Inheriting Japanese Property: Deadlines, Registration and Tax Agent

This article is part of Zagdim’s Japan property series, in the group on inheritance and gift tax. It answers one question: when a family member dies and leaves property in Japan, which procedures must be completed in Japan, and within what time? The tax scope and general rules are covered in the main article on inheritance and gift tax for overseas families who hold Japanese property.

When a relative who owned Japanese property dies, Japan has two main tracks. The first is filing and paying inheritance tax (相続税, sōzoku-zei, Japan’s estate tax). The second is inheritance registration (相続登記, sōzoku tōki), which records the property in the heirs’ names. Inheritance tax generally has to be filed only when the net estate exceeds the basic deduction, and the deadline is 10 months from the day after you learn that the inheritance has begun. Inheritance registration must be done whether or not tax is due, and the deadline is 3 years. An heir who lives overseas must first appoint a tax agent (納税管理人, nōzei kanrinin) in Japan before filing.

When the estate has not yet been divided, or documents cannot be gathered in time, both tracks have rules that let you do part of the work first and correct it later. The sections below follow the order in which things need to be handled.

Why Heirs Abroad Often Get Stuck

Heirs may live in different countries. Dividing the estate requires agreement among all of them, and supporting documents must be prepared in each heir’s own country of residence. Meanwhile, several Japanese deadlines run separately and start from different points.

Inheritance tax runs from the day after you learn that the inheritance has begun, not from the date of death. Someone who learns later gets a deadline that starts later. The 3-year deadline for inheritance registration starts only when you know both that the inheritance has begun and that you have acquired the property.

This article deals with two common obstacles: an estate that has not been divided, and living overseas without access to Japanese certificates.

What Has to Be Done in Japan, and in What Order?

First, establish which country’s law governs the inheritance. If Japanese civil law applies, you must decide whether to accept or renounce the inheritance within 3 months of learning that you are an heir. If the deceased would already have had to file Japanese income tax during life (for example because of Japanese rental income), the heirs must file the deceased’s final income tax return (準確定申告, jun-kakutei shinkoku) within 4 months of the day after they learn of the inheritance. If the net estate exceeds the basic deduction, inheritance tax must be filed and paid within 10 months; an heir living overseas appoints a tax agent first. The property itself must be registered in the heirs’ names within 3 years.

Which Country’s Law Governs the Inheritance, and How Long Do You Have to Renounce?

It depends on the nationality of the person who died. Under Japanese rules, inheritance follows the national law (本国法, honkoku-hō) of the deceased. If the deceased held Japanese nationality, Japanese civil law applies. A person with both Japanese and another nationality is also treated as having Japanese law as the national law.

If the deceased did not hold Japanese nationality (for example, residents of Taiwan or Hong Kong), the law of their home country generally applies, unless that country’s law points back to Japanese law, in which case Japanese law applies (renvoi, 反致). Which law finally applies to a Taiwanese or Hong Kong decedent has to be confirmed case by case. From October 5, 2026, a person applying to be registered as a property owner must declare their nationality. One of the reasons the Ministry of Justice gives is that nationality determines which country’s inheritance law applies when an owner dies.

When Japanese civil law applies:

• Decide within 3 months. Within 3 months of learning that you are an heir, you choose between simple acceptance (単純承認, tanjun shōnin), qualified acceptance (限定承認, gentei shōnin) and renunciation. If you do not file for qualified acceptance or renunciation within 3 months, you are treated as having accepted simply.
• You can ask for an extension. If you still cannot decide after investigating the estate, you can apply to the family court (家庭裁判所, katei saibansho) to extend the 3 months.
• Renunciation is made to a court. You file a statement with the family court at the deceased’s last place of residence. Each applicant pays 800 yen in revenue stamps, plus postage stamps for correspondence, the amount of which varies by court. If the deceased last lived overseas, the court’s explanation as of September 2026 does not say which Japanese court takes the case, so confirm this with a family court first.

When a foreign law governs the inheritance, the period and method for accepting or renouncing follow that country’s law, and the Japanese 3 months may not apply.

Tax: What Must Be Done Within 10 Months When You Live Overseas?

Who Handles the Filing in Japan?

