to in item (iii) of the preceding paragraph is deemed to have ended on that day;

in the case where the specified work of art relating to that approval has been deposited with the founder of that new depositary art museum by the day on which one year has elapsed from the day of that end, the deposit contract between the founder of that new depositary art museum and that depositing heir is deemed to be the deposit contract referred to in paragraph (1), and that new depositary art museum is deemed to be the depositary art museum referred to in that paragraph.

In the case listed in paragraph (3), item (vii), if the depositing heir to whom the provisions of paragraph (1) apply has obtained approval from the district director with jurisdiction over the place for tax payment, pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Order, for the expectation that, within one year from the day specified in that item, the depositing heir will deposit the specified work of art that had been deposited with the founder of the depositary art museum referred to in that item with the founder of a new depositary art museum (referred to as a "new depositary art museum" in this paragraph), the following provisions apply with regard to the application of the provisions of paragraph (3):

the event referred to in paragraph (3), item (vii) is deemed not to have occurred;

in the case where, on the day on which one year has elapsed from the day specified in paragraph (3), item (vii), the depositing heir has not deposited the specified work of art relating to that approval with the founder of that new depositary art museum, the depositing heir is deemed to fall under the case listed in that item on that day;

in the case where the specified work of art relating to that approval has been deposited with the founder of that new depositary art museum by the day on which one year has elapsed from the day specified in paragraph (3), item (vii), the deposit contract between the founder of that new depositary art museum and that depositing heir is deemed to be the deposit contract referred to in paragraph (1), and that new depositary art museum is deemed to be the depositary art museum referred to in that paragraph.

With regard to the provision of security for the inheritance tax subject to deferral of a depositing heir who seeks the application of the provisions of paragraph (1), the following provisions apply:

notwithstanding the provisions of Article 50 of the Act on General Rules for National Taxes, the depositing heir may, pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Order, provide as security the specified work of art for which the depositing heir seeks the application of the provisions of paragraph (1);

a specified work of art that is to be provided as security must be insured;

in the case referred to in item (i), the district director may have the founder of the depositary art museum that has concluded a deposit contract concerning the specified work of art referred to in that item with that depositing heir keep that specified work of art in custody.

With regard to the application of the provisions of paragraph (1) in the case where, by the due date for filing the inheritance tax return relating to the inheritance or bequest referred to in that paragraph, a specified work of art acquired by that inheritance or bequest has not yet been divided among the co-heirs or universal legatees, a statement that the depositing heir receives the application of the provisions of that paragraph may not be made in that inheritance tax return for that undivided specified work of art.

The provisions of paragraph (1) do not apply in the case where the inheritance tax return filed by the depositing heir who seeks the application of the provisions of that paragraph does not contain a statement that the depositing heir seeks the application of the provisions of that paragraph with regard to the specified work of art, or in the case where a document stating the details of that specified work of art and the details of the calculation of the inheritance tax subject to deferral and other documents specified by Order of the Ministry of Finance are not attached to it.

A depositing heir to whom the provisions of paragraph (1) apply must, during the period from the day following the due date for filing the inheritance tax return referred to in that paragraph until the day on which the deadline of the tax payment grace period under the provisions of that paragraph, paragraph (3), (11) or (12) becomes fixed for the inheritance tax equivalent to the inheritance tax subject to deferral, by each day on which three years have elapsed counting from the day following the due date for filing the inheritance tax return referred to in paragraph (1) (referred to as the "notification deadline" in this Article), submit to the district director with jurisdiction over the place for tax payment, pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Order, a written notification stating that the depositing heir wishes to continue to receive the application of the provisions of that paragraph, with a document issued by the founder of the depositary art museum certifying the matters specified by Order of the Ministry of Finance attached to it.

