Jp Nonpermanent Resident

---
name: jp-nonpermanent-resident
description: "Japan non-permanent resident regime: foreign income taxed only if remitted, 5-year cap, transition to permanent resident. Trigger on: \"Japan non-permanent resident\", \"Japan tax resident foreign income\", \"Japan 5-year rule\", \"move to Japan taxes\", \"Japan remittance basis\", \"Japan income tax non-permanent\", \"working in Japan foreign income\", \"Japan PR tax status\". ALWAYS load before advising on Japanese tax for someone resident less than 5 years."
license: "AGPL-3.0-or-later (code) / OpenAccountants Guide License v1.0 (content)"
metadata:
  source: openaccountants
  openaccountants_url: "https://www.openaccountants.com/skills/jp-nonpermanent-resident"
  jurisdiction: "JP"
  tax_year: "2025"
  last_updated: "2026-07-13"
---

# JP Nonpermanent Resident

## Quick reference

**Quick reference**  _(Income Tax Act (所得税法), Art. 2; Art. 7)_

| Item | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Non-permanent resident | Foreign national resident in Japan for ≤ 5 of the last 10 years |
| Permanent resident | Resident for > 5 of the last 10 years (or Japanese national) |
| Non-permanent resident: Japanese income | Fully taxed |
| Non-permanent resident: Foreign income remitted to Japan | Taxed |
| Non-permanent resident: Foreign income not remitted | **Not taxed** |
| Legislation | Income Tax Act (所得税法), Art. 2; Art. 7 |
| Tax authority | National Tax Agency (NTA) — nta.go.jp |

## The three residency categories in Japan

**The three residency categories in Japan**

| Category | Definition | Taxed on |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Non-resident** | Not resident in Japan | Japan-source income only |
| **Non-permanent resident** | Resident in Japan; foreign national; ≤ 5 years in Japan in last 10 years | Japan-source income + foreign income **remitted** to Japan |
| **Permanent resident** | Resident in Japan; > 5 years in Japan in last 10 years (or Japanese national) | **Worldwide income** |

## Becoming resident in Japan

- **Resident (domicile/1-year residence)** — A person is resident in Japan if they have a domicile (生活の本拠) or have resided continuously for 1 year or more (住所).

Foreign nationals on a work visa who live in Japan full-time are generally residents from day one of arrival.

## Non-permanent resident: the tax advantage

- **Non-permanent resident partial territorial basis** — During the first 5 years (of the last 10) in Japan, a foreign national is a non-permanent resident and benefits from a partial territorial basis: Japanese-source income (salary from Japanese employer, Japan business income, Japan rental income, Japan dividends): fully taxed in Japan; Foreign-source income paid in Japan or remitted to Japan: taxed in Japan; Foreign-source income not remitted to Japan: not taxed in Japan.
- **Capital gains on foreign assets** — Capital gains on foreign assets (shares, property abroad): not taxed in Japan unless remitted.

## Remittance = taxable

Any foreign income brought into Japan — wire transfers, foreign card transactions in Japan, debt repayment in Japan using foreign income — counts as remittance. Keep foreign and Japanese funds in separate accounts.

## Transition to permanent resident status

- **5-year cumulative residence triggers permanent resident status** — After 5 cumulative years of residence in Japan in any 10-year window, the individual becomes a permanent resident for tax purposes and is taxed on worldwide income regardless of remittance.

This is a cliff-edge change: plan carefully around the 5-year mark.

## Japan income tax rates (2025)

**Japan income tax rates (2025)**

| Income (JPY) | Rate |
| --- | --- |
| Up to 1,950,000 | 5% |
| 1,950,001 – 3,300,000 | 10% |
| 3,300,001 – 6,950,000 | 20% |
| 6,950,001 – 9,000,000 | 23% |
| 9,000,001 – 18,000,000 | 33% |
| 18,000,001 – 40,000,000 | 40% |
| Above 40,000,000 | 45% |

- **Resident Tax (municipal/prefectural)** — 10% percent (Plus 2.1% surtax; effective combined top rate ~55%)
- **Surtax** — 2.1% percent (Effective combined top rate ~55%)

## Sources

- Income Tax Act (所得税法), Art. 2 (definitions), Art. 7 (scope of taxation)
- NTA: nta.go.jp/taxes/shiraberu/taxanswer/shotoku/1920.htm

> Working paper only. The non-permanent resident status resets with breaks in Japanese residency — careful tracking of the 10-year lookback window is required. Have a qualified Japanese tax accountant (税理士) review.

## Today's figures and who stands behind this skill

This file is an AI skill (tax rules your AI follows) from OpenAccountants, copied on 2026-07-13. Rates, thresholds and deadlines change. For the current version of this skill, its official sources and the named accountant (if any) who stands behind it, call `get_skill` with slug `jp-nonpermanent-resident` on the OpenAccountants connector (https://www.openaccountants.com/connect), or read https://www.openaccountants.com/skills/jp-nonpermanent-resident. If neither is available, confirm every figure against the official source pages cited above before relying on it.