An heir who lives overseas and must file inheritance tax must appoint a tax agent from among people living in Japan. A relative or a licensed tax accountant (税理士, zeirishi) can serve. After the appointment, a notification form (納税管理人届出書, nōzei kanrinin todokedesho) must be submitted to the tax office (税務署, zeimusho) for the heir’s tax district.

• When to submit. Submit it when you appoint the agent. A person who lives in Japan now but is about to leave must submit it before the day of departure. It can be filed through e-Tax, delivered in person or mailed.
• If you will leave Japan within the period. If you lived in Japan when the inheritance began and will leave within the 10 months, leaving without submitting the form moves your filing deadline forward to the day you no longer have a residence or dwelling in Japan. If you cannot finish the return before leaving, at least submit the notification form first.
• Consequences of not appointing. The tax office can ask in writing for you to submit the form by a set date, which it fixes according to the days needed to prepare and which cannot be more than 60 days away. It can also ask in writing that a convenient person living in Japan act as your tax agent. If the form still is not submitted, the tax office can designate a specific tax agent (特定納税管理人, tokutei nōzei kanrinin), which can include an adult spouse or other relative who shares your livelihood. These are measures the tax office may take, not automatic outcomes.
• Income tax is a separate procedure. The notification for income tax and consumption tax is a separate procedure, and the form used for inheritance tax cannot stand in for it. When there are two or more heirs, the final income tax return is generally filed jointly, with the tax office for the district where the deceased lived at death.

Which tax office receives the return depends on where the deceased lived at death. If the deceased lived in Japan, it is the tax office for that residence. When both the deceased and the heirs live overseas, the heirs decide the tax district (納税地, nōzeichi) themselves. As of September 2026 the National Tax Agency has not explained how to choose in this situation, so confirm with a tax office or tax accountant before filing.

The Estate Is Not Divided and the 10-Month Deadline Has Arrived

File and pay by the deadline, calculating on the basis that the estate is undivided. When the division is completed later, you ask for an adjustment under the rules.

• Spousal tax credit (配偶者の税額の軽減, haigūsha no zeigaku no keigen). This relief is calculated on the property the spouse actually receives, so any portion undivided at the filing deadline cannot qualify. If you attach the “statement of expected division within 3 years after the filing deadline” (申告期限後3年以内の分割見込書, bunkatsu mikomisho) to the return and divide within 3 years of the deadline, the credit can apply. If there are unavoidable reasons that prevent division within 3 years and the head of the tax office approves, division within 4 months from the day after the reason ends is also accepted. If the division happens after you filed, you must make a request for correction (更正の請求, kōsei no seikyū) within 4 months from the day after the division is completed.
• Small residential land special rule (小規模宅地等の特例, shōkibo takuchi-tō no tokurei). When two or more people acquire the property, all of them must agree on the land to which the rule applies, and in principle the land must also be divided before the filing deadline.
• Foreign decedent. If the deceased was a foreign national and the estate is undivided, each person’s taxable value is calculated using the heirs and shares prescribed by the deceased’s national law.
• A division agreement needs seal certificates. The spousal tax credit requires documents such as a copy of the will or a copy of the estate division agreement (遺産分割協議書, isan bunkatsu kyōgisho). When a copy of the division agreement is attached, seal certificates (印鑑証明書, inkan shōmeisho) of all the heirs must be attached. What a person living overseas without a Japanese seal certificate should submit instead is not covered by the sources, so confirm with the tax office or a tax accountant before filing.

Even if the spousal tax credit brings the tax to zero, or the small residential land rule is what brings the estate below the basic deduction, a return is still required. Neither relief can be used without filing.

What Happens if You Cannot Pay, or Pay Late?

The tax must be paid by the filing deadline. If you file on time but pay late, delinquency tax (延滞税, entai-zei) accrues by the day. The 2026 rates are 2.8% a year for the first 2 months from the day after the deadline and 9.1% a year after that. The rates are adjusted every year.

If you file late, or the tax office assesses the tax itself, a penalty for failure to file (無申告加算税, mushinkoku kasan-zei) may also apply. When the statutory filing deadline falls on or after January 1, 2024 and the return is filed late or assessed after a tax audit, the penalty is calculated in tiers on the tax due: 15% on the part up to 500,000 yen, 20% on the part above 500,000 yen up to 3 million yen, and 30% on the part above 3 million yen. The top tier applies only when the cumulative tax paid, including the penalty, exceeds 3 million yen. When the filing is voluntary and not made in anticipation of an audit, the rates are different.

