Japan pension refund (脱退一時金): who qualifies, how much and how to claim

Yes, you can get a Japan pension refund if you are not a Japanese national, paid into the Japanese pension for at least 6 months, have less than 10 years of coverage and have left Japan. It is called the lump-sum withdrawal payment (脱退一時金, dattai ichijikin). You must claim within 2 years of the day your Japanese address ends, and at most 60 months count toward the amount, as of October 2026. Claiming erases all your Japanese pension periods.

Who can get the Japan pension refund?

You qualify if all of these apply, according to the Japan Pension Service (日本年金機構):

• You do not have Japanese nationality.
• You have 6 or more months of paid National Pension (国民年金) premiums, or 6 or more months in the Employees’ Pension (厚生年金), the plan your employer enrolls you in. Unpaid months don’t count.
• You are no longer covered by either system.
• You do not have an address in Japan.
• Your total coverage is under 10 years (120 months). At 10 years you qualify for an old-age pension (老齢年金) instead, so you can’t claim the refund.
• You have never been entitled to a disability pension, including the disability lump sum (障害手当金).

Partly exempt months count in part: a quarter-exempt month counts as three quarters, a half-exempt month as a half, a three-quarters-exempt month as a quarter.

How much is the Japan pension refund?

The amount depends on which plan you paid into and for how long. Since April 2021 the maximum is 60 months (5 years). If all your months are from March 2021 or earlier, the old cap of 36 months still applies.

National Pension part

This is a fixed amount set by the fiscal year of your last paid month. For a last payment between April 2026 and March 2027:

Employees’ Pension part

If you worked for a company, this part is usually larger. The formula is your average standard remuneration (平均標準報酬額, your monthly pay band plus bonuses, averaged over your insured months) times a payment rate:

Example: with an average standard remuneration of ¥300,000 and 60 or more months, the refund is ¥300,000 × 5.5 = ¥1,650,000 before tax. With 20.42% withheld (see below), ¥336,930 is taken at payment.

Should I claim it or keep my pension years?

The refund ends your Japanese pension record. Before you claim, think about whether you might come back.

• You might return and stay. Old-age pension needs 10 years in total. Years you keep now count later. Years you cash out don’t.
• Your home country has a totalization agreement. Japan has social security agreements (社会保障協定) that add up pension periods with Germany, the US, Belgium, France, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Spain, Ireland, Brazil, Switzerland, Hungary, India, Luxembourg, the Philippines, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden and Austria. With these, your Japanese months can count toward a pension from either country. If the combined total gives you 120 months or more of Japanese eligibility, you can’t claim the refund at all. If you claim, those months can’t be added up any more.
• The UK, South Korea, China and Italy have agreements with Japan that only prevent paying into two systems at once. They don’t add up periods.

Not sure which is better for you? Ask the Japan Pension Service before you leave. For tax questions, a tax accountant (税理士) can advise.

How do I apply for the Japan pension refund?

Which form and languages?

The claim form (脱退一時金請求書) is free on the Japan Pension Service’s English page. It is bilingual Japanese and one of: English, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Indonesian, Filipino (Tagalog), Thai, Vietnamese, Myanmar, Khmer, Russian, Nepali or Mongolian. You can also get a paper copy at a pension office (年金事務所).

What documents do I need?

• Passport copy: the pages with your name, date of birth, nationality, signature and status of residence (在留資格).
• Proof you have no address in Japan: a 住民票の除票 (deleted residence record). Not needed if you filed your 転出届 before leaving, unless your pension record has no alphabet name (for example, if you enrolled before July 2012).
• Bank proof: a document showing bank name, branch name, branch location, account number and that the account is in your name, such as a bank certificate. For an overseas account, add the SWIFT (BIC) code. Japan Post Bank (ゆうちょ銀行) can’t receive the payment, and neither can some internet-only banks. A Japanese account name must be in katakana.
• Basic Pension Number proof: your 基礎年金番号通知書 or pension handbook (年金手帳).
• A power of attorney (委任状) if someone files for you.

Where do I send it?

Japan Pension Service (Foreign Business Group), 3-5-24 Takaido-Nishi, Suginami-ku, Tokyo 168-8505, Japan. The address is the same if you post it from inside Japan. The phone line, +81-3-6700-1165, is in Japanese only. You can also apply online through e-Gov. If your last coverage was a mutual aid association (共済組合) you file with that association instead.

You can hand in the claim before leaving Japan, but only after filing your 転出届. The service must receive it on or after the date your residence record is deleted.

Can I claim if I leave with a re-entry permit?

As of October 2026, yes, if you filed a 転出届. The current claim form says that with a moving-out notification you can claim after leaving on a re-entry permit or a deemed re-entry permit (みなし再入国許可). Without it, you still count as insured in the National Pension, so you can’t claim until the permit expires.

How do I get the 20.42% tax back?

The Employees’ Pension part of your refund has 20.42% income tax withheld when it is paid, because you are a non-resident by then. The National Pension part has no tax withheld.

You can get the tax back by choosing to be taxed as a resident on retirement income. This is called 退職所得の選択課税. Retirement income gets a deduction of at least ¥800,000, so a small refund may owe no tax at all. In the National Tax Agency’s (国税庁) filing example, a ¥291,478 Employees’ Pension refund had ¥59,519 withheld, and the full ¥59,519 came back.

1. Appoint a tax agent (納税管理人). Any person or company with an address in Japan can do it: a friend, a former colleague or a tax accountant. File the 所得税・消費税の納税管理人の選任・解任届出書 at the tax office for your last address in Japan, ideally before you leave. If you have already left, your agent can file it together with the return.
2. Wait for the payment notice. When the refund is paid, you receive the Notice of Lump-sum Withdrawal Payment Determination. Send the original to your agent.
3. Your agent files the return. The 退職所得の選択課税の申告書 goes to the same tax office, on or after January 1 of the year after the payment was decided. It is for the year the payment was decided. The refund goes to the agent’s account.

The tax office handles questions about the form. For your own case, ask a 税理士.

More guides

• How to send money from Japan: move your refund and savings home.
• Bank accounts for foreigners in Japan: which accounts can receive payments.
• NISA for foreigners: what happens to your investments when you leave.
• Furusato nozei for foreigners