What is the 200,000-yen rule?

Salaried employees with non-salary income (side gig, dividends, etc.) of JPY 200,000 or less per year do not need to file an income-tax return — the year-end adjustment covers them. Above JPY 200,000, a filing is mandatory. Note: a resident-tax filing is still required regardless of the amount.

Miscellaneous vs. business income?

Miscellaneous = occasional or hobby-adjacent income (affiliate revenue, flea-market sales, one-off writing). Business = continuous, repetitive, profit-seeking activity (registered side business, weekend storefront). Business + blue-return unlocks the JPY 650k deduction and loss offsetting against other income. The NTA has the final word — talk to a tax advisor for borderline cases.

What unlocks the full JPY 650k blue-return deduction?

Four conditions together: (1) business / real-estate / forestry income, (2) timely blue-return application, (3) double-entry bookkeeping, (4) e-Tax filing or compliant electronic record-keeping. Paper filing drops to JPY 550k; cash-basis bookkeeping drops to JPY 100k. This tool only models the full JPY 650k case.

What is the side-income effective rate?

(additional tax) / (side income). It approximates the income-tax marginal rate + 10% resident tax + the 2.1% reconstruction surtax on the income-tax line. Example: at JPY 5M taxable income, that's roughly 20% + 10% + 0.42% ≈ 30.42%.

What if the side gig runs at a loss?

Miscellaneous losses cannot be offset against salary income (the loss is wasted for tax). Business losses CAN be offset, which can shrink your salary tax. This tool clamps side income to 0 in either case — for full-loss simulations use freelance-tax-jp.

Will my employer find out about the side gig via resident tax?

By picking 'self-pay (普通徴収)' on the resident-tax line of your return, you have the additional resident tax billed to your home rather than withheld from your salary. That reduces (not eliminates) the risk of detection via a higher salary-withholding figure. This tool only estimates totals — it does not advise on filing form choices.

Is my input uploaded?

No. The calculation runs entirely in your browser, so income figures never leave the device.

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Japan side-income tax estimator — the 200k-yen filing threshold

Plug in your salary, side-job revenue and expenses to estimate the extra income tax, reconstruction surtax and resident tax — plus net take-home — that the side gig adds on top of a salaried job. Detects the JPY 200,000/year filing threshold (no income tax under it, but resident tax filing is still required). Switch between miscellaneous and business income; business + blue-return adds the JPY 650,000 deduction. Runs entirely in your browser — figures never leave the device.

financetaxcalculator

How to use

Pick the side-income category (miscellaneous / business), then enter your annual salary (gross), the side-gig revenue and expenses. For business income with an approved blue-return filing, toggle the JPY 650,000 deduction. Click Estimate tax to see: (1) the filing-threshold verdict (JPY 200k/year), (2) total tax for salary-only vs. salary+side, (3) the side income's additional tax and effective rate, and (4) the side's net take-home. The income-tax basic deduction follows the FY2026–2027 temporary uplift (¥1.04M for total income ≤ ¥4.89M, ¥670k up to ¥6.55M, ¥620k up to ¥23.5M), resident-tax basic deduction stays at ¥430k, and the salary-income deduction uses the FY2026–2027 minimum guarantee of ¥740k. Other deductions (dependants, mortgage credit) are NOT modelled. Treat the figures as estimates.

FAQ

What is the 200,000-yen rule?: Salaried employees with non-salary income (side gig, dividends, etc.) of JPY 200,000 or less per year do not need to file an income-tax return — the year-end adjustment covers them. Above JPY 200,000, a filing is mandatory. Note: a resident-tax filing is still required regardless of the amount.
Miscellaneous vs. business income?: Miscellaneous = occasional or hobby-adjacent income (affiliate revenue, flea-market sales, one-off writing). Business = continuous, repetitive, profit-seeking activity (registered side business, weekend storefront). Business + blue-return unlocks the JPY 650k deduction and loss offsetting against other income. The NTA has the final word — talk to a tax advisor for borderline cases.
What unlocks the full JPY 650k blue-return deduction?: Four conditions together: (1) business / real-estate / forestry income, (2) timely blue-return application, (3) double-entry bookkeeping, (4) e-Tax filing or compliant electronic record-keeping. Paper filing drops to JPY 550k; cash-basis bookkeeping drops to JPY 100k. This tool only models the full JPY 650k case.
What is the side-income effective rate?: (additional tax) / (side income). It approximates the income-tax marginal rate + 10% resident tax + the 2.1% reconstruction surtax on the income-tax line. Example: at JPY 5M taxable income, that's roughly 20% + 10% + 0.42% ≈ 30.42%.
What if the side gig runs at a loss?: Miscellaneous losses cannot be offset against salary income (the loss is wasted for tax). Business losses CAN be offset, which can shrink your salary tax. This tool clamps side income to 0 in either case — for full-loss simulations use freelance-tax-jp.
Will my employer find out about the side gig via resident tax?: By picking 'self-pay (普通徴収)' on the resident-tax line of your return, you have the additional resident tax billed to your home rather than withheld from your salary. That reduces (not eliminates) the risk of detection via a higher salary-withholding figure. This tool only estimates totals — it does not advise on filing form choices.
Is my input uploaded?: No. The calculation runs entirely in your browser, so income figures never leave the device.

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