How to Read Japan's Payroll Withholding Tax Tables
If you are paid in Japan, the income tax taken from each paycheck comes from a table published by the National Tax Agency (NTA). The table looks like a wall of numbers, but reading it comes down to three choices: which table, which column, and which amount to look up. This guide walks through each one using the tables for 2026 (Reiwa 8).
Last updated:
Three tables for three kinds of pay
Japanese employers withhold income tax from wages using the NTA's withholding tax tables. There are three main ones: the monthly table for regular salaries, the daily table for pay given daily, weekly or on a per-day basis, and the bonus rate table for bonuses. The amounts already include the special reconstruction income tax collected alongside income tax.
The tables are revised when the tax rules change, so the year matters. The 2026 tables, used for pay from January 2026, reflect the higher basic deduction. In the monthly table's kō column with no dependents, tax used to start at ¥88,000 of monthly pay after social insurance; in the 2026 table nothing is withheld below ¥105,000. In the daily table the zero-tax threshold moved from ¥2,900 to ¥3,500.
- Monthly table: monthly pay, twice-monthly or every-ten-days pay, and pay for periods of whole months
- Daily table: daily or weekly pay, pay prorated by day, and day-labor wages
- Bonus rate table: bonuses, with a monthly-table fallback in some cases
Kō, otsu and hei: which column applies
The column depends on one form: the Application for (Change in) Exemption for Dependents of Employment Income Earner. If you have filed it with an employer, that employer uses the kō column. Pay from any employer you have not filed it with uses the otsu column. You can file the form with only one employer at a time, so people with two jobs normally get kō at their main job and otsu at the other.
Otsu rates are much higher because otsu pay is not settled through the year-end adjustment and is expected to be reconciled in a tax return. For monthly pay of ¥300,000 after social insurance, the 2026 table gives ¥7,930 in the kō column with no dependents but ¥53,600 in the otsu column.
The hei column appears only in the daily table and is for day-labor wages: pay to people hired day by day, calculated by days or hours worked and paid for each day worked. Pay from the same employer for more than two continuous months stops counting as day-labor wages for the portion beyond two months. The NTA says hei also applies when an employment contract is set at two months or less from the start. Hei amounts are low; in the 2026 daily table, nothing is withheld below ¥9,800 a day.
Looking up the right row
The choice between monthly and daily tables depends on how often you are paid, not how much. The amount you look up is not your gross pay. It is the period's pay minus social insurance contributions (pension, health insurance, employment insurance and similar) and excluding tax-free commuting allowance. Find the row whose range contains that amount, then read across to your column.
For ¥300,000 a month after social insurance, the row is ¥299,000 to under ¥302,000. The kō column gives ¥7,930 with no dependents, ¥6,320 with one, ¥4,700 with two and ¥3,080 with three. For a daily amount of ¥10,000, the kō column with no dependents is ¥265, otsu is ¥1,800 and hei is ¥8.
Two edge cases: in the monthly otsu column, amounts under ¥105,000 are taxed at 3.063% of the amount (rounded down to the yen) rather than by a row, and very high salaries above the table's last row use the formula printed at its end.
Counting dependents
The kō column has separate columns for 0 to 7 dependents. In the 2026 tables, this number is the count of your qualifying spouse for withholding plus qualifying relatives, not simply the number of people in your household.
A qualifying spouse is one whose estimated 2026 income is ¥950,000 or less, provided your own estimated income is ¥9 million or less. Qualifying relatives are dependents aged 16 or over with estimated income of ¥580,000 or less, plus relatives aged 19 to 22 with income above ¥580,000 but no more than ¥1 million. Children under 16 are not counted. Add one for each of these that applies to you: disabled, widow, single parent or working student. Also add one for each family member, including children under 16, who is disabled or a cohabiting person with a special disability. Above seven, subtract ¥1,610 (monthly table) or ¥50 (daily table) per extra person from the seven-person amount.
"Income" here means income after deductions such as the employment income deduction, not gross earnings. If you are unsure how a family member should be counted, check with your employer or the tax office.
Bonuses use a rate, not a row
Tax on a bonus is a percentage of the bonus after social insurance. The rate comes from the bonus table, using the previous month's pay after social insurance and your dependents. With previous-month pay of ¥300,000 and one dependent, the 2026 table gives 6.126%. A ¥600,000 bonus less ¥90,000 of social insurance leaves ¥510,000, and 6.126% of that is ¥31,242.
If there was no pay in the previous month, or the bonus is more than ten times the previous month's pay, the monthly table is used instead. Divide the bonus by 6, add last month's pay, look up the monthly tax on that total, subtract the monthly tax on last month's pay alone, and multiply the difference by 6. If the bonus covers a period longer than six months, use 12 instead of 6. For example, with ¥40,000 of previous-month pay, a ¥510,000 bonus and no dependents: ¥85,000 + ¥40,000 = ¥125,000, which carries ¥1,190 of tax; last month's ¥40,000 carries none; so the bonus tax is ¥1,190 × 6 = ¥7,140.
Year-end adjustment and practical notes
Monthly withholding is an estimate. In December, the employer holding your dependents form recalculates the full year's tax, including deductions the tables ignore, and refunds or collects the difference. People paid over ¥20 million a year are excluded, and otsu pay is not adjusted, so a tax return may be needed. The result appears on the withholding slip you receive early the next year.
Fees for manuscripts, lectures and some professional services follow separate withholding rules: generally 10.21%, and 20.42% on the part of a single payment above ¥1 million. From 2027, a new defense special income tax is also included, and the tables change accordingly.
This guide explains how the tables work in general. Individual situations vary, so confirm specifics with the NTA's published materials or your local tax office. If you use a calculator or payroll software, make sure it follows the table for the year in which the pay is actually paid.