Bonus tax and deductions in Japan: what you actually take home

Bonus tax in Japan works the same for foreigners as for Japanese employees, and it comes in two steps. As of October 2026, social insurance comes off the bonus first: for a Tokyo employee under 40 that is about 14.7%. Income tax is then withheld at a flat percentage from a National Tax Agency table. A ¥600,000 bonus leaves about ¥490,956, roughly 82%. Your payslip shows the exact figures.

What comes off a bonus in Japan?

A bonus (賞与, shōyo) is charged like salary, with a few differences. Your bonus payslip usually shows these deductions:

Long-term care insurance (介護保険) is added to health insurance from age 40 to 64. See the take-home pay guide for the monthly salary version of this table.

The official pages we read do not mention nationality or visa type. If you are enrolled in social insurance, premiums apply to bonuses too.

How are pension and health insurance charged on a bonus?

The rate is applied to your bonus after dropping anything under ¥1,000. This amount is the standard bonus amount (標準賞与額). The Japan Pension Service (日本年金機構) says the pension premium is that amount times 18.3%, and you and your employer each pay half.

• Health insurance. Kyokai Kenpo (協会けんぽ) says the health premium is the bonus, rounded down to under ¥1,000, times the health rate, split in half. In its Miyagi example, ¥250,500 becomes ¥250,000.
• Pension cap. Each payment is capped at ¥1.5 million. Bonuses paid more than once in the same month are added together before the cap.
• How many bonuses count. Up to three bonuses a year are treated as bonuses. If you receive four or more in a year, they count as monthly pay (標準報酬月額) instead.

This article uses Tokyo’s Kyokai Kenpo rates. Other prefectures, and employers in their own health insurance society, use different health rates.

How is income tax withheld from a bonus?

Your employer does not use the monthly table. For most people, the National Tax Agency (国税庁) method is:

1. Take the previous month’s salary after social insurance.
2. Find the row for your number of dependents and that salary band in the 2026 bonus rate table (算出率の表).
3. Multiply the bonus, after the social insurance taken from it, by the rate, rounded down to the yen.

For no dependents in the 甲 (kō) column, the 2026 table starts like this:

The table continues in steps up to 20.420% for ¥605,000 to under ¥684,000, and higher above that.

There are two exceptions. If you were not paid any salary the previous month, or the bonus (after deductions) is more than 10 times the previous month’s pay, your employer uses the monthly table instead. The bonus is divided by 6 (or 12 if it covers more than 6 months), taxed, and multiplied back.

From 2027 the withholding includes the special defense income tax (特別防衛所得税) and the tables are revised, according to the National Tax Agency.

Worked example: ¥600,000 and ¥1,200,000 bonuses

Assumptions: Tokyo, Kyokai Kenpo, under 40, a general business, 甲 column with no dependents, and a previous month’s pay of ¥255,930 after social insurance (a ¥300,000 salary, as in the take-home pay guide). That falls in the 4.084% row. Premium rounding is ignored, and we assumed the child support levy applies to bonuses like the health rate (we did not confirm this on an official page), so treat the figures as an approximation.

Social insurance takes about 14.7% and income tax about 3.5%, so you keep close to 82% in both cases. The employer’s cost is higher: the employer pays the other half of pension, health insurance and the levy.

Employment insurance is charged on bonuses because labor insurance counts bonuses as wages. The FY2026 worker share is 5/1,000 for most businesses and 6/1,000 for construction, agriculture, forestry, fisheries and sake brewing.

What about resident tax?

Resident tax (住民税) is not taken from the bonus as a separate line. It is withheld from your salary in 12 monthly installments from June, based on the previous year’s income. A bonus raises that income, so it raises the installments that start the next June. The city where you lived on 1 January charges it. See the resident tax guide.

Is the tax withheld from my bonus final?

For most employees, no. The National Tax Agency says the employer’s year-end adjustment (年末調整) finalizes income tax for most salaried workers, and they do not need a tax return. Check the year-end adjustment guide for the papers to bring, such as proof for relatives abroad. If you have income beyond one employer, see the tax return guide.

What if I leave Japan after a bonus?

The pension refund guide explains the lump-sum withdrawal payment (脱退一時金) for non-Japanese who leave. We have not confirmed how bonus contributions count toward the refund amount, so ask the Japan Pension Service.

What should I check on my bonus payslip?

• The standard bonus amount and the pension and health lines. They should be your bonus, rounded down to ¥1,000, times the rates above.
• Your tax column. If tax looks very high, ask HR whether your dependents declaration is on file.
• Your insurer. If you are not in Kyokai Kenpo Tokyo, your health rate differs.

This page explains the system and is not individual tax advice. For your own situation, ask your tax office (税務署) or a licensed tax accountant (税理士).

More guides

• Take-home pay in Japan
• Resident tax for foreigners
• Year-end adjustment and tax returns for foreigners
• Tax return in Japan for foreigners
• Pension refund when you leave Japan