Furusato Nozei Calculator

What is Furusato Nozei (hometown tax) and how does it work?

Furusato Nozei lets you donate to any Japanese municipality and deduct almost the whole amount from your income tax and resident tax, while the municipality sends you a thank-you gift such as rice, meat, fruit or local products. Your net cost is a flat ¥2,000, no matter how much you donate, as long as you stay within your personal limit.

In practice it works like redirecting part of next year's resident tax to a town of your choice and getting goods worth up to about 30 percent of the donation in return. The tax you would have paid anyway goes to the municipality; the gift is the benefit.

Anyone who pays Japanese resident tax can take part, including foreign residents on work visas, permanent residents and spouses. The limit depends only on your income and household, not on nationality.

How the donation limit is calculated

The limit is driven by your resident tax income levy (the 10 percent part of resident tax). The donation minus ¥2,000 is returned in three pieces: an income tax deduction, a basic resident tax deduction and a special resident tax deduction. The special portion is capped at 20 percent of the resident tax income levy, and the donation at which that cap is reached is your limit.

The formula is: resident tax income levy × 20% ÷ (90% − income tax rate × 1.021) + ¥2,000. The income tax rate is your marginal rate (5 to 45 percent) and 1.021 adds the reconstruction surtax. A higher marginal rate makes the denominator smaller, so higher earners get a larger limit for the same resident tax.

This tool estimates the levy from your salary by subtracting the employment income deduction, social insurance and the personal deductions for a spouse and dependents, then applies the resident tax adjustment. Entering the social insurance figure from your gensen choshu hyo (withholding slip) and any iDeCo or insurance deductions makes it more accurate.

Furusato Nozei limit by salary: quick reference table (2026)

Estimated limits for a salaried employee aged 35 by annual salary and household. A dependent spouse means one earning about ¥1.5M or less. Children count only from age 16, because younger children do not affect the deductions.

One-stop exception vs. filing a tax return

The one-stop exception (one-stop tokurei) lets salaried employees skip the tax return. You can use it if you donate to five or fewer municipalities in the year and would not otherwise need to file. For each donation you send a short form, or apply online with a My Number card, to the municipality by January 10 of the following year. All of the relief is then applied to next year's resident tax.

If you donate to six or more municipalities, or you file a tax return for any reason (first year of a mortgage deduction, medical expenses, side income), the one-stop applications are cancelled and you claim the donation deduction on the return instead. Keep the receipts each municipality sends you.

• One-stop: five or fewer municipalities, no tax return needed, forms due January 10
• Tax return: six or more municipalities, or anyone filing for other reasons, due March 15
• The total relief is the same either way; only the route differs (income tax refund plus resident tax, or resident tax only)

Points for foreign residents: leaving Japan, mortgages and side income

The resident tax part of the relief is applied to the resident tax billed from June of the following year, based on your address on January 1. If you leave Japan before then, you may still owe resident tax for the year but the Furusato Nozei deduction can be lost in the handover, so check with your city office before donating large amounts in your final year.

A mortgage deduction reduces income tax directly and can spill over into resident tax, which may shrink the room for Furusato Nozei if you file a return for both. Using the one-stop exception keeps the hometown tax relief on the resident tax side and reduces the overlap.

Side income, rental income or capital gains raise your limit, while iDeCo contributions, life insurance deductions and medical expense deductions lower it. This tool uses salary only, so adjust for other income yourself or enter deductions in the detailed fields.