The Tax Office (Zeimusho) and the e-Tax Portal
Every Japanese tax filing travels one of two channels: the counter at your local tax office, or the national e-Tax portal from home. The duty is identical either way; the experience, the authentication, and the blue-return payoff differ.12
Procedures, fees, and requirements can change. Confirm current details at the National Tax Agency site. This article is general information, not tax advice; for your specific case, consult a licensed zeirishi (tax accountant).
Overview
The 税務署 (zeimusho, "tax office") is the NTA's per-area branch: real counters, real queues, paper accepted. The 国税電子申告・納税システム (kokuzei denshi shinkoku nozei shisutemu, "e-Tax") is the online alternative: 24-hour filing except maintenance windows (as of 2026-09).12 Pick the channel once, set up authentication early, and filing season becomes routine.
The zeimusho: your competent tax office
Individual returns go to the office competent for your address, the 所轄税務署 (shotoku zeimusho).2 Find yours on the NTA site before February, because filing at the wrong office costs a second trip.
Counter filing suits first-timers with unusual facts, anyone who wants a staffer to glance at the forms, and filers without a My Number Card. Bring the withholding slip, deduction certificates, residence documentation, and a personal seal or signature setup if the forms call for one. Expect the longest queues in late February and early March.
The e-Tax portal: filing from home
e-Tax accepts returns around the clock except maintenance windows.1 The companion tool is the 確定申告書等作成コーナー (kakutei shinkokusho-to sakusei kona, "creation corner"): answer on-screen prompts, enter the amounts, and the corner assembles the return plus any schedules and statements automatically (as of 2026-04).2
The portal serves individuals, corporations, and zeirishi through separate gateways, so start from the individual path and do not follow a corporate guide by mistake.1
Proving who you are: two authentication paths
Authentication is the step that defeats most first attempts. e-Tax documents two paths, and one of them is sunsetting.3
The My Number Card way
Log in via the My Number Portal or the e-Tax site using the My Number Card, with no separate certificate-registration step beforehand.3 Card reads need either an IC card reader attached to a computer or an NFC-capable smartphone running the My Number Portal app as the reader substitute.4
This is the durable path. New filers should default to it: obtain the card, set the PINs, test one login before filing season, and the annual return becomes a short evening task.
The ID and password way, and its end date
The ID and password method works only inside the creation corner and needs no card or reader.3 Issuance required prior identity verification, new issuance has stopped, and the method becomes unavailable from the 2027 (Reiwa 9) filing onward (as of 2026-07).5
If you still file with an issued ID and password, migrate to the My Number Card during this cycle. The old path ends with the 2027 filing, and filing season is the worst time to discover the login is dead.5
The filing experience, honestly
The e-Tax interface is functional but Japanese-only. English-speaking filers commonly bridge the gap with commercial cloud accounting software that generates e-Tax-compatible data, then submit through the portal (vendor capability pages: freee.co.jp and biz.moneyforward.com). Confirm the current export compatibility before committing a whole year of books to any one tool.
At the counter, no reservation is needed for a standard return during filing season, but patience is. Bring originals plus your own copies: the office keeps what you submit.
The My Number Portal can pipe insurance and deduction certificates into the return, cutting the year's most tedious typing. Set the linkage up once; it pays back every February.
Why e-Tax pays: the blue-return bonus
The blue-return deduction tiers reward digital filing directly. Proper double-entry books filed on time earn up to 650,000 yen of special deduction with e-Tax filing or qualifying electronic ledgers, against up to 550,000 yen for the same books on paper (as of 2026-04).6
That 100,000 yen gap repeats every year. For freelancers already keeping real books, it is the cheapest money in the tax system: one card setup, annual payoff.
Filing records and renewals
Whatever the channel, archive the proof. Permanent residence screening requires proper performance of public duties including tax, with even late-paid amounts evaluated negatively in principle (as of 2026-02).7 e-Tax receipts and stamped paper copies are the evidence that requirement asks for.
Good to know
February and March counters queue; go early or go digital
Filing-season congestion hits every zeimusho. Early-February visits move fast; March visits do not. e-Tax sidesteps the queue entirely.1
The ID/password sunset strands procrastinators
New issuance has stopped and the method dies with the 2027 filing.5 Cardless filers who wait until the final season face the card-application queue at the worst moment.
Paper filers keep copies; the office keeps the originals
Submitted paper stays with the office. Keep stamped copies of everything, because renewals and loan applications ask for proof you can only produce from your own files.
e-Tax receipts are your renewal evidence
Digital filing receipts document compliant, on-time filing. Store them with the same care as withholding slips; PR document checklists accept them as the filing half of the compliance story.7
See also
- My Number Portal: Online Procedures
- Blue-Form vs. White-Form Tax Returns
- Zeirishi: Tax Accountants in Japan
- The Financial and Tax Criteria for Permanent Residency
- Form-by-Form Map: Who Files What