This is a translation of the Japanese original. The Japanese version is authoritative; figures follow Japanese tax law.
The salary payment report (給与支払報告書, kyuyo shiharai hokokusho) is the document with which a company reports each employee's salary for a whole year to the municipality. Its contents are almost identical to the withholding tax statement (源泉徴収票); what differs is that it does not go to the tax office. The deadline is January 31, it goes to the municipality of the address as of January 1 of that year, and part-timers and company directors are all covered, with no minimum amount. The annual resident tax is decided from this report and deducted from salary every month from June through May of the following year. A second employer has the same duty, so salary from a second job is added to the deduction at your main job.
The short answer: the salary payment report on one page
| Item | Content |
|---|---|
| Who files it | Anyone who pays salary as of January 1 and is obliged to withhold income tax (companies and sole proprietors alike) |
| By when | By January 31 (the next business day in years when it falls on a weekend) |
| Where | The municipality of the employee's address as of January 1. Bundles are made separately for each address |
| What is filed | The summary sheet (総括表) plus individual detail statements (個人別明細書) for everyone including directors and part-timers, plus the statement of reasons for switching to ordinary collection |
| Leavers | To the municipality of the address as of the date of leaving. However, there is no duty to file where the payment for that year was 300,000 yen or less |
| Legal basis | Article 317-6 of the Local Tax Act. Breach of the duty carries the penalty in Article 317-7 |
Sources: Local Tax Act Articles 317-6 and 317-7[e-Gov Law Search, Local Tax Act], City of Osaka[City of Osaka], Arakawa City[Arakawa City]
The City of Osaka states the scope of filing explicitly as "all employees and others, whatever the amount of salary paid"[City of Osaka]. Even a part-time job of a few tens of thousands of yen a month is being reported.
How it relates to the withholding tax statement: one sheet going to two places
The "individual detail statement" has the same content as the withholding tax statement, and the form the National Tax Agency (NTA) distributes is a single carbon-copy sheet titled "Salary payment report (individual detail statement) / Withholding tax statement for employment income"[NTA, forms for statutory payment records]. The copy handed to the employee is the withholding tax statement; the copy filed with the municipality is the salary payment report.
| Salary payment report | Withholding tax statement for employment income | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it goes | The municipality of the employee's address | The tax office (delivery to the employee is separate) |
| Deadline | January 31 | January 31 for the employee's copy. Within one month of leaving for mid-year leavers |
| How it is used | Decides the annual resident tax | Material for income tax. The employee uses it for the final tax return |
| Scope of filing (from January 2027) | Both become the same: everyone except mid-year leavers paid 300,000 yen or less | |
The treatment changes from January 2027 (Reiwa 9). NTA No.7411 states that for withholding tax statements due to be filed on or after January 1, 2027, filing the salary payment report with the municipality is deemed to be filing with the tax office[NTA No.7411]. The work of preparing a copy for the tax office disappears, but the duty to hand a copy to the employee remains[NTA, deemed-filing special rule].
- The scope of filing is unified: the lines of more than 1.5 million yen for directors and more than 5 million yen for ordinary employees disappear, and the scope becomes the same as the salary payment report[NTA No.7411]
- Mandatory electronic filing: a company that should have filed 30 or more withholding tax statements with the tax office two years earlier must file through an electronic system such as eLTAX[NTA, guide to statutory payment records, chapter 2]
The form itself is new as well. In August 2026 the paper form of the statutory payment records filed with the tax office changed, and the national tax system was renewed on September 24, 2026. The retained copy is gone and the colour scheme is black and white as a rule[NTA, renewal of the national tax system]. Companies filing on paper should be careful about reusing old sheets.
What the company does: file the set of three during January
- Prepare an individual detail statement for everyone. One sheet per person, with the bundles split by municipality according to the address as of January 1[Local Tax Act 317-6(1)].
- Attach one summary sheet per municipality. It is a cover sheet carrying the company name, its location and the number of people filed for that municipality. In most cases the form is mailed to you based on the previous year's record[Arakawa City].
- If anyone is to be on ordinary collection, attach the statement of reasons. One sheet per place of business, with the code also entered in the remarks column of the detail statement. Arakawa City states explicitly that "where it is not filed, special collection applies as the rule"[Arakawa City].
- If anyone has left as of April 1, notify by April 15. This is the notification that a person reported on is no longer receiving salary[Local Tax Act 317-6(2)].
- Deduct from June following the notice. The municipality notifies the tax amount by May 31, and the company collects one twelfth of the annual amount each month and pays it by the 10th of the following month[Local Tax Act 321-4 and 321-5].
Municipalities decide for themselves which reasons for ordinary collection they accept, so a reason that passes in one city may not pass in another. Tokyo allows six categories including "a total headcount of two or fewer" and "a family employee of the business"[Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Taxation], while the City of Osaka has four categories and neither of those two[City of Osaka]. A company whose staff live in many places has to check each filing destination.
What happens on the employee's side: the deduction switches in June
Seen from the employee, this report is the basis for calculating resident tax. The municipality matches the reports under one name, works out the annual amount, designates the company as the special collection agent and sends the notice. As the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) explains it, special collection is "a method under which a person other than the taxpayer (such as a company) collects the tax from the taxpayer and pays it on the taxpayer's behalf"[MIC, individual resident tax].
The report filed in January, then the tax notice by May 31, then deduction in 12 instalments from the June salary through May of the following year. That is why take-home pay changes in June. How to read the notice is covered in how to read the resident tax decision notice.
An employee cannot choose ordinary collection just by asking. The Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Taxation writes that "ordinary collection cannot be chosen at the employee's request"[Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Taxation]. The difference between the two is set out in special collection and ordinary collection of resident tax.
