7 Steps to Filing Your Tax Return

The basic flow from preparing to submitting your tax return.

1

Gather Documents

Withholding slips, deduction certificates

2

Calculate Income

Calculate by each of the 10 income types

3

Apply Deductions

Review and apply income deductions (16 types)

4

Compute Tax

Taxable income × rate − deduction + reconstruction tax

5

Choose Method

e-Tax, mail, in-person, etc.

6

Submit Return

Deadline: March 16

7

Refund / Payment

e-Tax refund in ~2-3 weeks

Key Dates & Deadlines

January 5 — e-Tax starts accepting returns; NTA Online Tool opens[1]

February 16 – March 16 — Income tax filing period (extended to 16th as March 15 falls on Sunday)[1]

March 16 — Statutory income tax deadline (filing and payment)[17]

April 23 — Automatic bank transfer date (income tax)[17]

Who Needs to File

●Sole proprietors and freelancers (those with business income (事業所得))
●Salaried employees with annual salary income exceeding ¥20 million
●Salaried employees with side income exceeding ¥200,000
●Those with rental income, stock capital gains, or cryptocurrency profits
●Those with pension income over ¥4M, or non-pension income over ¥200K
●Those claiming medical expense deduction, first-year mortgage credit, or furusato nozei beyond the one-stop exemption

See the NTA's official guide on who needs to file for details.[32]

Preparation Checklist

Items to prepare before filing. Check them off to track your progress.

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Late Filing & Penalties

Missing the deadline may result in the following penalties.[21]

Penalty	Rate	Conditions
Late filing surcharge (無申告加算税)	15-20%	For not filing by deadline. 15% on first ¥500K of tax, 20% on excess. Reduced to 5% for voluntary late filing.
Delinquency tax (延滞税)	2.4%-8.7%/yr	Accrues from the day after the deadline. Lower rate for first 2 months, higher rate after.
Heavy surcharge (重加算税)	35-40%	Applied for concealment or fraud. Imposed when deliberate tax evasion is determined.

If you voluntarily file late but before the NTA contacts you, the surcharge is reduced to 5%. In some cases, the surcharge can be waived entirely if certain conditions are met.[21]

Correcting Your Return

Correction before deadline (訂正申告)

If still within the filing period, simply submit a corrected return. The last submitted version becomes effective. No penalties.

Amended return (修正申告)

Filed after the deadline when you underreported tax. May incur a 10-15% underpayment surcharge, but typically waived for voluntary amendments.

Request for reassessment (更正の請求)

Filed after the deadline when you overpaid tax. Can be requested within 5 years of the statutory deadline. You'll receive a refund.