If you cannot pay in one lump sum, there are two methods. Both require an application to the tax office before the filing deadline and its approval:

• Installments (延納, ennō). One condition is that the inheritance tax exceeds 100,000 yen, and security must in principle be provided. No security is needed when the installment tax is 1 million yen or less and the period is 3 years or less.
• Payment in kind (物納, butsunō). This is limited to cases where even installments make payment in money difficult, and the property offered must be located in Japan.

Registration: How Do You Register the Property in Your Name Within 3 Years?

The inheritance registration deadline is 3 years from the day you know both that the inheritance began and that you acquired the property. It applies equally to people living overseas. For inheritances that began before April 1, 2024, the deadline is March 31, 2027. For people who learned of their acquisition in April 2024 or later, it is 3 years from that day.

What If the Heirs Have Not Agreed Within 3 Years?

You can first file an heir notification registration (相続人申告登記, sōzokunin shinkoku tōki). You tell the registrar that the inheritance has begun and that you are an heir of the registered owner. Filing within the period is treated as meeting the basic duty to register the inheritance.

• One heir is enough. An heir can file alone, or on behalf of other heirs at the same time. It is not necessary to identify every heir or fix each share first.
• No registration and license tax. It can also be done on a web browser.
• It is not an ownership registration. The notification does not publicly record rights, so if you want to sell the property or put a mortgage on it, you still have to complete the inheritance registration separately.
• There is another 3 years after the division. A person who filed the notification and later acquires the property through the estate division must register the transfer of ownership within 3 years of the division. The same applies to a person who first registered the inheritance by statutory shares and later receives more than their share after the division. This additional duty cannot be met by a second heir notification.

The Ministry of Justice’s examples of family register documents for the notification assume a Japanese family register. What to attach when the deceased or the heirs have no Japanese family register is not covered in the Ministry’s explanation, so confirm with a legal affairs bureau (法務局, hōmukyoku) or a judicial scrivener (司法書士, shihō shoshi).

Whether to file the notification first or to wait and register the inheritance directly once the division agreement is done depends on how soon the heirs can agree and on whether you plan to sell or mortgage later.

If there is no justifiable reason for not registering, the registrar first sends a demand. If you still do not register after the demand, you may be fined up to 100,000 yen (過料, karyō, an administrative fine). The Ministry’s examples of justifiable reasons include a large number of heirs, the time needed to collect family registers, and disputes over the validity of the will or the scope of the estate. Living overseas is not among them.

What Else Do You Need to Prepare When Living Overseas?

• Proof of address. A person without a resident record in Japan cannot skip proof of address. A Japanese national uses a certificate of residence abroad (在留証明書, zairyū shōmeisho) issued by a Japanese diplomatic mission (在外公館, zaigai kōkan). This certificate is issued only to Japanese nationals, so it does not apply to heirs who are Taiwanese or Hong Kong nationals or other foreign nationals. A foreign national uses an address certificate equivalent to a resident record produced by the government of their home country or country of residence, or an affidavit (宣誓供述書, senzei kyōjutsusho) notarized by a notary in their home country or country of residence, plus a copy of the passport. Foreign-language documents need translations. When there are unavoidable reasons that the home or residence country notarization cannot be obtained, a Japanese notary can notarize instead.
• When you cannot get a seal certificate. When the registration documents require a seal certificate (for example, an estate division agreement), a person living abroad who cannot obtain one can, according to the Ministry of Justice, attach a signature certificate (署名証明, shomei shōmei) produced by a Japanese consul. When that is difficult, for instance because the nearest diplomatic mission is too far away, a signature certificate produced by a foreign notary can be attached. The Ministry’s examples all concern Japanese nationals living abroad. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs explains that signature certificates from Japanese missions are issued only to Japanese nationals (with possible exceptions for former Japanese nationals in procedures such as estate inheritance), and the person must apply in person at the mission. A foreign national heir must have a notary in the place of residence certify their signature, and the format should be confirmed in advance with the judicial scrivener handling the case.
• Domestic contact person and nationality. A person living overseas who is registered as an owner must provide a contact person in Japan (国内連絡先となる者, kokunai renrakusaki to naru mono), or state that there is none. From October 5, 2026, nationality must also be declared. Details on both are in the main article.

