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Taxes · 年末調整 · nenmatsu chōsei

Year-end adjustment in Japan (年末調整): the forms in English

At the end of the year your employer recalculates your income tax for the whole year: it adds your dependents, insurance, pension contributions and housing loan. Tax withheld in excess comes back with your pay; a shortfall is deducted. All you do is fill in the forms correctly. Who gets the adjustment, every field of every form with its official English label, the documents for relatives abroad and what changes in December 2026.

Go to the forms

Taxes for employees

Checked against the National Tax Agency website on October 7, 2026 · Tax return · Family and dependents

Usually done with the last pay of the year, inDecember

Salary for 2026 with no income tax (difference refunded in December 2026)¥1.78M

Annual salary above which there is no adjustment¥20M

Deadline for last year’s withholding recordJanuary 31

In short

What the year-end adjustment is

  • What: the year-end adjustment (年末調整, nenmatsu chōsei) is your employer recalculating your income tax (所得税) for the calendar year with your exact salary and your deductions.
  • Why: every month tax is withheld from your pay by a table, as an estimate (withholding at source, 源泉徴収). At the end of the year the difference is settled: too much comes back, too little is deducted from your pay.
  • What you do: fill in the forms (申告書) and attach certificates. You do not go to the tax office.
  • What it does not cover: resident tax. The city calculates it: by January 31 your employer sends the city a report of your salary (給与支払報告書). More: resident tax.
  • The result is your withholding record (源泉徴収票, gensen chōshūhyō): salary, deductions and tax for the year (see below).

How it is calculated: salary − deduction for employment income (給与所得控除) − your personal deductions = taxable income; × the rate from the scale − a fixed amount − the housing loan credit; × 102.1%. The scale is on the income tax page.

Who gets it

Your employer does the adjustment, but not for everyone

Covered

Employees of the company

  • Everyone who gave this employer the dependents form (扶養控除等申告書, see below) — even with no dependents.
  • People who worked the whole year, or joined during the year and are still employed at the end of it.
  • If you joined mid-year, the salary and tax of your previous job are added from its withholding record (源泉徴収票). Without that record you settle the rest with a tax return yourself.
  • Deductions are given in full, not in proportion to the months worked.

Not covered

You need a tax return instead

  • Salary for the year over ¥20,000,000.
  • You left a job during the year and have no job at the end of it. Exceptions: you left Japan for good, you left after the December pay, or you were a part-timer earning up to ¥1,360,000 a year with no new job expected this year.
  • Salary from a second job. Tax there is withheld at the higher rate (乙欄, otsu column) and is not adjusted.

What to do in these cases: the final tax return (確定申告).

The forms

What to write in every field

Your employer gives you the forms — on paper or in a payroll app; the fields are the same. The National Tax Agency (NTA) publishes English versions of the forms, so you can see each field in English next to the Japanese. Contributions and tax deducted from your salary are known to your employer — you don’t write them.

The forms in English. 2026 Application for (Change in) Exemption for Dependents of Employment Income Earner (also in Chinese, Portuguese, Spanish, Vietnamese and Filipino) · 2025 Application for Basic Exemption of Employment Income Earner and Application for Exemption for Spouse of Employment Income Earner and Application for Special Exemption for Specified Relatives of Employment Income Earner and Application for Exemption of Amount of Income Adjustment (below: the four-deductions form) · 2025 Application for Deduction for Insurance Premiums. On October 7, 2026 the NTA listed the 2026 English versions of the last two as in preparation; the fields are the same. The translations are provisional and for reference: you fill in the form your employer uses. Japanese originals and filled-in examples: NTA year-end adjustment forms (年末調整のための各種様式).

1. Application for (Change in) Exemption for Dependents of Employment Income Earner (扶養控除等（異動）申告書)

The main form, often called the dependents form. Without it there is no adjustment, and tax is withheld every month at the higher rate (乙欄). Hand it in before the first pay of the year: the form for 2027 (令和9年分) before your first pay in 2027. If something changes during the year — a child is born, your spouse arrives — correct the form or hand in a new one.

