Guide to Municipal Taxes (市県民税に関するご案内)

○ What are Municipal Taxes? (shikenminzei/juuminzei)
All Obu residents as of January 1st must pay municipal taxes if they have a personal income over a certain amount. Foreign residents must also pay this tax, even if they leave Japan from January 2nd and onwards. If you do not pay this tax, a renewal of your residence permit (visa) may not be granted. Municipal tax revenue is used for things like road improvement and children’s health care.

○ Paying your Municipal Taxes
Your municipal tax amount is decided by your earnings in the previous year from January 1st to December 31st. There are two methods to pay this tax.
(1)Your company deducts the municipal taxes from your monthly salary (tokubetsu choushu) and pays it to the city for you. This is standard for most people working in a company.
(2)You make the payment yourself (futsuu choushu). Obu-shi will mail out letters in June with the amount owed and instructions on how to make the payment, at places such as banks or convenience stores. This method is common with self-employed/business owners.

※ Important points
To make sure your payment is not late, please make note of the following:
(1) Quitting your job.
If you quit your job to return to your home country, you should pay the remaining municipal tax balance directly to your company (lump sum payment.) If making a lump sum payment is difficult, the city will send you invoices that you can use to make payments (regular payment.)
(2) Returning to your home country.
If you cannot pay off your municipal taxes in full before you return to your home country, you must designate someone to pay the taxes on your behalf. If you do not pay your municipal taxes, you may not be able to return to Japan in the future.

○ Renewing your Residence Permit (visa)
When renewing your residence permit, you are required to provide documents proving your tax status with your renewal application (kazei shomeisho or nouzei shomeisho). To receive these documents you must declare your previous year’s income (shuunyuu/shotoku) and pay your taxes in full. If your company is not paying your taxes for you, you must bring a document (gensenchoshu) to city hall which shows your previous years income. After you declare your income to city hall, and pay the required taxes, you will be provided with the documents needed for your residence permit renewal.
※The “kazei shomeisho” document states how much you owe in taxes
※The “nozei shomeisho” document states that you have paid your taxes
※“Shuunyuu” is your total earnings in a year
※“Shotoku” is your earnings minus deductions like pension contributions

○How to Declare Your Income
See "Guide to Declaring Income and Filing Taxes" PDF at bottom of this page.

○ Appointing a Tax Representative
People who are not currently residing in Obu-shi, but still have tax obligations here such as municipal and asset taxes, should appoint a representative. The representative can do things like receive your “nozei tsuchi sho” (※) and pay your taxes for you. (A representative may not be needed if you can still pay your taxes while residing outside the city). If you do not appoint a representative and fail to pay your taxes, your residence permit renewal may not be approved.
※ The “nozei tsuchi sho” document tells you how much tax you need to pay.

○ Understanding the “nozei tsuchi sho”
Please take a look at the PDF attached.

○ Inquiries
Obu City Hall Tax Payment Division 0562-45-6217

• Tax Notification Sample （PDF 1.6MB）
• Guide to Declaring Income and Filing Taxes （PDF 259.0KB）
• Regarding the “Municipal Tax to be Deducted” Notification
• Regarding Certificates Such as Proof of Income, Tax Payment Etc.