End of year tax adjustment
The end of year tax adjustment, or nenmatsu chousei (年末調整) is a document that salaried workers can complete at the end of each year. It allows the employer to adjust the amount of tax that was deducted from salary by the actual amount of tax due based on your income over the past year, and entitlement to any deductions.
Employees who submit an end of year tax adjustment do not need to also submit a tax return if they satisfy the following conditions:
- Earn less than 20 million yen a year
- Do not work for other companies or have other income they need to declare
- Do not need to claim tax deductions that are not claimable via the end of year tax adjustment
Even when claiming deductions that are only available via a tax-return, full-time employees will still normally submit an end of year tax adjustment. Your employer will produce a tax-withholding certificate (給与所得の源泉徴収票) which can be used when creating a tax-return, to avoid re-calculating the same information.
Structure
The adjustment usually consists of three forms, one of which is split into two parts:
- Basic, spouse, and income exemption form
- Insurance deduction form
- Dependents exemption form - one for this year, and one for next year
See the next section for download links for each form.
The adjustment is split into two sections: declarations for this year, and a declaration for next year.
Forms for this year
The forms for this year, in which you confirm, or tell your employer if there are any changes to, your situation that you reported in the previous form at the beginning of the year. This form allows you to claim deductions for Insurance Premiums, Pension Contributions, and Home Loan Interest Tax Relief (from the second year onwards), etc.. See full list below. This allows your company to reconcile the amount withheld throughout the year with the amount actually owed and either provide a refund of excess withheld, or withhold any shortfall in December Paycheck.
Dependents exemption form for next year
The form for next year, in which you tell your employer how many dependents you will have at the end of the next tax year, so along with this year's salary information as a prediction of next year's salary level, they can estimate how much tax they will have to withhold every month from next year's salary to meet your expected tax liability for the end of next year.
Downloadable Forms
The National Tax Agency provides downloadable forms in English and other languages, as well as with input fields for filling out on the computer.
| Form | Japanese name | Symbol | Links |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic Exemption, Exemption for Spouse, Exemption of Amount of Income Adjustment | 給与所得者の基礎控除、配偶者（特別）控除及び所得金額調整控除の申告 | 基・配・所 | download page |
| Deduction for Insurance Premiums | 給与所得者の保険料控除の申告 | 保 | download page |
| (Change in) Exemption for Dependents | 給与所得者の扶養控除等の（異動）申告 | 扶 | download page
|
The following income deductions cannot be claimed via the end of year tax adjustment, it is necessary to also submit a tax return.
- Medical Expenses Deduction (医療費控除)
- Miscellaneous Losses Deduction (雑損控除)
- Donation Deduction (寄附金控除) - used for Furusato Nozei, but donations can be handled without a tax return under certain conditions, see Furusato Nozei for details.
- Home Loan Deduction (住宅借入金等特別控除) (First year only)
In addition, all available tax deductions except the Home Loan Deduction are only available via a tax return. See Income Tax for the full list.
iDeCo
For instructions on how to claim an income deduction for iDeCo contributions, see iDeCo#End of Year Tax Adjustment.