Act on Special Measures Concerning Taxation

In the case where the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, etc. (meaning the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, etc. prescribed in Article 10 of the Motor Vehicle Tonnage Tax Act; the same applies in paragraph (3)) confirms, under the provisions of Article 11 of that Act, the fact of payment of the amount of motor vehicle tonnage tax to be imposed on an inspected motor vehicle, when making a judgment as to whether the inspected motor vehicle pertaining to that payment falls under the tax-exempt vehicles, etc. with respect to the standards for nitrogen oxides emissions, etc., the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, etc. is to make that judgment based on the certification, etc. by the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

In this Article, the term "standards for nitrogen oxides emissions, etc." means the standards concerning the emissions of nitrogen oxides and particulate matter and concerning energy consumption efficiency to which an inspected motor vehicle is required to conform in order for that inspected motor vehicle to fall under the tax-exempt vehicles, etc. under the provisions of the items of paragraphs (1) through (4) of the preceding Article (including, where the provisions of the Cabinet Order prescribed in Article 90-11 prescribe standards equivalent to them, those standards); and the term "certification, etc. by the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism" means a certification or evaluation made by the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism upon application with respect to a motor vehicle identical to the inspected motor vehicle, which is specified by Order of the Ministry of Finance as one where it is appropriate, on the basis of the fact of that certification or evaluation, to judge whether the inspected motor vehicle falls under the tax-exempt vehicles, etc. with respect to the standards for nitrogen oxides emissions, etc..

In the case where the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, etc. learns, after its statutory payment due date (meaning the statutory payment due date prescribed in Article 2, item (viii) of the Act on General Rules for National Taxes; the same applies in paragraph (5)), of the fact that a person who has received the issuance, etc. of a motor vehicle inspection certificate has not paid all or part of the amount of motor vehicle tonnage tax to be paid on the inspected motor vehicle pertaining to that issuance, etc. of a motor vehicle inspection certificate under the provisions of Article 8, Article 10, Article 10-2 or Article 12, paragraphs (2) through (4) of the Motor Vehicle Tonnage Tax Act, or learns, after the day specified by Cabinet Order prescribed in Article 10-5, paragraph (1) of that Act, of the fact that a payment agent prescribed in Article 10-4, paragraph (1) of that Act has not paid all or part of the amount of motor vehicle tonnage tax entrusted to it under the provisions of Article 10-3, paragraph (1) of that Act, and the cause of that fact is that the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has revoked the certification, etc. by the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism on the grounds that the person who filed the application referred to in the preceding paragraph received that certification, etc. by the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism by deception or other wrongful means (including deception or other wrongful means by a person who directly or indirectly provided the person who filed that application with information necessary for that application; the same applies in paragraph (5)), the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, etc. must, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 13, paragraph (1) or (3) of that Act, give the notice under the provisions of paragraph (1) of that Article to the district director with jurisdiction over the place for tax payment prescribed in that paragraph of the person who filed that application or of that person's general successor. In this case, the person who filed that application or that person's general successor is deemed to be the person who received the issuance, etc. of a motor vehicle inspection certificate pertaining to that notice, and the motor vehicle tonnage tax pertaining to the issuance, etc. of a motor vehicle inspection certificate pertaining to that notice is imposed on that person.

The amount of motor vehicle tonnage tax to be imposed under the provisions of the second sentence of the preceding paragraph is, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 7, paragraph (1) of the Motor Vehicle Tonnage Tax Act and other provisions of laws and regulations concerning motor vehicle tonnage tax, the amount obtained by adding, to the amount of unpaid motor vehicle tonnage tax prescribed in Article 13, paragraph (1) or (3) of that Act pertaining to the notice under the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the amount calculated by multiplying that amount by 35 percent.

In the case where the person who filed the application referred to in paragraph (2) has received the certification, etc. by the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism by deception or other wrongful means, the extinctive prescription of the right to collection of national tax prescribed in Article 72, paragraph (1) of the Act on General Rules for National Taxes with respect to motor vehicle tonnage tax does not run for two years from its statutory payment due date. In this case, the provisions of the proviso to Article 73, paragraph (3) of that Act apply mutatis mutandis.

