In Japan's year-end tax adjustment (nenmatsu chosei), employees fill in the "Insurance Premium Deduction Application for Employment Income Earners" (hokenryo kojo shinkokusho). You copy the amounts on the deduction certificates sent by insurers and others into the box for each category, then work out the deduction with the formulas printed on the form. What you write is the full-year amount you will pay through December, and for contracts that pay dividends, the amount after subtracting them.
For 2026 (Reiwa 8), people with a dependant under 23 can deduct up to ¥60,000 instead of ¥40,000 for general life insurance premiums on new contracts. The overall ¥120,000 cap on the life insurance premium deduction is unchanged. In the social insurance box, national pension premiums and national pension fund contributions need a certificate attached, while for national health insurance, late-stage elderly medical care and long-term care insurance premiums you only write the amount.
The four boxes on the form: life insurance up to ¥120,000 in total, earthquake insurance ¥50,000, social insurance in full
The form has four boxes: the life insurance premium deduction, the earthquake insurance premium deduction, the social insurance premium deduction, and the small business mutual aid premium deduction. Leave any box blank if you paid nothing for it. Health insurance, employees' pension and employment insurance premiums withheld from your salary are totalled by your employer, so you do not write them.[NTA: 2026 sample form (in Japanese)]
| Box | What goes in it | Deduction cap | Certificate attached |
|---|---|---|---|
| Life insurance premium deduction | Premiums for life, medical and individual pension insurance | ¥120,000 in total | Required (not for old general contracts of ¥9,000 or less per contract) |
| Earthquake insurance premium deduction | Earthquake insurance premiums; long-term non-life insurance taken out by 2006 | ¥50,000 | Required |
| Social insurance premium deduction | National pension, national health insurance, etc. that you paid yourself | Full amount | Only for national pension and national pension funds |
| Small business mutual aid premium deduction | Individual-type defined contribution pension and small business mutual aid paid from your own account | Full amount | Required |
The basic and spouse deductions go on a separate form, covered in How to fill in the basic deduction application (2026); the mortgage tax credit is covered in Mortgage tax credit in year two.
Which amount on the certificate to copy: the full year to December, after dividends
In "insurance premiums you paid this year", write the total premiums you will pay from January to December. Certificates for monthly-paid contracts may show both a "certified amount" up to the issue date (such as the end of September) and a "declared amount" (shinkoku-gaku) assuming payment through December. For the year-end adjustment, copy the declared amount.[NTA: 2026 Year-End Adjustment Guide (in Japanese)]
- Contracts that pay dividends (surplus or rebates): write the premiums minus the dividends. On the certificate in the NTA sample, this is the "general certified amount (premiums − dividends)" line
- Category and new/old: check the "applicable system" on the certificate. Circle "new" for contracts made on or after 1 January 2012, and "old" for earlier ones
- One contract split in two: if a certificate splits one contract into general and medical care, write each part in its own box. You cannot move premiums to another category
- Policies held in a family member's name: these count if you pay the premiums, provided every beneficiary is you, your spouse or a relative (for individual pensions, you or your spouse)
No certificate is needed only for old general life insurance premiums of ¥9,000 or less a year per contract, and for group insurance through your workplace whose amounts your employer has confirmed.[NTA: 2026 Year-End Adjustment Guide (in Japanese)]
Calculating the life insurance deduction: up to ¥40,000 per category for new contracts, ¥50,000 for old, ¥120,000 in total
The deduction is worked out separately for the "general", "medical care" and "individual pension" categories, using the formulas at the bottom of the form. New contracts use Formula I and old contracts Formula III, and fractions of a yen are rounded up. Medical care insurance was created in 2012, so it only has new contracts.
| Formula | Annual premiums and deduction | Cap |
|---|---|---|
| I (new contracts) | Up to ¥20,000: full amount / over ¥20,000 up to ¥40,000: × 1/2 + ¥10,000 / over ¥40,000 up to ¥80,000: × 1/4 + ¥20,000 | ¥40,000 |
| II (general, new contracts, dependant under 23) | Up to ¥30,000: full amount / over ¥30,000 up to ¥60,000: × 1/2 + ¥15,000 / over ¥60,000 up to ¥120,000: × 1/4 + ¥30,000 | ¥60,000 |
| III (old contracts) | Up to ¥25,000: full amount / over ¥25,000 up to ¥50,000: × 1/2 + ¥12,500 / over ¥50,000 up to ¥100,000: × 1/4 + ¥25,000 | ¥50,000 |
If a category has both new and old contracts, the deduction is the larger of these two.
