Japan tax return 2026: kakutei shinkoku for freelancers

A Japan tax return (確定申告, kakutei shinkoku) is how you report a full year of income, from 1 January to 31 December, and settle the tax on it. Most employees never file one, because their employer settles the tax through the year-end adjustment. If you are a freelancer or sole proprietor, or an employee with side income, it is yours to do, every year.

This guide covers who has to file, the dates for 2026 and 2027, the business opening notice, the blue return and its deduction, consumption tax, how to pay, and what happens if you are late. Everything below was checked against National Tax Agency (NTA) pages on 31 October 2026. Where a page shows an older year, we say so.

Who has to file a Japan income tax return

NTA's rule is that you must file if your total income for the year is more than your deductions and there is tax left to pay after credits and tax already withheld. In practice:

Freelancers and sole proprietors (business income) usually need to file, because nobody else settles the tax for you.
Employees with one employer must file if their other income (side jobs, freelance work, rent and so on) is more than ¥200,000 for the year.
Employees paid more than ¥20 million must file, whatever else they earn.
Employees with two or more employers must file if the salary that was not year-end adjusted plus other income is more than ¥200,000 (with some exceptions NTA lists).

The ¥200,000 rule is for national income tax only. Residence tax is handled by your city, so if your side income is below ¥200,000, ask your city office whether you still need to report it to them.

Some people file even when they do not have to, to get money back (a refund return). NTA says a refund return for 2025 income can be filed any time from 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2030.

Filing taxes in Japan: the 2026 and 2027 dates

For 2025 income, the filing period was 16 February to 16 March 2026 (15 March fell on a Sunday). Refund returns could be sent earlier. The payment deadline was also 16 March 2026.

For 2026 income, NTA's payment calendar lists the deadline as Monday 15 March 2027. NTA's general rule is that the filing period runs from 16 February to 15 March of the following year; check the 2027 notice when NTA publishes it.

Item	2025 income	2026 income
Income tax: file and pay by	16 March 2026	15 March 2027
Income tax: automatic bank debit date	23 April 2026	23 April 2027
Consumption tax (individuals): file and pay by	31 March 2026	31 March 2027
Consumption tax: automatic bank debit date	30 April 2026	30 April 2027

How to file: e-Tax and the My Number Card

NTA's main route is the online Tax Return Preparation Corner (確定申告書等作成コーナー) on its website. You enter your figures, it calculates the tax, and you submit by e-Tax. With a smartphone that can read your My Number Card, NTA says you can prepare and submit the return on the phone. If you prepare the return on a computer, you scan a QR code with the Mynaportal app on your phone to submit. Our My Number Card on iPhone guide covers the card side.

NTA publishes a step-by-step manual for the preparation corner in English, and also in Chinese, Vietnamese, Portuguese and Nepali. You can still print the return and post it or take it to your tax office. From 1 October 2026, tax office counters take visitors from 9:00 to 15:00 on weekdays, in principle.

When you file, your data is sent to your city, so NTA says you do not need to file a separate residence tax or enterprise tax return in most cases.

Freelance in Japan: the opening notice (kaigyo todoke)

If you start a business as an individual, you file a notice of opening a business (個人事業の開業・廃業等届出書, usually called kaigyō todoke) with the tax office for your address. NTA's procedure page, current for 2026, gives the deadline as the tax return deadline for the year you started. You can submit it by e-Tax, by post or at the counter.

The opening notice matters most because of what comes with it: the chance to file a blue return.

Blue tax return in Japan (aoiro shinkoku)

A blue return (青色申告, aoiro shinkoku) is for people with business, real estate or forestry income who keep proper books. In return, you get a special deduction and other benefits. To use it, you must file an application for approval of the blue return:

by 15 March of the year you want to start using it, or
if you start a business on or after 16 January, within 2 months of the start date.

Miss the window and you file a white return for that year, then can apply for the next one.