The provisions of Article 119, paragraph (1) of the Act on General Rules for National Taxes apply mutatis mutandis where an amount calculated under the provisions of paragraph (4) contains a fraction of less than 100 yen.

With regard to the application of the provisions of the Corporation Tax Act to the person who filed the application referred to in paragraph (2), or that person's general successor, to whom the provisions of the second sentence of paragraph (3) have been applied, the phrase "the following" in Article 55, paragraph (4) of that Act is deemed to be replaced with "the following and the motor vehicle tonnage tax under the provisions of the second sentence of Article 90-12-2, paragraph (3) (Special Provisions on Confirmation, etc. of the Fact of Payment of Motor Vehicle Tonnage Tax) of the Act on Special Measures Concerning Taxation".

Beyond what is provided for in paragraphs (4) through (6), the necessary technical replacement of terms concerning the application of the provisions of the Motor Vehicle Tonnage Tax Act in the case where the provisions of the second sentence of paragraph (3) apply, and other necessary matters concerning the application of the provisions of paragraphs (1) through (3), are specified by Cabinet Order.

In the case where the issuance of a motor vehicle inspection certificate is received for the first time during the period from April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2029 under the provisions of Article 60, paragraph (1) or Article 71, paragraph (4) of the Road Transport Vehicle Act for any of the following inspected motor vehicles, the motor vehicle tonnage tax pertaining to the issuance of that motor vehicle inspection certificate is exempted:

a motor vehicle that a person operating a general shared-ride passenger motor vehicle transportation business prescribed in Article 3, item (i), (a) of the Road Transportation Act uses for scheduled route services prescribed in Article 5, paragraph (1), item (iii) of that Act, or a motor vehicle that a person operating a general chartered passenger motor vehicle transportation business prescribed in Article 3, item (i), (b) of that Act uses for that business, which falls under both of the following and whose structure and equipment are specified by Order of the Ministry of Finance as particularly improving convenience in mobility for elderly persons, disabled persons, etc. prescribed in Article 2, item (i) of the Act on Promotion of Smooth Transportation, etc. of Elderly Persons, Disabled Persons, etc. (referred to as "elderly persons, disabled persons, etc." in the following item):

it falls under the motor vehicles for which the number to be introduced by fiscal 2030 is set as a target in the basic policy prescribed in Article 3, paragraph (1) of the Act on Promotion of Smooth Transportation, etc. of Elderly Persons, Disabled Persons, etc. (referred to as the "basic policy" in (a) of the following item) (limited to the motor vehicles prescribed in Article 2, item (viii) of that Act; the same applies in (a) of the following item);

it conforms to the public transport accessibility standards prescribed in Article 8, paragraph (1) of the Act on Promotion of Smooth Transportation, etc. of Elderly Persons, Disabled Persons, etc. (referred to as the "public transport accessibility standards" in (b) of the following item) that are specified by Order of the Ministry of Finance.

a passenger motor vehicle that a person operating a general for-hire passenger car transportation business prescribed in Article 3, item (i), (c) of the Road Transportation Act uses for that business, which falls under all of the following and whose structure and equipment are specified by Order of the Ministry of Finance as particularly improving convenience in mobility for elderly persons, disabled persons, etc.:

it falls under the motor vehicles for which the number to be introduced by fiscal 2030 is set as a target in the basic policy;

it conforms to the public transport accessibility standards that are specified by Order of the Ministry of Finance;

it has been recognized by the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism as being particularly excellent in its structure and equipment having functions to improve convenience in mobility for all users, including elderly persons, disabled persons, etc.