Field on the form (English label · Japanese) What to write
Your name
あなたの氏名 · フリガナ		 Your name as on your residence card; furigana is the reading in katakana.
Your individual number
あなたの個人番号		 Your My Number (マイナンバー). Some employers let you leave it out — ask.
Date of birth · Your domicile or residence
生年月日 · 住所又は居所		 Your date of birth and your address in Japan as registered at the city office.
Head of household · Relationship with you
世帯主の氏名 · あなたとの続柄		 The head of household on your certificate of residence (住民票) and how they are related to you. If it is you, write 本人 (self).
Marital status
配偶者の有無		 Do you have a spouse: 有 yes, 無 no.
A · Spouse qualified for withholding deduction
源泉控除対象配偶者		 A spouse whose income for the year after the deduction for employment income (所得) is up to ¥950,000, if your own is up to ¥9,000,000. This spouse already lowers your monthly withholding.
B · Dependent relatives qualified for withholding deduction
控除対象扶養親族（16歳以上）		 Children aged 16 and older and other dependents. Tick boxes: Elderly dependent relatives (老人扶養親族) — aged 70 and older (同居老親等 — a parent living with you); Specified dependent relatives · Specified relatives (特定扶養親族 · 特定親族) — ages 19–22.
Estimated income in 2026
…年中の所得の見積額		 The family member’s expected income for the year after the deduction for employment income (所得) — not their gross salary.
Non-resident relative
非居住者である親族		 Tick if the relative lives outside Japan, and tick the reason: 16 years of age or older and under 30 years of age or 70 and above (16歳以上30歳未満又は70歳以上); Studying abroad (留学); Disabled person (障害者); Payment of 380,000 yen or more (38万円以上の支払).
Fact that he/she lives in the same household
生計を一にする事実		 For a relative abroad: the total you sent them during the year. You fill it in at the end of the year, at the adjustment.
C · Disabled person, widow, single parent or working student
障害者、寡婦、ひとり親又は勤労学生		 If you or a dependent has a disability, or you are a widow (寡婦), a single parent or a working student.
D · Dependent relatives or the like declared for tax deduction by other workers
他の所得者が控除を受ける扶養親族等		 Dependents for whom another family member — for example your spouse — takes the deduction.
Inhabitants tax: Dependent relatives under 16 years of age
住民税に関する事項 · 16歳未満の扶養親族		 Children under 16. They give no income tax deduction, but they matter for resident tax. A child living abroad: tick Non-exempted dependent relative living in overseas (控除対象外国外扶養親族).
Date of change and reason
異動月日及び事由		 The date and reason of a change — a birth, a marriage, a move. Only if something changed.

2. Application for Basic Exemption, Exemption for Spouse, Special Exemption for Specified Relatives and Exemption of Amount of Income Adjustment (基礎控除申告書 兼 配偶者控除等申告書 兼 特定親族特別控除申告書 兼 所得金額調整控除申告書) — one sheet, four deductions

You fill it in again every year and hand it in before the last pay of the year. For 2026 the NTA issued a new version “for the year-end adjustment in December 2026” (令和8年12月年末調整用) with the new basic exemption amounts.

Field on the form (English label · Japanese) What to write
Estimated total amount of your income this year
あなたの本年中の合計所得金額の見積額		 Your expected income for the year after the deduction for employment income, plus any other income. It decides the row of the Amount of basic exemption (基礎控除): for 2026, with income up to ¥4,890,000, the basic exemption is ¥1,040,000.
Spouse’s name, individual number, date of birth
配偶者の氏名 · 個人番号 · 生年月日		 Your spouse’s details.
Non-resident spouse
非居住者である配偶者		 Tick if your spouse lives outside Japan. You then need documents of the relationship and of the money transfers.
Estimated total amount of your spouse’s income this year
配偶者の本年中の合計所得金額の見積額		 Your spouse’s expected income after the deduction for employment income. Up to ¥620,000 (salary up to ¥1,360,000): Amount of Exemption for spouse (配偶者控除); up to ¥1,330,000 (salary up to ¥2,070,000): Amount of Special Exemption for Spouse (配偶者特別控除). The table on the form gives the amount.
Name of Specified Relatives · Estimated total amount of specified relatives’s income this year
特定親族の氏名等		 A child or other relative aged 19–22 whose income after the deduction for employment income is over ¥620,000 but not over ¥1,230,000. The Amount of Special Exemption for Specified Relatives is ¥30,000 to ¥630,000, depending on their income.
Application for Exemption of Amount of Income Adjustment
所得金額調整控除		 Only with a high salary (the threshold is printed on the form) and a dependent under 23 or a family member with a special disability. Most people skip it.

3. Application for Deduction for Insurance Premiums (保険料控除申告書) — premiums you paid yourself

Attach the certificates (控除証明書) sent by the insurance companies and — for National Pension contributions — by the Japan Pension Service.