How Much Tax Does Registration Cost?

For a registration of transfer of ownership by inheritance, the registration and license tax (登録免許税, tōroku menkyo-zei) is 4/1000 of the property value, which is in principle the assessed value in the municipal fixed asset tax ledger. Property acquired by inheritance is not subject to real estate acquisition tax (不動産取得税, fudōsan shutoku-zei).

There are two situations in which inherited land is exempt from the registration and license tax, both until March 31, 2027:

• The taxable value of the land is 1 million yen or less, when registering the inheritance or an ownership preservation registration (the preservation registration applies only to heirs of the person named in the table section as owner).
• A person who acquired land by inheritance dies before registering it, and the registration is the one in that person’s name.

These two apply to land only. They do not apply to buildings, and they do not apply to gifts.

After registration is completed, if the owner moves or changes name, a change of registration must be filed within 2 years of the change. A person without a justifiable reason who does not file may be fined up to 50,000 yen. This duty took effect on April 1, 2026, and for changes made before then that have not yet been registered, the deadline is March 31, 2028. An owner who lives overseas is outside the scope of changes the legal affairs bureau makes on its own initiative, so the owner must apply personally.

**Example: A father living in Osaka dies, and the family is spread across different countries**

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The father held Japanese nationality and had always lived in Osaka. He leaves an apartment. The mother is not a Japanese national and lives in a city abroad with the younger daughter. The elder daughter lives in another country and is also not a Japanese national. None of the three lives in Japan, and they cannot immediately agree on how to divide the estate.

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• **3 months:** The father was Japanese, so Japanese civil law governs. The three must decide whether to accept or renounce within 3 months of learning they are heirs. If they cannot decide in time, they can apply to the family court for an extension. – **10 months:** If the net estate exceeds the basic deduction, inheritance tax is filed and paid at the tax office for the father’s place of residence. All three live overseas, so each person who must file first appoints a tax agent living in Japan and submits the notification form. – **Not yet divided:** They first file and pay on the undivided basis, and the mother temporarily cannot use the spousal tax credit. They attach the statement of expected division to the return, divide within 3 years after the deadline, and then request a correction within 4 months of the day after the division is completed. – **3 years:** If they still have not agreed after 3 years, the elder daughter can file an heir notification registration herself, or on behalf of the others at the same time. If a division is agreed later, whoever receives the apartment must register the transfer of ownership within 3 years of the division.

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What they need to do: first confirm whether the net estate exceeds the basic deduction, and the valuation of the apartment; choose a tax agent; then prepare proof of address according to where each lives, and confirm with a judicial scrivener how the signature certificate should be handled when none of the three has a Japanese seal certificate.

Common Claims to Be Careful With

How to Work Through the Next Steps

Confirm the following in order, reaching a conclusion at each step before moving on:

1. The date you learned of the inheritance, the deceased’s nationality and the deceased’s residence at death. These decide when each deadline starts, which country’s law governs and which tax office receives the return. If the governing law is unclear, confirm it first. Under Japanese civil law, if you cannot decide within 3 months, you can apply for an extension.
2. Whether inheritance tax must be filed. Work out which type of taxpayer you are (see the Zagdim article on who pays Japanese inheritance tax and how residence, nationality and years of residence set the taxable scope), then check whether the net estate exceeds the basic deduction (see the Zagdim article on how Japanese inheritance tax is calculated, covering the basic deduction, rate brackets and the spousal credit).
3. Tax agent. If you must file, first choose a person living in Japan and submit the notification form.
4. Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act report. An heir who is a non-resident under the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act (外国為替及び外国貿易法, gaikoku kawase oyobi gaikoku bōeki-hō, Japan’s law governing foreign exchange and external transactions) and who acquires Japanese property by inheritance or bequest must also file a report through the Bank of Japan to the Minister of Finance within 20 days of acquisition, regardless of the amount. The acquisition date can be filled in as an appropriate date such as the date the inheritance was settled. Failure to report or a false report is punishable by imprisonment of up to 6 months or a fine of up to 500,000 yen.
5. Can the estate be divided within 10 months? If not, file on the undivided basis and attach the statement of expected division.
6. Can it be divided within 3 years? If so, register the inheritance directly. If not, file the heir notification registration first. When proof of address or a signature certificate cannot be obtained, pause and check with a judicial scrivener or a legal affairs bureau before going further.
7. Home-country tax filings. Some home countries tax the worldwide estate of their residents or nationals. For example, if the deceased was a Republic of China (Taiwan) national who usually lived in Taiwan, the Japanese property must also be included in the Taiwan estate tax return, due 6 months from the day after death, subject to the local authority’s current rules. How the two countries’ filings fit together is covered in a separate Zagdim article for Taiwan and Hong Kong families.