Five steps by which a second job's salary is added to the main job
Where the second job pays salary (a part-time job or holding two jobs at once), it feeds through to the deduction at your main job in the following order.
- The second employer also has the duty to file. It too is "a person paying salary as of January 1", so it files with the municipality of your address[Local Tax Act 317-6(1)]. Small amounts are covered too[City of Osaka].
- The municipality matches the records. The main job and the second job are added together and the annual resident tax is calculated.
- A company is designated as the special collection agent. Where there are two or more payers, all or some of them must be designated[Local Tax Act 321-4(4)], and in practice "as a rule, special collection is carried out at the workplace paying the principal salary"[Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Taxation].
- Getting out of it needs a step by the second employer. Unless the second employer files a statement of reasons saying "special collection at another place of business", special collection applies as the rule[Arakawa City]. Asking your main job will not move it.
- The combined amount comes out of the main job's salary. A resident tax amount that the main job alone cannot explain shows up in the June notice.
Second jobs where "pay it yourself" works
- Business income or miscellaneous income such as writing fees, delivery work or resale
- Income other than salary, such as real estate income
- Circle "pay it yourself" on the second page of the return and you pay by slip
Second jobs where "pay it yourself" does not work
- Where the second job pays salary (part-time work)
- The collection method can be chosen only for income other than salary and public pensions
- The City of Osaka states it is "collected by special collection, added to the salary paid elsewhere"
Sources: proviso to Article 321-3(2) of the Local Tax Act[e-Gov Law Search], NTA "Items concerning resident tax and enterprise tax"[NTA], City of Osaka[City of Osaka]
"Choose to pay it yourself and the second job stays hidden" holds only where the second job does not pay salary. For how the return works, see the final tax return for a second job.
Leavers: 300,000 yen or less means "no need to file", but municipalities want it anyway
Reports for people who left during the year also go to the municipality of the address as of the date of leaving. However, under the proviso to Article 317-6(3), there is no need to file for a person whose total salary from that company for the year was 300,000 yen or less[Local Tax Act 317-6(3)].
Municipalities, though, take the line of "we would rather you filed". For leavers at 300,000 yen or less, Arakawa City asks for "your cooperation in filing, from the point of view of fair and proper taxation", while noting that there is no duty to do so[Arakawa City].
- It may still be filed even at 300,000 yen or less
- If it is not filed, the municipality cannot see the salary, and a resident tax return may be needed
- The withholding tax statement is issued to everyone. For leavers, within one month of the date of leaving[NTA No.7411]
In the year you leave, the previous year's annual amount is still outstanding, so depending on the month of leaving it may be collected in a lump sum. This is set out in the month you leave changes the resident tax bill.
From January 2027 it comes within My Number Portal linkage
The NTA's dedicated page states that from January 1, 2027 (for 2026 income onwards), a salary payment report filed through an electronic system comes within My Number Portal linkage[NTA, deemed-filing special rule]. The direction of travel is that salary information can be pulled into the final tax return without typing it in. The same page also states that the "unified electronic filing function", which allowed the withholding tax statement and the salary payment report to be filed together, ends in September 2026[NTA].
Seen from the working side, the single sheet the company files in January decides the resident tax amount. Treat the year-end adjustment paperwork carelessly and it shows up across the 12 months from June of the following year.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between the salary payment report and the withholding tax statement?
The contents are almost the same; the destination differs. The salary payment report goes to the municipality of the address as of January 1, while the withholding tax statement goes to the tax office and is also handed to the employee. On or after January 1, 2027, filing with the municipality is deemed to be filing with the tax office.
If the salary from a part-time job is small, is it not filed?
For people still employed, it is filed whatever the amount. The only exclusion is a person who left during the year whose payment was 300,000 yen or less. Because municipalities ask for cooperation, it may be filed even at 300,000 yen or less.
If I choose to "pay it yourself" for resident tax, will my second job stay hidden from my main job?
That does not work where the second job pays salary. The collection method can be chosen only for resident tax on income other than salary and public pensions. If the second job pays salary, the second employer also files a report, the municipality matches the records, and the combined amount is deducted from the main job's salary.
What happens if a company does not file the salary payment report?
It is a breach of the duty under Article 317-6 of the Local Tax Act, and Article 317-7 carries a penalty. Without the report the municipality cannot calculate the resident tax, and the employee ends up having to file a resident tax return.
Reference links (sources)
- e-Gov Law Search, Local Tax Act - the duty to file, the deadline, the exclusion at 300,000 yen or less, special collection
- NTA No.7411, scope and number of withholding tax statements to be filed - the unified scope and deemed filing
- NTA, special rule on deemed filing of the withholding tax statement - the end of the unified function and My Number Portal linkage
- NTA, guide to statutory payment records (2026 income), chapter 2 - the deadline and mandatory electronic filing
- NTA, forms for statutory payment records - the shared form for the detail statement and the withholding tax statement
- NTA, renewal of the national tax system - the renewal of September 24, 2026 and the change of form
- NTA, step 6: entering items concerning resident tax and enterprise tax - the scope of "pay it yourself"
- MIC, individual resident tax - the definition of special collection
- Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Taxation, special collection promotion station - the six categories for ordinary collection
- City of Osaka, filing the salary payment report - the scope of filing and the four switching categories
- Arakawa City, salary payment report - the set of three and the request for cooperation at 300,000 yen or less
Note: this article is general information. Forms and whether ordinary collection is allowed differ by municipality. For an individual decision, ask the municipal tax division, the tax office or a tax accountant.