Part of the form (English label · Japanese) What to write
Deduction for life insurance premiums
生命保険料控除		 Life insurance premium, Medical care insurance premium (介護医療保険料) and Personal pension insurance premium (個人年金保険料). Columns: Name of insurance company, etc.; type of insurance; period; policyholder; beneficiary; New/Old (a contract from 2012 or an older one); Amount of insurance premiums, etc., you paid this year. Up to ¥40,000 per category, ¥120,000 in total; in 2026–2027, with a dependent under 23, up to ¥60,000 for life insurance (the box marked for dependents under 23).
Deduction for earthquake insurance premiums
地震保険料控除		 Earthquake insurance on your home and belongings — up to ¥50,000.
Deduction for social insurance premiums
社会保険料控除		 Premiums you paid yourself: National Pension (国民年金) and National Health Insurance (国民健康保険) before you joined the company, premiums for family members. Columns: Type of social insurance (for example 国民年金), to whom you paid, whose premium it is, the amount paid this year. The whole amount is deducted.
Deduction for small business mutual aid premiums, etc.
小規模企業共済等掛金控除		 Your iDeCo contributions: Participant’s premiums for personal-type pension (個人型年金加入者掛金). Also deducted in full.

4. Housing loan credit (住宅借入金等特別控除申告書)

In the first year the housing loan credit is available only through a tax return. From the second year it is given at the year-end adjustment: hand in this form (the tax office sends it to you) and the bank’s certificate of the loan balance.

Relatives abroad

Deductions for parents, a spouse or children outside Japan

A relative living abroad counts if on December 31 they are aged 16–29 or 70 and older. At ages 30–69 only if they left Japan to study abroad (you need proof of their student status there), have a disability under Japanese rules or received at least ¥380,000 from you during the year. For a spouse age does not matter; the documents are the same.

  • Documents of the relationship (親族関係書類): a Japanese document (for example 戸籍の附票) plus a copy of the relative’s passport — or a document issued by the foreign government with the relative’s name, date of birth and address. The original, with a Japanese translation.
  • Documents of the money transfers (送金関係書類): bank or money-transfer statements, or the statement of a family credit card used by the relative and paid by you. For each person separately. Copies are fine.
  • Cash does not count — even carried by a friend and with a signed note.
  • When to hand them in: the relationship documents with the dependents form; the transfer documents at the year-end adjustment, with the year’s total written in the field Fact that he/she lives in the same household (生計を一にする事実). At the year-end adjustment only transfers made up to the day you hand in the form count; later transfers count only through a tax return.
  • Your employer keeps the documents for 7 years. If you did not hand them in at work, attach them to your tax return.

The NTA explains the rules in English in For Those Applying for an Exemption for Dependents, etc. with Regard to Non-resident Relatives. In detail, with examples: deductions for relatives abroad.

Deadlines

What to hand in, and when

What When If you miss it
Dependents form (扶養控除等申告書) for the next year before the first pay of the year tax is withheld at the higher rate (乙欄) and there is no adjustment
The four-deductions form and the insurance premiums form by the date your employer sets, at the latest before the last pay of the year the deductions are not counted — you file a tax return to get the refund
Transfer documents for relatives abroad at the year-end adjustment no deduction for them — you can claim it in a tax return
Withholding record (源泉徴収票) from your employer by January 31; if you leave a job, within 1 month ask the payroll department
A refund return if something was missed within 5 years from January 1 of the next year the right to the refund expires

The result

Refund, extra tax and your withholding record

If more tax was withheld during the year than you owe, your employer pays back the difference with your salary. If less, it deducts the rest. The month is up to your employer.

The result of the year is your withholding record (給与所得の源泉徴収票): by January 31, or within a month if you leave the job (electronically only if you agree). You need it for a tax return and when you change jobs.

Box on the withholding record What it is
支払金額 Your gross salary for the year (収入)
給与所得控除後の金額 Income after the deduction for employment income (所得)
所得控除の額の合計額 All your deductions together: insurance premiums, basic exemption, family, private insurance
源泉徴収税額 Income tax for the year after the adjustment
社会保険料等の金額 Social insurance premiums for the year
控除対象配偶者 · 扶養親族の数 The spouse and the number of dependents counted

Linked to your visa.

  • To extend a work status of residence (if your employer is in category 3 or 4) and to apply for permanent residency, immigration looks at the city’s income and tax certificates (課税証明書 and 納税証明書). The city takes your income from the data your employer sends after the adjustment. A deduction for a relative without documents, or a wrong income on the forms, is a risk you don’t need.

Taxes and your visa · Extending your period of stay

December 2026

The new basic exemption comes with the adjustment

For 2026 the basic exemption (基礎控除) rose to ¥1,040,000 for income (after the deduction for employment income) up to ¥4,890,000, and the deduction for employment income is now at least ¥740,000. So with a salary of up to ¥1,780,000 a year you pay no income tax.

  • The law takes effect on December 1, 2026, but covers all 2026 income.
  • From January to November tax was withheld with the old tables — a basic exemption of ¥48,334 a month (about ¥580,000 a year). The difference is refunded at the December adjustment, with the new four-deductions form (令和8年12月年末調整用).
  • From January 2027 the monthly tables are updated, but they include only the permanent part: a basic exemption of ¥51,667 a month (about ¥620,000 a year). The rest, up to ¥1,040,000, is again refunded at the December 2027 adjustment.

