Japan Income Tax Brackets 2026, Explained

Last updated: 17 October 2026 · the National Tax Agency’s rate table · figures for the 2026 tax year

Japan’s national income tax (所得税, shotokuzei) is charged in seven bands, from 5% to 45%, with a 2.1% surcharge on top. The bands apply to taxable income, which on a salary is much less than the salary itself, and each rate applies only to the slice of income inside its band. So the share of a salary that goes in income tax is far lower than the top rate suggests: on ¥5,000,000 a year it is ¥91,600, or 1.8%. To see the figure for your own salary, use the take-home calculator.

This is a general explanation for somebody paid a salary in Japan and resident here for tax. The tax office is the authority on your own tax.

The seven bands

The National Tax Agency publishes the table in this form: find the band your taxable income falls in, multiply the whole of it by that band’s rate, and subtract the amount in the last column. The subtraction is what makes each rate apply only to the slice inside its band.

Taxable income is rounded down to the nearest ¥1,000 first, which is why the bands end in 000. Crossing a line does not make a jump: taxable income of ¥1,949,000 gives ¥97,450 of tax, and ¥1,950,000 gives ¥97,500.

The surcharge on top

The 2.1% reconstruction surcharge (復興特別所得税) is added to the tax from the table, and the total is rounded down to ¥100. It is charged on the tax rather than on income, so the 5% band works out at 5.105% of income and the 45% band at 45.945%. For income from January 2027 it falls to 1.1%, and a new 1% special income tax for defence (防衛特別所得税) is charged alongside it, so the total stays the same.

From a salary to taxable income

Before the table is used, four things come off a salary:

• The employment income deduction (給与所得控除): a deduction for employees in place of expenses, worked out from the salary by a fixed table. What is left is your employment income (給与所得).
• Social insurance premiums (社会保険料控除): everything you paid for health insurance, the pension and employment insurance in the year comes off in full.
• The basic exemption (基礎控除): for 2026, the basic exemption is ¥1,040,000 for total income up to ¥4,890,000, and less above that.
• Any other deductions you have: a spouse or dependents, iDeCo, life insurance, medical expenses.

Here is the year for somebody on ¥5,000,000, paid as ¥416,667 a month with no bonus, in Tokyo, under 40, single and with no other deductions:

Your employer withholds an estimate of this every month and settles the difference in the year-end adjustment (年末調整) in December.

Top rate and share of salary

The rate of the band you end up in is your marginal rate: what the next yen of taxable income is taxed at. The tax for the year divided by the salary is your effective rate, and it is what decides your take-home. On the same assumptions as above:

The marginal rate is what matters when you weigh a deduction: on ¥10,000,000, every ¥10,000 that iDeCo or another deduction takes off taxable income saves income tax at the 20% band, plus the surcharge.

Resident tax is a separate bill

Income tax is only half of the tax on a salary. Resident tax (住民税) adds a flat 10% of a taxable income worked out with smaller deductions, plus a small fixed amount, and for most salaries it is the larger of the two: on ¥5,000,000 it is ¥243,000 a year. The guide to how resident tax is calculated takes the same salary through it.

Questions people ask

What is the top income tax rate in Japan?

45%, on taxable income of ¥40,000,000 and over. With the 2.1% surcharge it comes to 45.945%, and the 10% resident tax is charged on top of that.

Does a raise push all my income into a higher bracket?

Not by itself. Only the part of your taxable income above the line is taxed at the higher rate, so crossing a band never costs more than the raise. Deductions can: for 2026 the basic exemption drops from ¥1,040,000 to ¥670,000 once total income passes ¥4,890,000, so a small raise right at that line can cost more in tax than it adds.

Why is my income tax lower than my resident tax?

Many salaries stay in the 5% or 10% income tax band, and for 2026 income tax also takes off a larger basic exemption. Resident tax is a flat 10% on a taxable income worked out with smaller deductions.

Sources

• National Tax Agency — No.2260 所得税の税率 (the seven bands and the amounts to subtract; taxable income rounded down to ¥1,000; the 2.1% surcharge, and 1.1% plus the 1% defence tax from 2027). Japanese, opened 17 October 2026.
• National Tax Agency — No.1199 基礎控除 (the basic exemption for 2026). Japanese.
• National Tax Agency — No.1410 給与所得控除 (the employment income deduction). Japanese.
• Ministry of Finance — 令和8年度税制改正の大綱 (the surcharge from 2027). Japanese.