With regard to the prescription of the national government's right to collect the inheritance tax equivalent to the inheritance tax subject to deferral and the interest tax and delinquent tax relating to that inheritance tax, except in the case where the provisions of Article 73, paragraph (4) of the Act on General Rules for National Taxes as applied by replacing terms pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (13), item (ii) apply, the prescription is not completed during the period from the time of submission of the written notification referred to in the preceding paragraph until the notification deadline of that written notification, and is to begin to run anew from the day following that notification deadline.

In the case where the written notification referred to in paragraph (9) is not submitted to the district director with jurisdiction over the place for tax payment by the notification deadline, notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1), the deadline of the tax payment grace period under the provisions of that paragraph for the inheritance tax equivalent to the inheritance tax subject to deferral as of that notification deadline is the day on which two months have elapsed from the day following that notification deadline (or, in the case where the depositing heir relating to that inheritance tax has died during the period from the day following that notification deadline until the day on which those two months elapse, the day on which six months have elapsed from the day following the day on which the heir of that depositing heir came to know of the commencement of the succession due to the death of that depositing heir).

The district director may, in the following cases, accelerate the deadline of the tax payment grace period under the provisions of paragraph (1) relating to the inheritance tax equivalent to the inheritance tax subject to deferral. In this case, the provisions of Article 49, paragraphs (2) and (3) of the Act on General Rules for National Taxes apply mutatis mutandis.

in the case where the depositing heir to whom the provisions of paragraph (1) apply does not comply with an order under the provisions of Article 51, paragraph (1) of the Act on General Rules for National Taxes with regard to the security prescribed in that paragraph;

in the case where a fact that differs from the matters stated in the written notification referred to in paragraph (9) submitted by the depositing heir to whom the provisions of paragraph (1) apply has come to light.

With regard to the application of the provisions of the Act on General Rules for National Taxes, the National Tax Collection Act and the Inheritance Tax Act in the case where a tax payment grace period has been granted under the provisions of paragraph (1), the following provisions apply:

with regard to delinquent tax on inheritance tax in the case where the provisions of paragraph (1) have been applied, the amount of that inheritance tax is divided into the inheritance tax subject to deferral and the remainder, that inheritance tax subject to deferral is further divided according to each different deadline of the tax payment grace period prescribed in item (iii), and the provisions concerning delinquent tax in the Act on General Rules for National Taxes apply to each of those tax amounts;

with regard to inheritance tax for which a tax payment grace period has been granted under the provisions of paragraph (1), the phrase "deferred payment" in Article 64, paragraph (1) and Article 73, paragraph (4) of the Act on General Rules for National Taxes is deemed to be replaced with "deferred payment (including a tax payment grace period under the provisions of Article 70-6-7, paragraph (1) (Tax Payment Grace Period and Exemption for Inheritance Tax on Specified Works of Art) of the Act on Special Measures Concerning Taxation)";

the deadline of the tax payment grace period under the provisions of paragraph (1) (including that deadline under the provisions of paragraph (3) or the preceding two paragraphs) is to be included in the deadline for deferred payment under the provisions of the Inheritance Tax Act when the provisions concerning the statutory due date for payment or the due date for payment in the Act on General Rules for National Taxes and the National Tax Collection Act are applied;

the provisions of Article 38, paragraph (1) and Article 41, paragraph (1) of the Inheritance Tax Act do not apply to inheritance tax that falls under the provisions of paragraph (3) or the preceding two paragraphs;

with regard to the amount of inheritance tax, other than the inheritance tax subject to deferral, relating to the property of a person whose property acquired by inheritance or bequest includes property that falls under a specified work of art, the provisions of Article 38, paragraph (1) (including the case where it is applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 44, paragraph (2) of that Act), Article 47, paragraph (5), Article 52, paragraph (1) or Article 53, paragraph (4), item (ii), (b) of the Inheritance Tax Act apply by deeming the value of that specified work of art to be the value calculated by multiplying the value of that specified work of art by 20 percent;

with regard to the application of the provisions of Article 41, paragraph (2) of the Inheritance Tax Act as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 48-2, paragraph (6) of that Act in the case where the provisions of paragraph (1) have been applied with regard to a specified work of art, the phrase "excluding property" in that paragraph is deemed to be replaced with "excluding property and the specified work of art prescribed in Article 70-6-7, paragraph (2), item (i) of the Act on Special Measures Concerning Taxation to which the provisions of paragraph (1) (Tax Payment Grace Period and Exemption for Inheritance Tax on Specified Works of Art) of that Article apply".