- The amount worked out from old contracts alone (up to ¥50,000)
- The new-contract and old-contract deductions added together (up to ¥40,000; up to ¥60,000 for general premiums with a new contract and a dependant under 23)
Once old-contract premiums exceed ¥60,000 a year, old contracts alone usually give the larger figure. Finally, add the three categories and stop at ¥120,000 if the total is higher.
- General: ¥80,000 on new contracts gives ¥50,000 by Formula II, and ¥35,000 on old contracts gives ¥30,000 by Formula III. The ¥80,000 total stops at the cap: ¥60,000
- Medical care: ¥80,000 gives ¥40,000 by Formula I
- Individual pension: ¥30,000 new gives ¥25,000 and ¥90,000 old gives ¥47,500. The ¥72,500 total exceeds the ¥40,000 cap, so the old-only figure of ¥47,500 applies
- Three categories total ¥147,500 → capped at ¥120,000
The 2026 change: with a dependant under 23, the cap for general life insurance (new contracts) is ¥60,000
The 2025 tax reform widened the general life insurance deduction for people with a dependant under 23, for income tax in 2026 and 2027 only. It applies only to general premiums on new contracts; medical care and individual pension stay at up to ¥40,000. What happens from 2028 has not been decided.[NTA: 2026 Year-End Adjustment Guide (in Japanese)]
| General premiums, new contracts (per year) | Normal (Formula I) | Dependant under 23 (Formula II) |
|---|---|---|
| ¥30,000 | ¥25,000 | ¥30,000 |
| ¥60,000 | ¥35,000 | ¥45,000 |
| ¥80,000 | ¥40,000 | ¥50,000 |
| ¥100,000 | ¥40,000 | ¥55,000 |
| ¥120,000 or more | ¥40,000 | ¥60,000 |
If you pay ¥120,000 or more a year, the deduction grows by ¥20,000. At a 10% income tax rate, income tax and the special reconstruction income tax fall by about ¥2,042.
A "dependant under 23" is someone who meets all of the following.[NTA: 2026 insurance premium deduction form (in Japanese)]
- A relative born on or after 2 January 2004 who shares your household finances (excluding your spouse and family employees of a business)
- Estimated total income for 2026 of ¥620,000 or less (a salary of up to ¥1.36 million if salary is their only income)
Children under 16 do not qualify for the dependant deduction, but they do count for this special rule. In a two-income couple, both spouses can use the rule even with just one child. Unlike the dependant deduction, it does not have to go to only one of them.[NTA: 2026 Year-End Adjustment Q&A (in Japanese)]
If you use the special rule, four things on the form change.
- In the general life insurance box, circle "yes" (u) for "dependant under 23"
- Apply Formula II to the new-contract total (A) and write it in box 2, then write it plus the old-contract box 3 in box 5 (up to ¥60,000). Boxes 1 and 4 are not used
- Copy the box 5 amount into box (i), the general deduction
- In the starred section below, write that child's name, date of birth, relationship and estimated total income (one child is enough even if you have more)
Without the special rule, use boxes 1 and 4 as before, and write the larger of boxes 3 and 4 in box (i). For who counts as a dependant, see How to fill in the dependant deduction form (2026); for the tax saved, see Life and earthquake insurance premium deductions.
Life insurance deduction calculator (2026): the total from five kinds of premiums
Enter the declared amount on each certificate (the annual amount after dividends) by category to see boxes (i), (ro) and (ha) on the form and the total deduction. The calculation follows the NTA's Formulas I to III and caps, and gives the income tax deduction.
* The amounts you enter are calculated on this screen only and are not sent anywhere. Earthquake and social insurance premiums are not included.
Earthquake insurance box: up to ¥50,000 for earthquake premiums, ¥15,000 for old long-term non-life premiums
For earthquake cover added to fire insurance, write the earthquake premium shown on the certificate; the full amount is deductible up to ¥50,000. The fire insurance part of the premium does not count. Covered are the home owned and lived in by you or a relative sharing your household finances, and household goods needed for daily life.[NTA: 2026 Year-End Adjustment Guide (in Japanese)]
Non-life policies of 10 years or more with a maturity refund, taken out by 31 December 2006 (old long-term non-life insurance), use the following formula.
| Old long-term non-life premiums (per year) | Deduction |
|---|---|
| Up to ¥10,000 | Full amount |
| Over ¥10,000 up to ¥20,000 | × 1/2 + ¥5,000 |
| Over ¥20,000 | ¥15,000 |
With both kinds, the combined cap is ¥50,000. The NTA sample has ¥42,000 in earthquake premiums and ¥14,800 in old long-term premiums (a ¥12,400 deduction). The ¥54,400 total stops at the ¥50,000 cap. If one contract fits both kinds, choose one of them for the calculation. For contracts paid for several years at once, only the share allocated to this year counts.
