Residence Tax Free Bracket and Low-Income Relief

Japan residence tax exemption threshold rules mean some low earners owe nothing at all. Fall below your city's non-taxable line and there is simply no bill.¹²

Confirm current details with official sources

Procedures, fees, and requirements can change. Confirm current details at your municipal tax office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications residence-tax pages. This article is general information, not tax advice; for your specific case, consult a licensed tax accountant (zeirishi).

Overview

非課税 (hikazei, "non-taxable") is the status of owing no residence tax because prior-year income fell below the threshold.¹² Local authorities levy neither the per-capita nor the income-based portion on taxpayers under the line.²

Above the line, the standard 10 percent income-based portion applies (as of 2026-01).³ There is no single national number to memorize. Municipalities set their own formulas, and the line rises with a spouse and dependents.¹²

The non-taxable threshold shape

Thresholds come in bands that differ between the two components and between cities. The pattern below holds widely; the numbers are illustrative.

Band	Illustrative line	As of	Notes
Single person, both components	About 450K JPY taxable income	2026-012	Practitioner-cited municipal example, not national
With spouse or dependents	Higher by formula	2026-012	Rises per dependent under city rules
Per-capita vs income-based	Bands can differ	2026-011	One part may apply while the other does not

Treat every figure above as shape, not quote (as of 2026-01; confirm current figures with your municipal tax office). Your city's formula is the only binding one.

The single-person band around 450K taxable income

A commonly cited municipal figure puts the single-person non-taxable line near 450K JPY of taxable income (as of 2026-01; confirm current figures with your municipal tax office).² This is one city's arithmetic reported by practitioner sources, not a national statute.

Tokyo's special wards compute the line by their own formula, which shows why no single number travels well.² Always read your own city's threshold table before concluding anything.

How spouse and dependents lift the line

Thresholds rise with a spouse and with each dependent under municipal formulas.¹² The Dependent (Fuyo) System governs the related question of who counts as a dependent across tax and insurance, so read the two together.

Family status moves the line more than overtime does

A dependent added to the household can lift the non-taxable line by more than a few weekend shifts add to income. Household composition, not just hours worked, decides which side of the line you land on.

Municipalities set their own formulas

Each municipality defines its non-taxable bands within the national framework.¹ Two cities can assess identical incomes differently at the margin.

Confirm the local formula with the city office where you are registered on January 1.⁴ Screenshots from another city's guide prove nothing about yours.

The spouse-cap interplay at 1.03M

Households with a part-time spouse watch a second line: the combined-income level near 1.03M JPY that keeps household tax and social-insurance treatment optimal (as of 2026-01; confirm current figures with the National Tax Agency).⁵ The spouse deduction (配偶者控除, haigusha kojo, "spouse deduction") framework turns on this band.⁵

Crossing the line changes both tax and social-insurance treatment at once.⁵ Part-time hour caps therefore need household math, not just the personal payslip: the same extra shift can cost the household its optimal band.

One extra shift can cost more than it pays

Near the 1.03M line, a small earnings overshoot can remove deductions and trigger premiums whose combined cost exceeds the extra wages (as of 2026-01).⁵ Model the household total before accepting December overtime.

The post-2024 low-band change

Post-2024 reforms adjusted low-income treatment, including the fixed-amount tax cut framework (定額減税, teigaku genzei, "fixed-amount tax cut") for income year 2024 onward and a reduced under-100K-JPY residence-tax band (as of 2026-01; confirm current application with your municipal tax office).⁶

Readers assessed for income year 2024 onward should check the current-year notice rather than older guides.⁶ Pre-2024 explainers describe a band structure that no longer applies cleanly.

Residence tax arrears and visa renewal screening

Non-taxable status means no bill and hence no arrears. A small assessed bill, by contrast, must still be paid on schedule: permanent residence screening requires proper performance of public duties including tax payment, and even late-paid tax is evaluated negatively in principle (as of 2026-02).⁷

The Financial and Tax Criteria for Permanent Residency explains how examiners read that record. Low income excuses nothing once a bill exists.

Good to know

Below the income-tax line does not mean below the residence-tax line

The two taxes use different thresholds and different bases.¹² Clearing the national income-tax line does not clear the residence-tax line, so check each separately.

A small bill can still arrive when only the per-capita part applies

Per-capita and income-based bands can differ, so low income may zero the income portion yet leave the fixed levy.¹² A few thousand yen on the slip at low income usually means exactly this.

Part-time hour caps need the household math, not just your slip

The 1.03M line and municipal formulas turn on household composition, not individual hours alone (as of 2026-01).⁵ Recompute the household total whenever shifts, dependents, or the city formula change.

See also

• The Financial and Tax Criteria for Permanent Residency
• The Dependent (Fuyo) System
• Zeirishi: Tax Accountants in Japan
• Blue-Form vs. White-Form Tax Returns
• How Residence Tax Is Calculated

References

Footnotes

1. Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. Individual residence tax system (個人住民税). https://www.soumu.go.jp/main_sosiki/jichi_zeisei/czaisei/czaisei_seido/150790_06.html ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

2. OECD. Taxing Wages 2026: Japan (no levy below a threshold; Tokyo special-wards formula; per-capita 1,000 plus 3,000). https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/taxing-wages-2026_3a5169ef-en/full-report/japan_2a0a001e.html ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹

3. TOMA Consultants Group. Japanese Residents' Tax (rate, schedule, collection). https://toma.co.jp/en/blog/jtg/japanese-residents-tax ↩

4. City of Ashiya. Taxes: A guide for foreign residents (PDF; January 1 domicile rule; installments; visa tax certificates). https://www.city.ashiya.lg.jp/kokusai/spanish/documents/taxes.pdf ↩

5. National Tax Agency. No.1191, Spouse deduction (配偶者控除). https://www.nta.go.jp/taxes/shiraberu/taxanswer/shotoku/1191.htm ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

6. National Tax Agency. Fixed-amount tax cut special site (定額減税, 2024 reform framework). https://www.nta.go.jp/users/gensen/2024/teigakugenzei/index.htm ↩ ↩²

7. Immigration Services Agency. Guidelines concerning permission for permanent residence (revised 2026-02-24). 2026. https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/applications/resources/nyukan_nyukan50.html ↩