Resident tax (住民税) for foreigners: first year, payment and leaving Japan

The resident tax Japan’s cities and prefectures charge (住民税, jūminzei) is about 10% of your previous year’s taxable income, plus a small fixed amount. You pay it to the city where you lived on 1 January, so most newcomers get no bill in their first year and a first bill the June after. Your visa type doesn’t change this. As of October 2026, if you leave Japan you still owe the year’s tax: pay it before you go or appoint a tax agent (納税管理人).

What is resident tax in Japan?

Japan taxes your income twice. Income tax (所得税) is a national tax. Resident tax is a local tax for your city (or ward) and your prefecture. Both are compulsory, and the city collects both parts together.

Two rules explain almost everything about it:

1. The 1 January rule. You pay to the city where your address was registered on 1 January. If you move on 2 January or later, that year’s tax still goes to the old city, and the new one doesn’t bill you.
2. Last year’s income. The bill is based on your income from January to December of the year before. Setagaya’s FY2026 notice, for example, goes to people living there on 1 January 2026 and uses their 2025 income.

Why didn’t I pay resident tax in my first year?

Because of those two rules. Say you arrived in April 2025:

That is why your take-home pay can drop from June of your second year: resident tax deductions start on top of income tax. Nothing went wrong. The tax simply runs one year behind.

How is resident tax calculated?

Your city takes your previous year’s income, subtracts deductions, and applies the rate. Using Setagaya’s FY2026 notice as the example:

Resident tax uses its own deductions, which are smaller than income tax ones. The basic deduction for resident tax is ¥430,000 for most people. The fixed per capita amount differs by city, so check your own notice.

Claiming relatives abroad works the same way as for income tax, with documents and remittance records: see year-end adjustment for foreigners. For dependents abroad under 16, your city may ask for relationship and remittance documents directly, according to the National Tax Agency. Ask your city office.

Some exchange students and trainees can be exempt under a tax treaty with their home country. Hiroshima, for example, asks for a notification every year by 15 March.

How do I pay resident tax?

With payment slips, you can pay at a bank, post office, convenience store (barcode slips), or online. Setagaya, for example, accepts credit card, internet banking and smartphone payment apps through the local tax payment site.

Changing jobs? If you leave a job in May or earlier, deductions for the new tax year can’t start, so you pay with slips. A new employer can switch the unpaid part back to salary deductions.

What happens to resident tax when I leave Japan?

You still owe the tax for any year in which you lived in Japan on 1 January. Leaving in, say, March 2027 means you owe FY2027 tax on your 2026 income, even though the bill only comes in June 2027.

Cities set their own procedures. Sendai says that if you leave after the June notice and have paid everything in full, nothing more is needed. Hiroshima asks you to appoint a tax agent or file a form saying you won’t, in which case you must receive documents and pay yourself. Without an agent, unpaid tax can attract delinquency charges. Check with your own city’s tax division before you book your flight.

The tax agent can be any person or company with an address in Japan. If you also claim your pension refund, you may need a tax agent for income tax too: see our pension refund guide and the leaving Japan checklist.

Does resident tax affect my visa renewal or permanent residency?

Yes. Immigration uses your resident tax certificates to check your income and that you paid.

• Visa renewal. The Immigration Services Agency (出入国在留管理庁) list for renewing Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services includes a taxation certificate (課税証明書, or 非課税証明書 if you weren’t taxed) and a tax payment certificate (納税証明書) covering one year. Hamamatsu says these certificates are needed when foreign residents renew. See visa renewal in Japan.
• Permanent residency. On a work status or Dependent status, you submit these certificates for the most recent 5 years. If resident tax wasn’t deducted from your salary for part of that time, you also show passbook copies or receipts proving you paid on time. If it was deducted from salary for all 5 years, you don’t need those.

Certificates issued in Japan must be dated within 3 months of your application. Get them from the city that billed you, which is the city where you lived on 1 January of that year.

For your own case, for example income from abroad or a treaty exemption, ask your city’s tax division or a licensed tax accountant (税理士).

More guides

• Year-end adjustment and tax returns for foreigners: how income tax is settled each December.
• Furusato nozei for foreigners: donations that reduce next year’s resident tax.
• National Health Insurance for foreigners
• Visa renewal in Japan