Social insurance box: national pension needs a certificate, national health insurance and long-term care premiums do not
This box is for social insurance premiums you paid yourself, other than salary withholding. For employees, this means national pension and national health insurance paid before joining the company, or national pension paid for a student child or another family member.
| Premium | On the form | Certificate attached |
|---|---|---|
| National pension premiums | Write | Required (such as the Japan Pension Service's deduction certificate) |
| National pension fund contributions | Write | Required |
| National health insurance premiums (or tax) | Write | Not required |
| Late-stage elderly medical care premiums (paid by bank transfer, etc.) | Write | Not required |
| Long-term care insurance premiums (paid yourself) | Write | Not required |
| Voluntary continuation of health insurance | Write | Not required |
| Health insurance, employees' pension and employment insurance withheld from salary | Do not write | — |
Whether a certificate is needed is set by the Income Tax Act. Article 196(2), which governs this form, limits the social insurance premiums that need a certificate to "national pension premiums and national pension fund contributions" (Article 74(2)(v)). National health insurance and the others are not on that list, so writing the amount is enough to get the deduction.[Income Tax Act][NTA Tax Answer No.1130]
Even without a certificate, write the amount accurately. Add up what you actually paid from January to December, using the municipality's payment notices, receipts or bank debit records. Do not include amounts that are due but still unpaid.
In "name of the person responsible for the premium", write the person who is properly liable for it. If you paid for a family member who shares your household finances, write their name, and the deduction goes to you as the payer. Long-term care and late-stage elderly medical premiums deducted from a parent's pension, however, count as paid by the parent and go to the parent's deduction. Who in the family should pay is covered in Paying family members' national pension and health insurance is fully deductible.
When the national pension deduction certificate arrives and how to get it reissued is covered in When the national pension deduction certificate arrives. If you prepaid two years, you can write the full amount this year or split it by year. If you split it, attach the certificate for each year.
Small business mutual aid box: for people paying iDeCo (individual-type defined contribution pension) from their own account
Four things count. They are the Organization for Small & Medium Enterprises and Regional Innovation's small business mutual aid, member contributions to corporate defined contribution pensions, contributions to the individual-type defined contribution pension (iDeCo), and local governments' mutual aid for people with disabilities. The full amount paid is deductible, with no cap.[NTA: 2026 Year-End Adjustment Guide (in Japanese)]
Employees whose iDeCo contributions are deducted from salary do not write them, since the employer totals them. Only people who pay from their own bank account write the amount and attach the payment certificate issued by the National Pension Fund Association. The certificate is needed whatever the amount. How much tax iDeCo saves is covered in The tax-saving effect of iDeCo.
If a certificate is late or you forgot something: submit by the end of January 2027, or file a tax return
If you cannot attach a certificate because you are still waiting for it, the year-end adjustment can include the deduction on condition that you submit it by 31 January 2027. If you received a deduction certificate as electronic data, you can submit that data instead of paper if your employer accepts electronic submission.
If you forgot the form or got an amount wrong, your employer can redo the year-end adjustment until the withholding slip is issued in January the following year (Redoing and correcting the year-end adjustment). After that, you can reclaim it with a tax return the following year (Year-end adjustment vs tax return).
Summary
- Write the declared amount on the certificate: the full year to December, after dividends
- The life insurance deduction is up to ¥40,000 per category for new contracts and ¥50,000 for old, and up to ¥120,000 for all three categories
- For 2026 and 2027, general premiums on new contracts are deductible up to ¥60,000 with a dependant under 23, so those paying ¥120,000 or more a year gain ¥20,000
- Earthquake premiums are deductible up to ¥50,000 and old long-term non-life premiums up to ¥15,000, with ¥50,000 as the combined cap
- Only national pension and national pension funds need a certificate; for national health insurance, late-stage elderly medical care and long-term care premiums you just write the amount
Related articles
Editors' picks
Popular articles
References (sources)
- National Tax Agency: 2026 Year-End Adjustment Guide (in Japanese)
- National Tax Agency: 2026 sample of the insurance premium deduction application (in Japanese)
- National Tax Agency: 2026 insurance premium deduction application form (in Japanese)
- National Tax Agency: 2026 Year-End Adjustment Q&A (in Japanese)
- National Tax Agency: Tax Answer No.1130, social insurance premium deduction (in Japanese)
- e-Gov: Income Tax Act, Articles 74 and 196 (in Japanese)
- National Tax Agency: 2026 year-end adjustment page (in Japanese)
This article provides general information based on National Tax Agency materials and the Income Tax Act as of 9 November 2026. The calculator and deduction amounts are for income tax; the resident tax deduction is calculated separately. For individual decisions, ask your employer's payroll staff or a tax office.