Year-End Adjustment Refund Calculator (2026)

Why the 2026 refund is bigger

Japan's 2026 tax reform raised the basic deduction to ¥1,040,000 for people with total income up to ¥4.89 million (a salary up to about ¥6.65 million), and raised the minimum employment income deduction to ¥740,000. But the tax withheld from your pay through November 2026 still uses the old tables. The whole year's tax cut is settled in the December year-end adjustment, so the refund is larger than in a normal year.

The forms your employer gives you

In October or November your employer asks you to fill in (often online):

• Declaration of dependents (fuyō kōjo tō shinkokusho): your spouse and dependents. Submitted when you join and updated each year.
• Declaration of basic deduction and spouse deduction (kiso kōjo shinkokusho): your expected income for the year.
• Declaration of insurance premiums (hokenryō kōjo shinkokusho): life, medical, private pension and earthquake insurance, and iDeCo you paid yourself. Attach the certificates your insurers mail you around October.

Rules that often affect foreign residents

• Insurance from your home country does not count. Only policies with insurers in Japan qualify for the life insurance deduction; contracts made abroad with foreign insurers are excluded.
• Family abroad needs paperwork. To claim a dependent living outside Japan, you submit documents proving the relationship and the money you sent them. Since 2023, relatives aged 30 to 69 abroad qualify only if they are studying abroad, have a disability, or receive at least ¥380,000 a year from you.
• Some deductions need a tax return instead. Medical expenses, the first year of a housing loan credit, furusato nozei without the one-stop exception, and income from a side job are handled by filing a tax return (kakutei shinkoku) between February and March, not in the year-end adjustment.
• Leaving Japan before December? Your employer usually settles your tax when you leave. See the Leaving Japan money checklist.

Assumptions

• You worked for the same employer all year with the same monthly salary; bonuses are paid in June and December.
• If you leave the withheld amount empty, it is estimated with the National Tax Agency's 2026 computer method for monthly withholding and the 2026 bonus rate table. Your employer's figures may differ by a few hundred yen.
• Not included: spouse special deduction, disability and single-parent deductions, dependents aged 70+, and policies from before 2012.