1 Overview of final tax return

The income tax return is a process where a taxpayer calculates the amount of income earned during a year from January 1 to December 31 and the amount of income tax, and adjusts the excess or deficiency if there is tax withheld at source or estimated tax prepayment.

2 People who are required to file the final tax return

In principle, you must file a final tax return between February 16 and March 15 of the following year if your total income for the year exceeds the total amount of deduction from income and if the tax amount on the excess amount is larger than the sum of credit for dividends and special credit for housing loans applied at the year-end adjustment (However, if the above-mentioned tax amount after subtracting the sum of credit for dividends and special credit for housing loans is smaller than the sum of credit for foreign taxes, taxes withheld and estimated taxes, you aren’t required to file a final tax return. The exception is applicable to a final tax return which must be filed on and after January 1, 2022. Therefore, even if that is the case, you are required to file a tax return if the final tax return must be filed before January 1, 2022.).
However, you are not required to file a final tax return in certain cases: for example, if the sum of salaries or wages for a year is 20 million yen or less, all your salaries or wages are paid from a single payer, they are all subject to withholding at source and the total income for the year (excluding employment income and retirement income) is 200,000 yen or less.

For more information about people with the employment income who are required to file their final tax return, see "No.12018 Wage earners who must file a final tax return".

Furthermore, people with public pension benefits paid in Japan who satisfy all of the following conditions are not required to file a final tax return.
1 The amount of public pension benefits paid in a year is four million yen or less.
2 All your public pension benefits are subject to withholding*at source.
3 The total income (excluding miscellaneous income derived from public pension benefits) is 200,000 yen of less.

* (note) It is included in the case “subject to withholding” that the exemption of withholding at source by the payer of public pension benefits to whom you have submitted the form “Declaration for Dependents of Public Pension Earner [公的年金等の受給者の扶養親族等申告書]" is applicable because the amount of public pension benefits for the year is below the prescribed threshold.