Gift tax in Japan for foreigners, including money sent to family abroad

Gift tax in Japan (贈与税, zōyozei) is paid by the person who receives a gift, at 10% to 55% on what they get above ¥1.1 million in a calendar year. As of October 2026, money a family member gives for living or education costs as they are needed is not taxed. So regular support you send to parents abroad is generally not a gift. Lump sums that are saved or used to buy property are. Your visa type decides whether gifts outside Japan count.

Who pays gift tax in Japan?

The receiver. According to the National Tax Agency (国税庁), gift tax applies when you receive property from an individual. A gift from a company is taxed as income instead, not as a gift.

Under the standard calendar-year method (暦年課税), you add up everything you received in the year and subtract ¥1.1 million. The limit is per receiver, not per giver: ¥800,000 from your mother and ¥800,000 from your uncle make ¥1.6 million, and ¥500,000 of it is taxable.

What is the gift tax rate in Japan?

The rate depends on who gives. Gifts from a parent or grandparent to someone aged 18 or over on 1 January of that year use the special rate (特例税率). Everything else, including gifts between spouses, from siblings, from a spouse’s parents, or to a child under 18, uses the general rate (一般税率).

General rate

Special rate (parent or grandparent to a receiver aged 18 or over)

The National Tax Agency’s example: a ¥5 million gift leaves ¥3.9 million after the deduction. At the general rate the tax is ¥3.9 million × 20% − ¥250,000 = ¥530,000. At the special rate it is ¥3.9 million × 15% − ¥100,000 = ¥485,000.

Is money I send to my family abroad taxed as a gift?

Usually not, if it pays for their living costs. The law (相続税法 Article 21-3) excludes money given between support obligors (扶養義務者) for living or education costs, to the extent it is normally necessary. Support obligors include your spouse, your parents, children and grandparents, and your siblings.

Three conditions matter, according to the National Tax Agency’s Q&A:

• Living or education costs. Food, rent, daily needs, medical bills and childbirth costs count as living costs. Tuition, teaching materials and stationery count as education costs, at any level of school.
• Normally necessary. What is reasonable is judged by the receiver’s needs and the giver’s means.
• As needed, used directly. Money sent each month and spent on bills fits. If several years of support are sent at once, the part that is saved, invested or used to buy a house is a taxable gift.

So sending ¥50,000 a month to your parents for their food and medicine is support, not a gift. Sending ¥5 million so your brother can buy a house is a gift. Whether Japan can tax it depends on the next section. Socially reasonable celebration money, condolence money and year-end or New Year presents are also not taxed.

Do foreigners pay gift tax on gifts from abroad?

It depends on both people at the time of the gift. The law (相続税法 Article 1-4) uses three terms that match the inheritance tax rules:

• Temporary resident (一時居住者): a receiver living in Japan with a status listed in Appendix 1 (別表第一) of the Immigration Control Act, who has lived in Japan 10 years or less in total in the past 15 years.
• Foreign giver (外国人贈与者): a giver living in Japan with an Appendix 1 status. There is no length-of-stay limit.
• Non-resident giver (非居住贈与者): a giver who doesn’t live in Japan and either never held Japanese nationality while living here in the last 10 years, or didn’t live in Japan at all in those 10 years.

Appendix 1 covers activity-based statuses such as work visas (Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services and others), Business Manager, Specified Skilled Worker, Student and Dependent (家族滞在). Permanent Resident, Spouse or Child of Japanese National, Spouse or Child of Permanent Resident and Long-term Resident are Appendix 2, so these holders are never temporary residents or foreign givers for this tax.

Location follows fixed rules: real estate where it is, and bank deposits at the branch that holds them. A gift of money sent across borders can be harder to place. Before a large transfer, ask a licensed tax accountant (税理士).

The support exemption above applies in every row. A permanent resident sending monthly living costs to parents abroad is still not making a taxable gift. The rows matter for lump sums, such as money from your parents toward a home in Japan.

Is there gift tax between spouses in Japan?

Yes. Your spouse is taxed like any other receiver above ¥1.1 million a year, at the general rate. Paying your spouse’s normal living costs is support, not a gift.

There is one extra relief, the spouse deduction (配偶者控除). If you have been married 20 years or more and give your spouse a home in Japan, or money used to buy one, up to ¥20 million is deducted on top of the ¥1.1 million, so up to ¥21.1 million is tax-free. Your spouse must live in the home by 15 March of the next year and plan to keep living there. It is allowed once per spouse, and only with a gift tax return and documents such as a family register (戸籍) extract.

When and how do I file a gift tax return?

If you leave Japan between 1 January and 15 March without naming a tax agent (納税管理人), the return is due by the day you leave. A receiver abroad who must file appoints a tax agent and files a notification. For other tax steps before departure, see the leaving Japan checklist.

What changed with 相続時精算課税 in 2024?

There is a second method, settlement at inheritance (相続時精算課税), for gifts from a parent or grandparent aged 60 or over to a child or grandchild aged 18 or over. Gifts get a special deduction of up to ¥25 million in total and a flat 20% above it, but when the giver dies, they are added back to the estate for inheritance tax (minus the yearly deduction below) and the gift tax already paid is credited. From gifts on or after 1 January 2024, it also has its own ¥1.1 million yearly deduction per giver. Once chosen for a giver, you can’t switch back to the calendar-year method for that giver.

Gifts under the calendar-year method also link to inheritance tax: gifts from a person in the years before their death are added back to their estate. For gifts from 1 January 2024 the period is 7 years, phased in by date of death, according to the National Tax Agency: deaths up to 31 December 2026 add back 3 years, deaths in 2027 to 2030 add back gifts from 1 January 2024, and deaths from 1 January 2031 add back the full 7 years. A total of ¥1 million from gifts outside the last 3 years is not added back.

This page is general information. Gifts across two countries can also bring home-country tax questions that this page doesn’t cover. For a large gift, a property purchase or a choice between the two methods, talk to a 税理士.

More guides

• Inheritance tax for foreigners: the same status rules at death.
• Sending money from Japan: fees and providers for support payments.
• Tax residency in Japan
• Resident tax for foreigners
• Bringing your parents to Japan