The blue return special deduction

NTA's 2026 figures are:

¥650,000 if you meet the ¥550,000 conditions and either file the return by e-Tax or keep your main books in a qualifying electronic format and notify the tax office.
¥550,000 if you keep double-entry books, attach a balance sheet and profit and loss statement, and file by the deadline.
¥100,000 for other blue return filers.

The ¥650,000 and ¥550,000 amounts need the return filed by the deadline, even if it is a refund return. A late blue return drops you to ¥100,000. Blue return books and documents are generally kept for 7 years, with some documents (invoices, quotes, delivery notes) kept for 5.

The white return

Without approval, you file a white return. You still have to keep books of income and expenses and attach a statement of income and expenses to the return. NTA says those books are kept for 7 years, and other documents such as receipts and invoices for 5 years.

Tax withheld from your fees

Businesses that pay individuals certain fees, such as writing fees and lecture fees, must withhold income tax from them. NTA's rate is 10.21% of payments up to ¥1 million, and 20.42% on the part above ¥1 million (plus ¥102,100). That tax counts as already paid when you file. NTA notes that a new defence special income tax is added from 2027, so check the rate for 2027 payments.

Consumption tax and the invoice system

Consumption tax is separate from income tax. As an individual you are generally exempt if your taxable sales two years earlier (the base period) were ¥10 million or less. You are not exempt if:

your taxable sales from January to June of the previous year were over ¥10 million (NTA has a detailed test for this), or
you have registered as a qualified invoice issuer. Registered businesses file a consumption tax return even under ¥10 million.

For individuals who registered from exempt status, NTA's 2026 tax reform notice says the 20% special rule (pay 20% of the consumption tax on your sales) applies for 2026, and a new 30% rule applies for 2027 and 2028.

How to pay

NTA lists six ways to pay national tax:

Direct Payment from your bank account through e-Tax.
Internet banking.
Credit card, online.
Convenience stores, in cash with a barcode slip, up to ¥300,000 per slip.
Automatic bank debit (振替納税, furikae nōzei), taken on the later debit date shown in the table above.
At a bank, post office or tax office counter, with a payment slip.

Automatic debit gives you extra weeks, but only if you filed by the deadline, and you need to send the account transfer form to your tax office or bank by the filing deadline (by e-Tax or on paper). If you already use it, the same account is debited each year.

What happens if you file or pay late

Late payment adds delinquency tax (延滞税) from the day after the deadline. NTA's rates for 2026 are 2.8% a year for the first 2 months and 9.1% a year after that.

Late filing adds a penalty for not filing on time (無申告加算税):

5% of the tax due if you file late on your own, before the tax office tells you it will investigate.
10% if you file after that notice, and more on large amounts (15% on the part over ¥500,000, 25% over ¥3 million).
Higher rates again if you file only after an investigation.

There is no penalty if you file within 1 month of the deadline on your own, pay the full tax by the deadline, and have no penalty in the past 5 years. Delinquency tax still applies to anything paid late. If you missed the deadline, file as soon as you can.

What follows your tax return

Your return also sets two other bills. Residence tax is charged by the city where you lived on 1 January, based on last year's income; Shinjuku City, for example, sends the notice in early June. Our residence tax guide explains the timing. National Health Insurance premiums include an income-based part from the previous year, which is why Shinjuku asks every NHI household to report its income. See our health insurance cost guide for how the premium is worked out.

Daruma keeps the dates in this guide in one place for you: the filing deadline, the blue return application window, and the debit dates. It scans letters from the tax office or your city into plain English, and you can ask it which form you need for your situation and which counter to go to.

Useful Japanese

確定申告 (kakutei shinkoku): tax return
開業届 (kaigyō todoke): notice of opening a business
青色申告 (aoiro shinkoku): blue return
振替納税 (furikae nōzei): paying tax by automatic bank debit
源泉徴収 (gensen chōshū): tax withheld at source

Where to confirm this

Guides are dated rather than undated: last reviewed 31 October 2026. This is an organisational aid, not legal or immigration advice — always confirm anything consequential with your ward office, the Immigration Services Agency, or a qualified professional.