Do foreigners pay income tax in Japan?

Last checked: 2026-11-06

Yes. Japan taxes people by where they live, not by nationality, so most foreigners who live or work in Japan pay Japanese income tax. A resident pays progressive rates of 5% to 45%. A non-resident is generally taxed only on income from Japan, and salary for work in Japan is withheld at a flat 20.42%.

Which group are you in?

Group	Who	What is taxed
Resident, not non-permanent	Has a domicile in Japan, or has lived in a place in Japan for one continuous year or more	Whole income
Non-permanent resident	A resident without Japanese nationality who had a domicile or residence in Japan for 5 years or less in the past 10 years	Income other than foreign-source income, foreign-source income paid in Japan, and foreign-source income paid abroad and remitted to Japan
Non-resident	Everyone else	Japan-source income only

The National Tax Agency says a domicile is your base of daily life, judged by objective facts. Its guide gives examples such as having an occupation in Japan or living with a spouse or relatives. It also says someone who comes to study is treated as having an occupation in Japan while studying.

Resident tax rates

These rates are from a National Tax Agency page current as of April 1, 2026. Multiply taxable income by the rate, then subtract the deduction.

Taxable income	Rate	Deduction
1,000 to 1,949,000 yen	5%	0 yen
1,950,000 to 3,299,000 yen	10%	97,500 yen
3,300,000 to 6,949,000 yen	20%	427,500 yen
6,950,000 to 8,999,000 yen	23%	636,000 yen
9,000,000 to 17,999,000 yen	33%	1,536,000 yen
18,000,000 to 39,999,000 yen	40%	2,796,000 yen
40,000,000 yen and over	45%	4,796,000 yen

A special reconstruction income tax of 2.1% of the income tax also applies for 2013 through 2047. Local resident tax is a separate charge.

Example: why the group matters

This is our own simplified illustration for a 5,000,000 yen salary for work in Japan. The 2,500,000 yen taxable income is our assumption, used only to show the method. It ignores tax treaties and resident tax. Your employer or the tax office can give your real figure.

Status	Calculation	Income tax
Resident, assumed taxable income of 2,500,000 yen	(2,500,000 x 10% - 97,500) x 1.021	About 155,700 yen
Non-resident, flat rate on the salary	5,000,000 x 20.42%	1,021,000 yen

The group is not a free choice, because it depends on the facts of your life. The example shows why it is worth asking if your situation is unclear, such as in a year you arrive or leave.

Non-resident rates on other Japan income

Income	Rate
Salary for work in Japan, public pensions, retirement allowances	20.42% withheld
Dividends from Japanese companies	20.42% withheld
Interest on savings at banks in Japan	15.315% withheld
Rent from property in Japan	Aggregate taxation, generally with a final return

The 20.42% rate is also why the Employees' Pension part of the pension lump-sum withdrawal is paid after withholding.

If you are a resident in two countries

The National Tax Agency says tax treaties settle this in order: permanent home, center of vital interests, habitual abode, then nationality. Check the treaty with your country, or ask the tax office.

Do you need to file?

Hiroshima City says that if your employer does not withhold tax, you file at the tax office between February 16 and March 15 of the next year. Employees whose tax is withheld may have other reasons to file. Ask the tax office about your own case.

What we read only as search excerpts

Non-permanent residents and whole income. Our main fetched pages do not cover these. The wording in the table comes from search excerpts of the National Tax Agency's English guides, mainly 2020 to 2025. We could not open the PDFs directly.
Domicile examples. The occupation, family and student examples also come from those excerpts.
Nationality and visa. A search excerpt of an agency publication said the definitions are unrelated to nationality and residence status. The classification page we read in full is consistent with that.

This page is general information, not tax advice. For your own case, ask your local tax office.