Municipal tax(시세)

Taxes are money we pay to fund services provided by national and local governments. Non-Japanese residents living in Japan are also required to pay taxes. There are two types of tax: national taxes and local taxes. Of these, income tax (national tax) and residential tax (local tax) are calculated according to your income. Please do not forget to pay these.
For more information on national taxes, please inquire at a tax office located within Yokohama City.

There are a range of local taxes that individuals pay, including municipal residents' tax and prefectural residents' tax, property tax and city planning tax, and light motor vehicles tax (keijidosha-zei)

Municipal residents' tax and prefectural residents' tax are paid by all people who are resident in Yokohama City as of January 1 and whose income for the previous year exceeds a certain amount.
Even if you move outside Yokohama City partway through the year, you pay your municipal residents' tax and prefectural residents' tax for that year to Yokohama City. People who pay the municipal residents' tax and prefectural residents' tax are sent a tax notification at the beginning of June every year.
If you have income from overseas companies etc. or have a securities transaction account or something similar overseas, please ask at a tax office within the city to check whether or not you have to declare these.

People living in Yokohama City as of January 1 are required to declare their income status regardless of whether or not they had income in the previous year (from January to December).
However, those who have submitted a final return for their income tax, and those whose income is only income from employment and whose place of work has submitted a salary payment report on their behalf do not need to file taxes.

If you are living outside Yokohama City as of January 1, please file your taxes in the municipality where you currently live.
You can file municipal residents' tax and prefectural residents' tax until March 15 every year. Please submit your tax filing form to the Municipal Tax Section, Tax Division of the ward office of the ward where your live as of January 1.

Also, please note that the calculated amount of municipal residents' tax and prefectural residents' tax is used to calculate things such as national health insurance premiums. As such, failure to file taxes many mean that your premiums are not calculated properly.

Property tax is a tax levied on people who possess land, buildings or depreciable assets (machines used for a business, etc.) in Yokohama City as of January 1 every year.
City planning tax is a tax levied on people who possess land or buildings in areas designated for urbanization (places where there are concentrations of houses and shops). This is paid together with property tax.
For more details, please inquire at one of the following places.

• In regard to land or buildings, contact the sections for land or buildings of the Tax Division in the ward where your land or building is located
• In regard to depreciable assets (machines used for a business, etc.), the City of Yokohama Depreciable Asset Center(PDF:183KB)

The light motor vehicles tax is a tax levied on people (including corporations) who possess a light motor vehicle, motorcycle, motorized bicycle, etc. as of April 1 every year.
You will be sent a tax notification at the beginning of May every year.

You will receive tax payment slips in the post. Please pay these using one of the following methods.

• Take your tax payment slips to the counter of a financial institution (bank, credit union, etc.) or a convenience store
• Direct debit payment from your account (apply in advance to have the money withdrawn automatically from your bank account or credit union account automatically)
• Payments made via the Internet (Pay-easy payment, credit card, smartphone payment, common tax payment)

In some cases, your residential tax may be deducted directly from your salary.
Delayed payment will result in you having to pay delinquent payment.

You will be sent a reminder in the post if you have not paid your municipal tax by the stipulated deadline.
If you still do not pay your municipal tax, you face having to pay off the amount owed through the seizure of assets, such as from your salary, savings, real estate, etc.

If you are unable to pay your municipal tax by the deadline, please consult with the Tax Collection Section, Tax Division of your ward office.

If you are moving overseas or returning to your home country, you need to pay off the total amount of tax that you have been levied to date. If you are unable to pay off your tax, please declare an administrator of tax payment who will pay your taxes on your behalf at the Tax Division of your ward office.
For more details of the necessary procedures, please consult with the Municipal Tax Section, Tax Division of your ward office before leaving Japan.