Filing taxes can be a daunting procedure, especially in a foreign country. However, this is not necessarily a burdensome task as most companies handle their employees’ year-end tax adjustment process (年末調整).
Nenmatsu Chosei (年末調整)
Your main employer automatically withholds income tax from your monthly salary. Your final annual tax due, however, is affected by items such as salary from a previous job you had over the year, the dependents you declare, insurance premiums, or special exemptions for spouses. Then, depending on if the final annual tax due is smaller or larger than the withheld tax amount, tax may either be refunded or payable.
Around November, your company will ask you to fill out some paperwork and declare any data related to the above items so they can calculate your final annual tax due. Then, they will be able to determine your total income and issue your income tax certificate (源泉徴収票) at the end of the year.
Regular employees typically do nenmatsu chosei (年末調整) with their employer. On the other hand, part-time employees have the option of doing nenmatsu chosei (年末調整) or kakutei shinkoku (確定申告).
Kakutei Shinkoku (確定申告)
Kakutei shinkoku (確定申告) is for self-employed individuals and those wishing to file for tax adjustments by themselves. This is also required in the following cases:
- You leave Japan before the year ends
- You work for a company not based in Japan
- Your earn more than 20 million yen per year
- You have more than one employer
- You receive other annual income exceeding 200,000 yen
The tax filing period for this is between February and March. You can complete the procedure at the tax office or online.
You will need to prepare statements of all your income earned for the year, receipts for tax deductible items (social insurance, life insurance, medical fees), as well as remittance slips and other supporting documents for dependents.
For more information, please visit the official website of the National Tax Agency
https://www.nta.go.jp/english/index.htm
