1 Overview of special provision

The special provision allows a basic exemption of 1.1 million yen as well as an amount of up to 20 million yen (exemption for spouse), when residential property or money for acquiring residential property is donated between a couple who have been married for 20 years or more.

2 Application requirements for the special provision

(1) The asset was donated between a husband and wife after their marriage period has exceeded 20 years.
(2) The asset donated by the spouse is used as a residential property or as money to acquire a residential property.
(3) As of March 15 of the following year upon receiving the donation, the recipient of the donation actually lives and will continue to live in the residential property that was acquired by donation or acquired by use of donated money.
 
(Note) 1. Residential property is land in Japan that the owner uses to live in himself or herself or rights to or a house on the land in Japan.
2. Exemption for spouse can only be applied once in a lifetime for donations from the same spouse.

3 Application procedure for the special provision

It is necessary to file a return for gift tax by attaching the following documents:

(1) Family register or an extract of the family register created within ten days from the date of receiving the donation.
(2) A copy of the supplementary family register created within ten days from the date of receiving the donation.
(3) Certificate of registered information of residential property and other documents that certify that the recipient has acquired a residential property.

Documents for evaluating the residential property (certificate of fixed asset evaluation, etc.,) is required in addition to the above documents, if the recipient has received residential property rather than money.

[For those who need certificate of registered information (Notice from the Legal Affairs Bureau)]

You can request for a certificate of registered information of land and buildings at the counter of the registry office, by post, or online from a personal computer at your own home or office. Requesting online is cheaper and it is available until 9:00 p.m. on weekdays.
For details on the procedures for requesting certificates of registered information online, please visit the Legal Affairs Bureau website.