For the full comparison of taxable scope, calculation methods and deadlines, see the main article.

Inherited Japanese Property FAQ

Can I wait until the estate is divided to file Japanese inheritance tax?

No. You must file and pay within 10 months of the day after you learn that the inheritance has begun, on the undivided basis. Attach the statement of expected division to the return and divide within 3 years after the deadline. You can then request a correction and apply the spousal tax credit.

If I only filed the heir notification registration for inherited Japanese property, can I sell it directly?

No. The heir notification registration is a simplified way of meeting the registration duty and does not publicly record rights. To sell or mortgage the property, you still need to complete the inheritance registration so that the property is registered in the name of the person who acquires it. For the transfer income tax and filing when selling, see the Zagdim article on taxes when selling Japanese property (capital gains, resident tax and filing duties).

Is there an exemption from registration and license tax when registering inherited land in Japan?

Until March 31, 2027 there are two: land with a taxable value of 1 million yen or less, and the registration in the name of a person who inherited land and died before registering it. They apply to land only, not to buildings or gifts.

Glossary

• Inheritance tax (相続税, sōzoku-zei): Japan’s estate tax, paid by a person who acquires property by inheritance or bequest.
• Tax agent (納税管理人, nōzei kanrinin): A person appointed by someone with no residence in Japan to handle Japanese tax filings and related matters. The agent must live in Japan.
• Final income tax return (準確定申告, jun-kakutei shinkoku): When a person dies during the year, the heirs file the income tax return for January 1 until the date of death.
• Statement of expected division (申告期限後3年以内の分割見込書, shinkoku kigen-go 3-nen inai no bunkatsu mikomisho): A document filed with the return explaining that the estate is expected to be divided within 3 years after the deadline. Attaching it is what allows the spousal tax credit to apply when the division happens later.
• Request for correction (更正の請求, kōsei no seikyū): A procedure for asking the tax office to correct the tax amount after filing; used when applying the spousal tax credit after the estate has been divided.
• Inheritance registration (相続登記, sōzoku tōki): The transfer of ownership registration that places inherited property in the heirs’ names.
• Heir notification registration (相続人申告登記, sōzokunin shinkoku tōki): A simple registration in which a person tells the registrar that they are an heir. It meets the basic duty to register the inheritance but is not an ownership registration.
• Certificate of residence abroad (在留証明書, zairyū shōmeisho): An address certificate issued by Japanese diplomatic missions to Japanese nationals living overseas.
• Signature certificate (署名証明, shomei shōmei): A signature certification attached by a person living abroad who cannot obtain a Japanese seal certificate. Those made by a Japanese consul are issued only to Japanese nationals; foreign-national heirs have it made by a notary where they live.
• Administrative fine (過料, karyō): A kind of monetary penalty in Japan, applied to breaches such as registration duties.
• Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act (外国為替及び外国貿易法, gaikoku kawase oyobi gaikoku bōeki-hō): Japan’s law governing foreign exchange and external transactions. A person who is a non-resident under this law and acquires Japanese property must report it through the Bank of Japan within 20 days.