Example: a single employee earning ¥3,000,000

Simplified: the tax for the year with the old and the new basic exemption. Your exact amount depends on your premiums and other deductions.

Step Amount
Salary for 2026 ¥3,000,000
− Deduction for employment income (¥3,000,000 × 30% + ¥80,000) ¥980,000
− Social insurance premiums (about 15%) ¥450,000
− Basic exemption: as in the monthly tables / under the new law ¥580,000 / ¥1,040,000
= Taxable income ¥990,000 / ¥530,000
× 5% × 102.1%, rounded down to ¥100 ¥50,500 / ¥27,000
Difference refunded in December about ¥23,500

Leaving a job or Japan

If you stop working during the year

  1. You moved to a new jobGive your new employer the withholding record from the old job — it is added to the adjustment. Without it, file a tax return yourself.
  2. You left and don’t work until the end of the yearNo adjustment. Get your withholding record (within a month of leaving) and file a refund return — tax often comes back.
  3. You leave Japan for goodYour employer does the adjustment by the day you leave. Premiums count up to the departure date, dependents as of that day.

Leaving before December 1, 2026. An adjustment at departure (if your last pay is on or before November 30) and a departure tax return (準確定申告) filed by November 30 use the old basic exemption. You can get the new one from December 1, 2026: file a return, or, if you already filed a departure return, a request for correction (更正の請求) until December 1, 2031. From abroad you do this through a tax agent (納税管理人, nōzei kanrinin). More: final tax return.

If you have a family

Spouse, children, parents: what changes

A dependent for tax and a dependent for health insurance are two different things with different income limits. All the rules for families: Family and dependents.

  • Spouse (legal marriage only): for 2026 income ¥380,000 while your spouse’s salary is up to ¥1,690,000 a year, then less, and nothing above ¥2,070,000. The full amount if your own income after the deduction for employment income is up to ¥9,000,000.
  • Children aged 16–18 and other dependents give ¥380,000; ages 19–22 ¥630,000 (if the child earns more than the limit — the special exemption for specified relatives, 特定親族特別控除); aged 70 and older ¥480,000, or ¥580,000 for a parent living with you. Children under 16 go only in the resident tax part of the form.
  • Relatives abroad — only with documents of the relationship and bank transfers (see above).
  • For health insurance a dependent is registered separately, through your HR department, with a different limit: expected income under ¥1,300,000 a year (¥1,500,000 at ages 19–22; ¥1,800,000 at 60 and older or with a disability) and, if they live with you, under half of your income.

FAQ

Year-end adjustment questions

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Ask us a question

What is the year-end adjustment in Japan?

It is your employer recalculating your income tax for the calendar year with your exact salary and your deductions. Tax is withheld every month by a table, as an estimate; in December the difference is settled. Too much withheld comes back with your pay, too little is deducted.

Yes. The National Tax Agency publishes English versions of the dependents form, the combined basic exemption and spouse form and the insurance premiums form, plus Chinese, Portuguese, Spanish, Vietnamese and Filipino versions of the dependents form. They are provisional translations for reference; you fill in the form your employer uses.

Without the Application for (Change in) Exemption for Dependents your employer withholds tax at the higher rate every month and does no year-end adjustment for you. You can still get your deductions and any refund by filing a tax return.

Usually yes, but under certain conditions the employer can let you leave it out. Ask your payroll department.

Yes, if on December 31 they are aged 16 to 29 or 70 and older, or aged 30 to 69 and either left Japan to study abroad, are disabled under Japanese rules or receive at least ¥380,000 from you that year. You need documents proving the relationship, with a Japanese translation, and bank transfer records for each person. Cash handed over does not count.

Usually with the December or January pay, but the month is up to your employer. The amount is shown on your withholding record, which you get by January 31.

The basic exemption for 2026 rose to ¥1,040,000, but from January to November tax was still withheld with the old monthly tables. The difference comes back at the December 2026 adjustment. For a single employee earning ¥3,000,000 it is about ¥23,500.

If you move to a new job, give the new employer the withholding record from the old one and it is included. If you have no job at the end of the year, there is no adjustment: file a refund return yourself, which you can do for 5 years.

Sources

Where this information comes from

Rates, limits and deadlines on this page were checked against the official websites of the National Tax Agency on October 7, 2026. Amounts are in Japanese yen. When a rule changes we update the page and the date above.

This page is general information, not tax advice. Your city office and the tax office decide your actual tax. For a complex case — income from abroad, a business, leaving Japan — talk to a licensed tax accountant (税理士, zeirishi).

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