Act on Special Measures Concerning Taxation

If a small and medium sized enterprise, etc. (meaning, among small and medium sized enterprises prescribed in Article 42-6, paragraph (1) (excluding those that fall under an excluded business operator prescribed in Article 42-4, paragraph (19), item (viii) or a group tax sharing excluded business operator prescribed in item (viii)-2 of that paragraph), or agricultural cooperatives, etc. prescribed in Article 42-4, paragraph (19), item (ix) or shopping district promotion associations, that file blue returns, one that falls under a specified business operator, etc. prescribed in Article 2, paragraph (6) of the Act on Strengthening the Management of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, etc. that has obtained the certification referred to in Article 17, paragraph (1) of that Act (including, where the certification referred to in Article 6, paragraph (1), Article 8, paragraph (1), Article 9, paragraph (1) or Article 10, paragraph (1) of the Act on the Promotion of Business Activities by Food, etc. Business Operators and Ensuring Proper Transactions of Food, etc. for Realizing a Sustainable Supply of Food, etc. has been obtained for a plan listed in any of the items of Article 13 of that Act, that certification; hereinafter referred to as a "specified certification" in this paragraph); the same applies hereinafter in this Article), within the period from April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2027 (referred to as the "designated period" in the following paragraph), acquires, out of the following depreciable assets that constitute production or similar equipment, those set forth in the management improvement plan prescribed in Article 17, paragraph (1) of the Act on Strengthening the Management of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, etc. pertaining to the specified certification of the small and medium sized enterprise, etc. (if a certification of change under the provisions of Article 18, paragraph (1) of that Act has been granted, the plan after the change, and including a plan listed in any of the items of Article 13 of the Act on the Promotion of Business Activities by Food, etc. Business Operators and Ensuring Proper Transactions of Food, etc. for Realizing a Sustainable Supply of Food, etc. (if a certification of change under the provisions of Article 7, paragraph (1) of that Act, or under the provisions of Article 7, paragraph (1) of that Act as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 8, paragraph (7), Article 9, paragraph (8) or Article 10, paragraph (7) of that Act, has been granted, the plan after the change); referred to as a "specified management improvement plan" in item (ii), (b)) (limited to those of a scale specified by Cabinet Order; hereinafter referred to as "specified management improvement equipment, etc." in this Article) that have not been put to use for business since their manufacture or construction, or manufactures or constructs specified management improvement equipment, etc., and puts it to use for a business that the small and medium sized enterprise, etc. conducts in Japan (limited to use in a designated business prescribed in Article 42-6, paragraph (1); hereinafter referred to as "use in a designated business" in this Article), the depreciation limit of the specified management improvement equipment, etc. for the business year that includes the date on which it was put to use in a designated business (excluding the business year that includes the date of dissolution (other than dissolution due to a merger) and business years during liquidation, and each business year that includes a day within the period specified by Order of the Ministry of Finance as the period of the plan for investment in specified productivity-improving equipment, etc. prescribed in Article 42-12-7, paragraph (1) of a corporation that has received the confirmation prescribed in that paragraph; referred to as the "business year of commencement of use" in the following paragraph and paragraph (8)) is, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 31, paragraph (1) or (2) of the Corporation Tax Act, the sum of the ordinary depreciation limit of the specified management improvement equipment, etc. and its special depreciation limit (meaning the amount specified in each of the following items according to the category of depreciable assets listed in that item).

machinery and equipment, tools, furniture and fixtures, building fixtures, and software specified by Cabinet Order (referred to as "specified software" in the following item) that fall under management improvement equipment, etc. prescribed in Article 17, paragraph (3) of the Act on Strengthening the Management of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, etc. (limited to those specified by Order of the Ministry of Finance as contributing significantly to the improvement of management) (excluding those listed in the following item): the amount equivalent to the amount obtained by deducting the ordinary depreciation limit from their acquisition cost;

machinery and equipment, tools, furniture and fixtures, buildings and their associated facilities, and specified software that fall under management improvement equipment, etc. prescribed in Article 17, paragraph (3) of the Act on Strengthening the Management of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, etc. (limited to those that constitute production or similar equipment, including the building where a building is newly established or expanded, and that are specified by Order of the Ministry of Finance as contributing significantly to the improvement of management and the expansion of the scale of management) (referred to as "specified machinery and equipment, etc." in (a) and the items of the following paragraph): the amount specified in each of the following according to the category of depreciable assets listed therein:

machinery and equipment, tools, furniture and fixtures, and specified software: the amount equivalent to the amount obtained by deducting the ordinary depreciation limit from their acquisition cost (if the total acquisition cost of the specified machinery and equipment, etc. that constitute a single set of production or similar equipment exceeds 6 billion yen, the amount calculated by multiplying 6 billion yen by the ratio of the acquisition cost of the specified machinery and equipment, etc. to that total; referred to as the "base acquisition cost" in (b) and the following paragraph);

buildings and their associated facilities: the amount equivalent to 15 percent (25 percent for those specified by Order of the Ministry of Finance as necessary to ensure that the management improvement prescribed in Article 2, paragraph (10) of the Act on Strengthening the Management of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, etc. that is stated in the specified management improvement plan pertaining to the specified certification of the small and medium sized enterprise, etc. is reliably carried out (referred to as "specified buildings, etc." in item (ii) of the following paragraph)) of their base acquisition cost.