About the Data

• The information was checked as of September 30, 2026, and rests on Japanese statutes and on documents from the National Tax Agency, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the courts.
• The following are applications of the statutory text; officials have not addressed these situations directly. When both the deceased and the heirs live overseas, the heirs choose the tax district, and the National Tax Agency has not said which tax office to pick. The 3-month period for acceptance or renunciation and the method and cost of filing with the family court assume that Japanese civil law governs, and no explanation was found of which court takes the case when the deceased last lived overseas. How the national law of a Taiwanese or Hong Kong decedent is determined, and whether it points back to Japanese law, has not been checked.
• No official explanation was found for the following: what heirs who live overseas without a Japanese seal certificate use in place of one for the inheritance tax return; what documents substitute for the family register when a person without a Japanese family register files the heir notification registration; and which methods a non-resident can use to pay the tax.
• The nationality declaration from October 5, 2026 falls after the check date. The Ministry of Justice circular does not state word for word that every inheritance registration needs it, and it says that handling before the system update is completed will be announced separately. The delinquency tax rates are adjusted every year, and this article gives the 2026 rates. The penalty for failure to file is listed at the rates for filing or assessment after a tax audit; the rates for voluntary filing are not listed here. Whether the registration and license tax exemption for inherited land will be extended beyond March 31, 2027 has not been found.

Have a question about this guide? Leave a comment below, or ask Zagdim directly.

Sources

• e-Gov Law Search: Inheritance Tax Act (Act No. 73 of 1950)
• National Tax Agency: Tax Answer No. 4205 Filing and Paying Inheritance Tax
• National Tax Agency: Tax Answer No. 4138 When an Heir Lives Abroad
• e-Gov Law Search: Act on General Rules for National Taxes (Act No. 66 of 1962)
• National Tax Agency: B1-28 Procedure for Notifying a Tax Agent for Inheritance and Gift Tax
• National Tax Agency: Tax Answer No. 2022 Final Return for a Person Who Died During the Year
• National Tax Agency: Tax Answer No. 4158 Spousal Tax Credit
• National Tax Agency: How to File Inheritance Tax (for 2026)
• National Tax Agency: Tax Answer No. 4124 Small Residential Land Special Rule
• National Tax Agency: Q&A Case, Taxation of an Undivided Estate When the Deceased Is a Foreign National
• National Tax Agency: Tax Answer No. 9205 Delinquency Tax
• National Tax Agency: Q&A Cases on Inheritance and Gift Tax (2023 Tax Reform)
• National Tax Agency: Tax Answer No. 4211 Installment Payment of Inheritance Tax
• National Tax Agency: Tax Answer No. 4214 Payment in Kind of Inheritance Tax
• e-Gov Law Search: Act on General Rules for Application of Laws (Act No. 78 of 2006)
• e-Gov Law Search: Civil Code (Act No. 89 of 1896)
• Courts: Statement of Renunciation of Inheritance
• e-Gov Law Search: Real Property Registration Act (Act No. 123 of 2004)
• Ministry of Justice: Mandatory Application for Inheritance Registration
• Ministry of Justice: Heir Notification Registration
• Ministry of Justice: Proof of Address When a Foreign Individual or Company Residing Abroad Applies to Become the Registered Owner
• Ministry of Justice: Handling When a Seal Certificate Cannot Be Obtained Because of Residence Abroad
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Certifications at Diplomatic Missions Abroad
• Ministry of Justice: Applications for Registration of Ownership From April 1, 2024
• Ministry of Justice Civil Affairs Bureau Circular, Ministry of Justice Civil No. 872 of September 4, Reiwa 8
• Ministry of Justice: Mandatory Registration of Changes of Address
• Ministry of Justice: Search Information Notification (Ex Officio Change of Address Registration)
• Ministry of Finance: Foreign Exchange Act Real Estate Acquisition Report, FAQ
• Ministry of Finance: Leaflet on Submitting the Report on Acquisition of Real Estate in Japan Under the Foreign Exchange Act
• National Tax Agency: Tax Answer No. 7191 Registration and License Tax Table
• e-Gov Law Search: Act on Special Measures Concerning Taxation (Act No. 26 of 1957)
• e-Gov Law Search: Local Tax Act (Act No. 226 of 1950)

Important Notice

This article is a general summary of information and is not tax or legal advice for any individual case. The information was checked as of September 30, 2026. Japanese rules may change, so rely on the competent authorities’ current announcements, and consult a qualified professional for your own situation.