Global Experts1OwningStage 1
Key points
- According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, fixed asset tax and city planning tax are paid by whoever is registered as the owner on 1 January each year. Osaka city states that living abroad does not exempt an owner.Source ›
- In Tokyo's 23 wards, before you leave Japan you name a tax agent (nōzei kanrinin) with the Metropolitan Tax Office, and the bill then goes to that person. Updating the address on your resident registration does not change where the bill is sent.Source ›
- In Tokyo's 23 wards the fixed asset tax rate is 1.4% and the city planning tax rate is 0.3%; other municipalities set their own. A flat also carries a monthly management fee and a repair reserve contribution.Source ›
- 21 October 2026How Overseas Owners Receive and Pay Japan Property Tax Bills
- 21 October 2026Japan Property Annual Holding Costs: Tax, Fees, and Deductions
- 21 October 2026Japan’s City Planning Tax: What It Is and Which Properties Pay
NextNext stage: letting ›See related profiles ›Ask the Reader Desk ›
2LettingStage 2
Key points
- Rent from Japanese property, less the necessary expenses paid directly to earn it, is real estate income. Whether an owner living abroad has to file a return needs checking case by case.Source ›
- A tenant paying rent in Japan to a non-resident must in principle withhold 20.42%. The rule does not apply to rent an individual pays for a home they or a relative live in.Source ›
- New ruleFrom 1 October 2026, when an owner living overseas uses a Japanese agent to let a property, the agent's brokerage fee carries 10% consumption tax. Management fees and repairs were already taxable, and are unchanged.Source ›
- 21 October 2026Japan Rental Income Tax: What Non-Resident Landlords Can Deduct
- 16 October 2026New ruleOwn Property in Japan From Overseas? Brokerage Fees Now Carry 10% Consumption Tax
NextNext stage: selling ›See related profiles ›Ask the Reader Desk ›
3SellingStage 3
Key points
- The gain is the sale price less acquisition and selling costs. Measured at 1 January of the year of sale, property held for more than five years is long-term (income tax of 15%, or 15.315% with the surtax) and five years or less is short-term (30%, or 30.63%). Residents of Japan also pay resident tax of 5% or 9%.Source ›
- When the seller is a non-resident, the buyer in principle withholds 10.21% of the price on payment. This is waived when an individual buys the property as their own home and the price is 100 million yen or less.Source ›
- New ruleWhere the contract is signed on or after 1 April 2026 and the handover takes place on or after 1 October, the agent's fee on a sale carries 10% consumption tax. Keep the documents that prove when the contract was signed.Source ›
Articles are grouped by the owner's stage and listed by publication date within each. Every key point comes from a published Zagdim article; follow “Source” to read it. Rules change: rely on the article's verification date and on the current notices of the relevant authority.