If a small and medium sized enterprise, etc., within the designated period, acquires specified management improvement equipment, etc. that have not been put to use for business since their manufacture or construction, or manufactures or constructs specified management improvement equipment, etc., and puts it to use in a designated business conducted by the small and medium sized enterprise, etc. in Japan, and the provisions of the preceding paragraph are not applied to the specified management improvement equipment, etc., the sum of the amounts calculated by multiplying the acquisition cost (for the depreciable assets listed in item (ii) of the preceding paragraph, the base acquisition cost) of the specified management improvement equipment, etc. put to use in a designated business by the rate specified in each of the following items according to the category of depreciable assets listed in that item (hereinafter referred to as the "maximum tax credit" in this paragraph and paragraph (4)) is deducted from the corporation tax before adjustment on the income for the business year of commencement of use (meaning the corporation tax before adjustment prescribed in Article 42-4, paragraph (19), item (ii); the same applies hereinafter through paragraph (4)). In this case, if the maximum tax credit of the small and medium sized enterprise, etc. for the business year of commencement of use exceeds the amount equivalent to 20 percent of the corporation tax before adjustment of the small and medium sized enterprise, etc. on the income for that business year of commencement of use (if there is an amount to be deducted from the corporation tax before adjustment on the income for that business year of commencement of use pursuant to the provisions of Article 42-6, paragraph (2), the remaining amount after deducting that amount), the amount to be deducted is limited to the amount equivalent to that 20 percent.

the depreciable assets listed in item (i) of the preceding paragraph, and the specified machinery and equipment, etc. listed in item (ii), (a) of that paragraph: 7 percent (10 percent for those depreciable assets that a small and medium sized enterprise, etc. other than a corporation specified by Cabinet Order has put to use in a designated business);

the specified machinery and equipment, etc. listed in item (ii), (b) of the preceding paragraph: 1 percent (2 percent for specified buildings, etc.).

If a corporation that files a blue return has a carried-over excess of the tax credit limit in a business year (excluding the business year that includes the date of dissolution (other than dissolution due to a merger) and business years during liquidation), the amount equivalent to that carried-over excess of the tax credit limit is deducted from the corporation tax before adjustment on the income for that business year. In this case, if the carried-over excess of the tax credit limit of the corporation for that business year exceeds the amount equivalent to 20 percent of the corporation tax before adjustment of the corporation on the income for that business year (if there is an amount to be deducted from the corporation tax before adjustment on the income for that business year pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph with respect to specified management improvement equipment, etc. put to use in a designated business in that business year, or an amount to be deducted from the corporation tax before adjustment on the income for that business year pursuant to the provisions of Article 42-6, paragraphs (2) and (3), the remaining amount after deducting those amounts), the amount to be deducted is limited to the amount equivalent to that 20 percent.

The carried-over excess of the tax credit limit prescribed in the preceding paragraph means the sum of the amounts, out of the maximum tax credit of the corporation for each business year that began within one year before the first day of the business year in question (limited to each business year in which the corporation has filed blue returns continuously up to that business year), that could not be fully deducted even after the deduction under paragraph (2) (if there is an amount already deducted from the corporation tax before adjustment in each such business year pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the remaining amount after deducting that amount).

The provisions of paragraph (1) do not apply to specified management improvement equipment, etc. acquired by a small and medium sized enterprise, etc. through a lease transaction without transfer of ownership.

The provisions of paragraph (1) apply only if the final return, etc. has a written statement attached thereto concerning the calculation of the depreciation limit of the specified management improvement equipment, etc.

The provisions of paragraph (2) apply only if a document stating the acquisition cost of the specified management improvement equipment, etc., the amount to be deducted, and the details of the calculation of that amount, which are subject to the deduction under that paragraph, is attached to the final return, etc. (including an amended return form or written request for reassessment, if one is filed to increase the amount to be deducted pursuant to the provisions of that paragraph). In this case, the acquisition cost of the specified management improvement equipment, etc. serving as the basis for the calculation of the amount to be deducted pursuant to that paragraph is limited to the acquisition cost of the specified management improvement equipment, etc. stated in the document attached to the final return, etc.

The provisions of paragraph (3) apply only if a written statement of the carried-over excess of the tax credit limit prescribed in that paragraph is attached to the tax return prescribed in Article 2, item (xxxi) of the Corporation Tax Act for each business year from the business year of commencement of use onward, and a document stating the carried-over excess of the tax credit limit prescribed in that paragraph, the amount to be deducted, and the details of the calculation of that amount, which are subject to the deduction under that paragraph, is attached to the final return, etc. for the business year for which the application of the provisions of that paragraph is sought (including an amended return form or written request for reassessment, if one is filed to increase the amount to be deducted pursuant to the provisions of that paragraph).

The provisions of Article 42-4, paragraphs (23) and (24) apply mutatis mutandis where the provisions of paragraph (2) or (3) are applied. In this case, the phrase "paragraphs (1), (4), (7) and (14)" in paragraph (23) of that Article is deemed to be replaced with "Article 42-12-4, paragraphs (2) and (3)".

Beyond what is provided for in paragraph (5) through the preceding paragraph, necessary matters concerning the application of the provisions of paragraphs (1) through (4) are specified by Cabinet Order.