Tax Refunds - How to File Your Final Tax Return

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Jump to Filing your Final Tax Return

Albert Einstein once said: "The hardest thing in the world to understand is the Income Tax."

Welcome to Adulting 101. As adults and contributing members of society, we all will, eventually, have to deal with taxes. Dealing with taxes even in your native language can be very challenging, imagine doing this in Japan, in Japanese. *cue nosebleed

Before we jump into the steps of filing your Final Tax Return, let's go ahead and explain some of the words you will be encountering while you deal with this.

源泉徴収 (Gensen Choshu) - Withholding Tax

Gensen Choshu(源泉徴収) is the process where your employer estimates how much income tax you will need to pay and will withhold that amount from your monthly salary. In other words, withholding tax. Your monthly payslip will show how much tax you paid and since this is just an estimated amount, there are instances where you either over or underpay your taxes. Whether you overpaid or underpaid your taxes will then be computed around the time of the Nenmatsu Chosei(年末調整) or the Year-End Tax Adjustment.

年末調整(Nenmatsu Chosei) - Year-End Tax Adjustment

To put this simply, Nenmatsu Chosei(年末調整) is the adjustment of the taxes you paid through your monthly withholding tax. Employers usually start preparing for this around the last quarter of the year and will usually compute your actual income tax for the year (from January 1st to December 31st of the year).  This is also the time when you submit the documentation required for possible tax deductions (dependents, social insurances, medical expenses, etc). 
 
Depending on the result, they will either withhold the remaining amount you're required to pay or will reimburse you for the excess amount withheld from your past months' salary. Once everything is done you will be issued a Gensen Choshu Hyo. 

Generally, if you only work for 1 employer, and you have declared all your dependents and submitted all the documentation for the social insurances you personally pay, then there is nothing else you need to do. Your employer will figure this out for you and you will get your tax refund from your regular payroll account.

There are some instances where your employer will not be able to do this for you. Some of these instances are:
  • You have more than one employer (side gigs, multiple part-time jobs, etc.)
  • You have another source of income that exceeds 200,000 yen annually
  • You earn more than 20 million yen in salary
  • You have an overseas income
Then you will need to file this adjustment yourself at your regional tax office, and instead of filing for the Nenmatsu Chosei(年末調整), you will be filing for the Kakutei Shinkoku(確定申告) or the Final Tax Return.

確定申告 (Kakutei Shinkoku) - Final Tax Return

By definition, Kakutei Shinkoku is the declaration of your earnings for the previous year from January 1st to December 31st. This will comprise of all your income from all sources, and this is also where you would declare all possible deductions. 

Filing of the final tax return is required for the following situations:
  • You have multiple employers
  • You are self-employed
  • You are employed, but did not file your Nenmatsu Chosei
  • You changed employers mid-year
Possible deductions that you can claim are:
  • Dependents (in Japan or abroad)
  • Social Insurances (that you personally paid and are not automatically deducted)
  • Medical expenses exceeding 100,000 yen 
  • On-going housing loans, etc
The Kakutei Shinkoku has to be filed at your regional tax office (税務署- zeimusho) and there are 3 ways of doing so: in person, by mail, or online. I have never tried by mail or online because I just feel more at ease when there is someone helping me fill out the final tax return forms.

Filing your Final Tax Return

For foreigners like us, especially Filipinos, we send money regularly home in support of our family back home. This is why it is very important to file this every year. Depending on how many dependents you have you can get possible refunds from your withholding taxes paid throughout the year.

Documents to Prepare:

You can prepare some of these things in advance. Especially birth certificates, marriage certificates, etc.
  • Copy of your passport
  • Proof of kinship (bring originals to show and copies for submission)
    • These are government-issued documents showing proof that you are indeed related to your dependents. This can be birth certificates and marriage contracts where a family relationship can be traced. 
    • Dependent's ID showing full name and date of birth. I personally provide copies of my dependent's passport which shows both of these.
    • All documents need to be translated into Japanese (Passport copies can be submitted as is)
  • Proof of remittance
    • This can be a remittance certificate from your banking/remittance provider.
    • This also has to be translated, although most remittance providers already include a Japanese translation automatically.
    • This can also be the transfer receipts you get every after sending a remittance.
    • Important note: each dependent has to have their own account that you remit to. Even if they live in one household, there is a need to show that you sent remittances to accounts matching the names of the dependent you are declaring. If you are remitting to only one account, only the account holder will be considered as your dependent.
  • Gensen Choshu Hyo (源泉徴収票）
  • Proof of National Pension Premium Payments (if applicable)
    • When you make payments to the National Pension System (国民年金保険料) you will receive a postcard in the mail around the end of October. (Here's a sample)
  • If you have a housing loan
    • You will need a Home Loan Year-end Balance Certificate or (住宅ローン年末残高証明書) You can request this from your housing loan provider.
  • If you have medical bills amounting to more than 100,000 yen
    • You will need to present proof of payment such as official receipts from medical institutions.

Other important things to bring

  • Residence card (在留カード)
    • You should always have this with you anyway.
  • Passport
  • Hanko/Inkan (印鑑)
    • Your personal seal. If you don't have one, this can be your signature.
  • Cashcard/Bank book (通帳）
    • Where your refund will be credited to

Timeline: February 16 - March 15 (usually)

Step 1

To prevent the spread of COVID-19, you are required to set an appointment to go to your regional tax office. They will only accommodate a fixed number of people and you might get turned away if you don't have one.

You can set your appointment via Line.


Click here for instructions. This will be in Japanese but there are visual illustrations so you will be able to follow them.

Step 2

Arrive on time. Make sure that you arrive within the time frame of your appointment. Once you arrive show your appointment confirmation to the assistant on site. When you're asked, say that you want to file your final tax return and that you want to apply for your dependent deductions. 

"確定申告をして扶養家族を申告したいのですが、どうすればいいですか？" 

- Kakuteishinkou o shite fuyou kazoku o shinkoku shitai no desu ga, dou sureba ii desu ka?

- I would like to file a tax return and declare my dependents. What should I do?

Step 3

Follow the line. Once you're in, no need to worry, somebody will assist you with the things you will need to do. They will ask you some questions, and they will be able to speak at least a little bit of English, at least enough to explain the things you need to know. If you're having a hard time with what they're saying, just ask them to use easy Japanese by saying:

"簡単日本語でお願いします。"

- Kantan nihongo de onegaishimasu.

- Please use easy Japanese.

At the end of the line, you will need to sign your forms, the assistant will then put your application in an envelope, give you your copy, and you are done!

Don't forget to say "ありがとうございました。おつかれさまでした。" to everyone who helped you along.


These tips should help you ease into your daily life in Japan. If you enjoyed reading this, you might enjoy these articles as well:



For questions or if you need help with translation, feel free to comment below or message me on Facebook or Instagram. 









 

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