Contract Work: Which Jobs Have 10.21% Withheld in Japan

The short answer: the list by occupation (where the payer is a company, or a sole proprietor with a withholding obligation)

Sources: National Tax Agency, "Outline of Withholding at Source, 2026 edition", Part 5 Withholding on remuneration and fees[National Tax Agency]; Tax Answer No.2792 "Parties obliged to withhold on remuneration and fees"[National Tax Agency]; No.2795 "When you pay manuscript fees, lecture fees and the like"[National Tax Agency]

The scope is an exhaustive list set out in law, so it is not "withheld because it is contract work" or "withheld because you are a freelancer". Work that is not on the list is not withheld on, however large the amount. Conversely, if the substance is a manuscript fee or a lecture fee, it is in scope even when it is labelled an "honorarium", "research expenses" or "travel money".

Even within one web project it splits: design is in scope, coding is not

This is the classic source of confusion for freelancers in web production. The National Tax Agency list includes "remuneration for design", covering industrial design, craft design, graphic design, packaging, advertising, interiors, displays, clothing and so on: broadly, the design of visual form. Screen design for a website (the work of designing how it looks) is in scope, but the coding and system development that implement that design are not on the list, so they are outside the scope.

Where a single invoice mixes "design 300,000 yen + coding 200,000 yen", only the design portion is subject to withholding. Some payers apply 10.21% to the whole amount; if so, reissuing the invoice with the components separated will fix it. When the breakdown is unclear and the work is billed as a single package, the whole amount can be treated as in scope, so separate the items on the invoice from the outset.

Video works the same way: appearances, narration and scripts are in scope, while editing, encoding and thumbnail production that does not amount to design are not.

How much is withheld: 10.21%, and 20.42% above 1 million yen

• How consumption tax is treated. If the invoice separates the base amount from consumption tax, 10.21% may be applied to the base amount alone (if there is no breakdown, it applies to the full tax-inclusive amount). On an invoice of 100,000 yen plus 10,000 yen of consumption tax, that is 10,210 yen with the breakdown and 11,231 yen without. Registered invoice issuers must show the breakdown, so the base amount becomes the basis naturally.
• Travel and accommodation costs. Amounts the payer pays directly to the hotel or transport operator are out of scope; amounts handed to you as "travel expenses" are included in the remuneration and are in scope.
• Prize money and contribution honoraria of 50,000 yen or less per payment need no withholding.
• Nothing is withheld if the payer is an individual (one who pays no salaries). The withholding obligation falls on companies and on sole proprietors who pay salaries to employees. Take a design job from a private client and nothing is withheld.

How much comes back when you file

Withholding is "10.21% of the remuneration" and takes account of neither expenses nor deductions. Your actual income tax is the rate applied to "income − expenses − deductions", so the more expenses you have and the lower your income, the more is over-withheld and the more comes back when you file.

The basic deduction is calculated at the income-banded amounts that apply from the 2025 tax year onward (950,000 yen where total income is 1.32 million yen or less, 880,000 yen up to 3.36 million yen, 680,000 yen up to 4.89 million yen). Adding the social insurance deduction for the National Pension and National Health Insurance, iDeCo, or the life insurance premium deduction increases it further. Without blue-form filing the deduction is 650,000 yen smaller, so the refund shrinks by the same token. For the blue-form requirements, see blue-form and white-form filing.

Refund filings are accepted from 1 January of the following year, and with e-Tax the money arrives in two to three weeks. There is no need to wait for a "payment record" from the payer. The payment record is a document the payer submits to the tax office; there is no obligation to give you a copy, and it does not need to be attached to your return. You can file from your own books and deposit records (the gap between the amount invoiced and the amount received is the tax withheld). If this is a side job alongside employment, see filing for a side job and whether it counts as business income or miscellaneous income.

How to write the invoice, and what to do when nothing is withheld

1. For work in scope, state the withheld tax on the invoice. Writing it as "Subtotal 100,000 yen / Consumption tax 10,000 yen / Withholding tax −10,210 yen / Amount payable 99,790 yen" keeps the payer's processing consistent and makes it easy to reconcile against the deposit. The payer is obliged to withhold even if you do not write it.
2. If tax is withheld on work that is out of scope. Tell the payer the work is not on the list and ask for a correction. Even if it is not corrected and is paid over to the tax office, you get it back by declaring it as withheld tax on your return, so the only real harm is to your cash flow.
3. If nothing is withheld on work that is in scope. The obligation to pay it over lies with the payer, and there is no penalty on the recipient. On your return it is enough to declare withheld tax of 0 yen and pay the tax actually due. That said, the payer may notice later and ask you to hand back the withholding portion.
4. In your books, use "owner's drawings" or "prepaid tax". Record the sale at the full invoiced amount and record the withheld portion separately. Booking the deposited amount as the sale understates your income.

Frequently asked questions

Summary

• Manuscript fees, design fees, lecture fees, translation fees, and modeling fees have 10.21% withheld at source; the portion over ¥1 million per payment from the same payer is withheld at 20.42%.
• Programming, coding, video editing, clerical outsourcing, and sales outsourcing are not subject to withholding. The withheld categories are an exhaustive list under Article 204 of the Income Tax Act.
• If the payer is an individual who does not pay wages to employees, nothing is withheld. On an invoice that mixes design and coding work, itemize the breakdown separately.
• Withheld tax is a prepayment of income tax, and the difference comes back through a tax return. For a writer with ¥4 million annual income and ¥1 million in expenses, the refund is roughly ¥360,000.
• Resident tax is not withheld at source. Set aside money for the payment due from the following June.

Reference links (sources)

This article is based on the materials below. Because the decision depends on the substance of the work, if you are unsure, check with the payer's accounting staff or your tax office.

• National Tax Agency, Outline of Withholding at Source, 2026 edition (Part 5, Withholding on remuneration and fees) (the list of remuneration and fees in scope, and similar items that are not)
• National Tax Agency, Tax Answer No.2792 Parties obliged to withhold on remuneration and fees
• National Tax Agency, Tax Answer No.2795 When you pay manuscript fees, lecture fees and the like (10.21%, 20.42% above 1 million yen, prize money of 50,000 yen or less)
• Income Tax Act, Article 204 (withholding obligation)

Note: this article is general information. The refund examples are estimates and vary with your deductions and income.