In the case where the depositing heir to whom the provisions of paragraph (1) apply has died, the case where the depositing heir to whom the provisions of that paragraph apply has given the specified work of art as a gift to the founder of the depositary art museum with which the depositing heir has deposited that specified work of art, or the case where the specified work of art to which the provisions of that paragraph apply has been destroyed due to a disaster (excluding the case where the provisions of paragraph (11) have been applied or the deadline of the tax payment grace period has been accelerated under the provisions of paragraph (12) before the day on which any of these cases came to apply, and the case where any of the cases listed in the items of paragraph (3) came to apply before that day), the inheritance tax equivalent to the inheritance tax subject to deferral relating to that specified work of art is exempted pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Order.

Even in the case where the written notification referred to in paragraph (9) has not been submitted by the notification deadline, if the district director referred to in that paragraph finds that there were unavoidable circumstances for the failure to submit it within that notification deadline and the written notification has been submitted to that district director pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Order, the written notification is deemed to have been submitted within that notification deadline with regard to the application of the provisions of paragraph (11).

In the case where a depositing heir who has received the application of the provisions of paragraph (1) falls under any of the cases listed in the following items, the depositing heir must pay, together with the inheritance tax relating to the inheritance tax subject to deferral, interest tax equivalent to the amount calculated by multiplying the inheritance tax subject to deferral, as the base, by a rate of 3.6 percent per annum according to the period from the day following the due date for filing the inheritance tax return relating to the inheritance tax referred to in the relevant item until the deadline of the tax payment grace period specified in that item:

in the case where the provisions of paragraph (3) have been applied: the deadline of the tax payment grace period under the provisions of paragraph (3) relating to the inheritance tax to which the provisions of paragraph (1) apply;

in the case where the provisions of paragraph (11) have been applied: the deadline of the tax payment grace period under the provisions of that paragraph relating to the inheritance tax prescribed in that paragraph;

in the case where the provisions of paragraph (12) have been applied: the deadline of the tax payment grace period as accelerated under the provisions of that paragraph relating to the inheritance tax prescribed in that paragraph.

In the case where the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology or the Commissioner of the Agency for Cultural Affairs has come to know, with regard to the depositing heir to whom the provisions of paragraph (1) apply, the specified work of art or the depositary art museum referred to in that paragraph, that a fact falling under any of the cases listed in the items of paragraph (3), on which a deadline of the tax payment grace period is set under the provisions of that paragraph, has occurred, as a result of having accepted a report or taken any other action based on the provisions of laws and regulations with regard to that fact, the Minister or the Commissioner must, without delay, notify the Commissioner of the National Tax Agency or the district director with jurisdiction over the place for tax payment of that depositing heir in writing that the fact has occurred with regard to that specified work of art and of other matters specified by Order of the Ministry of Finance.

If the district director finds it necessary, in the case referred to in paragraph (1), for the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology or the Commissioner of the Agency for Cultural Affairs to properly and reliably process their affairs (limited to affairs concerning the depositing heir to whom the provisions of that paragraph apply that relate to the application of the provisions of the preceding paragraph), the district director may notify the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology or the Commissioner of the Agency for Cultural Affairs that the depositing heir receives the application of the provisions of paragraph (1) and of other matters specified by Order of the Ministry of Finance.

Beyond what is provided for in paragraph (3) through the preceding paragraph, necessary matters concerning the application of paragraph (1) are specified by Cabinet Order.