In the case where the issuance of a motor vehicle inspection certificate is received for the first time during the period from May 1, 2023 to August 31, 2028 under the provisions of Article 60, paragraph (1) or Article 71, paragraph (4) of the Road Transport Vehicle Act for an inspected motor vehicle (excluding one to which the provisions of Article 90-12, paragraph (2) or (3) apply) that is a motor vehicle used exclusively for the carriage of persons (limited to one specified by Order of the Ministry of Finance) or a freight motor vehicle with a gross vehicle weight exceeding 3.5 tons (excluding a towed motor vehicle), that conforms to the technical standards for safety or for pollution prevention or other environmental conservation pertaining to a device for improving safety against collision with an obstacle ahead (referred to as a "collision damage mitigation braking control device" in this paragraph), established under the provisions of Article 41, paragraph (1) of that Act as standards to be applied on or after September 1, 2025, that are specified by Order of the Ministry of Finance, and that is specified by Order of the Ministry of Finance as being equipped with a collision damage mitigation braking control device, the amount of motor vehicle tonnage tax pertaining to the issuance of that motor vehicle inspection certificate is, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 7, paragraph (1) of the Motor Vehicle Tonnage Tax Act and the provisions of Article 90-11, paragraph (1), the amount calculated by multiplying the amount calculated under the provisions of that paragraph (or, for the inspected motor vehicles listed in the items of Article 90-12, paragraph (4), Article 7, paragraph (1) of the Motor Vehicle Tonnage Tax Act) by 75 percent.

The provisions of Article 119, paragraph (1) of the Act on General Rules for National Taxes apply mutatis mutandis where an amount calculated under the provisions of the preceding paragraph contains a fraction of less than 100 yen.

For a motor vehicle that has received the issuance, etc. of a motor vehicle inspection certificate which is an end-of-life automobile prescribed in Article 2, paragraph (2) of the Act on Recycling of End-of-Life Automobiles (Act No. 87 of 2002) (referred to as an "end-of-life automobile" in this Article) that was delivered to a collection business operator prescribed in paragraph (11) of that Article before the day on which the period of validity recorded in that motor vehicle inspection certificate when the issuance, etc. of the motor vehicle inspection certificate was received expires, and that is specified by Cabinet Order as having been dismantled, the amount calculated pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Order out of the amount equivalent to the amount of motor vehicle tonnage tax paid when receiving that issuance, etc. of a motor vehicle inspection certificate is refunded to the person who delivered that end-of-life automobile to that collection business operator under the provisions of Article 8 of that Act (referred to as the "owner of the end-of-life automobile" in this Article) (or, if the owner of the end-of-life automobile is not the taxpayer of the motor vehicle tonnage tax pertaining to that end-of-life automobile, to the owner of the end-of-life automobile, with the owner of the end-of-life automobile being deemed to have paid that motor vehicle tonnage tax on that end-of-life automobile).

For a motor vehicle (limited to a motor vehicle prescribed in Article 2, paragraph (1) of the Act on Recycling of End-of-Life Automobiles) that has received the issuance, etc. of a motor vehicle inspection certificate which is specified by Cabinet Order as having been destroyed by, or dismantled as a result of, a natural disaster (meaning a natural disaster specified by Cabinet Order prescribed in Article 2, item (ii) of the Act on Support for Reconstructing Livelihoods of Disaster Victims) before the day on which the period of validity recorded in that motor vehicle inspection certificate when the issuance, etc. of the motor vehicle inspection certificate was received expires (referred to as a "disaster-damaged motor vehicle" in this Article), the amount calculated pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Order out of the amount equivalent to the amount of motor vehicle tonnage tax paid when receiving that issuance, etc. of a motor vehicle inspection certificate is refunded to the owner of the disaster-damaged motor vehicle (or, if the owner of the disaster-damaged motor vehicle is not the taxpayer of the motor vehicle tonnage tax pertaining to that disaster-damaged motor vehicle, to the owner of the disaster-damaged motor vehicle, with the owner of the disaster-damaged motor vehicle being deemed to have paid that motor vehicle tonnage tax on that disaster-damaged motor vehicle).

The provisions of the preceding two paragraphs do not apply in the case where the provisions of Article 9 of the Act on Reduction or Release, Deferment of Collection and Other Measures Related to Tax Imposed on Disaster Victims apply.

The owner of the end-of-life automobile or the owner of the disaster-damaged motor vehicle who seeks to receive the refund under the provisions of paragraph (1) or (2) must submit a written application stating the matters specified by Cabinet Order, pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Order, via the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, etc. (meaning the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, etc. prescribed in Article 10 of the Motor Vehicle Tonnage Tax Act), to the district director with jurisdiction over the place specified by Cabinet Order.

No interest on refund under the provisions of the Act on General Rules for National Taxes is added to a refund under the provisions of paragraphs (1) and (2).