Left a Job Midyear and Still Jobless: Claim Your Tax Refund

The short answer: refunds by month of leaving (no bonus, no dependants, 2026 tax year)

Sources: National Tax Agency, "Withholding tax tables for employment income (2026 tax year)", monthly table, column Ko[NTA], and Tax Answer No.1910[NTA]. Estimates that take social insurance premiums as 15% of monthly salary and exclude premiums paid after leaving

The cells marked "all of it" are cases where income for the year is low enough that income tax comes to zero and every yen withheld comes back. Adding the social insurance premium deduction to the 650,000 yen employment income deduction and the 950,000 yen basic deduction (where total income is 1.32 million yen or less) means no income tax up to an annual income of around 1.9 million yen. Leaving at the end of June on 300,000 yen a month gives an annual income of 1.8 million yen, which falls inside that range.

The refund peaks at a June departure and shrinks after that because the later you leave, the higher your annual income and the higher the tax actually due. For someone on a high monthly salary, though, tax remains even with a June departure, so the peak sits a little differently.

Why too much gets withheld

The withholding tax table mechanically sets the tax from that month's "pay after social insurance premiums" and the number of dependants. The table is built on the premise that the same pay continues for twelve months and the year-end adjustment settles the basic deduction and the rest, so one month's tax is set a little above one twelfth of the annual tax.

An employer does the year-end adjustment for someone who is leaving only in limited cases, such as leaving after receiving the December pay, or leaving on death. For everyone else who leaves partway through, the National Tax Agency itself says that "filing a tax return once the year has turned will get you the refund"[NTA].

Deductions that increase the refund: premiums you paid yourself after leaving

The table above counts only the social insurance premiums deducted from pay. In reality what you paid yourself after leaving also counts as a deduction and increases the refund.

• National Pension premiums (17,920 yen a month, fiscal 2026). The months from the one after you left to the end of the year. Leaving at the end of June means six months, about 108,000 yen, added to the social insurance premium deduction. Premiums paid in advance are deductible in the year you paid them.
• National Health Insurance premiums, or voluntary continuation premiums. Whatever you paid as health insurance after leaving. Check the payment notice from your municipality or health insurance society. See also the three health insurance options after leaving a job and the National Health Insurance reduction for involuntary unemployment.
• Life insurance premiums, earthquake insurance premiums and iDeCo contributions. Use the deduction certificates you would have handed in at the year-end adjustment.
• Medical expense deduction and furusato nozei. Deductions the year-end adjustment cannot handle can go in at the same time on a tax return.

In the cases marked "all of it" in the table, however, income tax is already zero, so adding deductions does not increase the income tax refund any further. Even then the deductions do work on the resident tax charged from June of the following year, so there is still a point in filing.

Unemployment benefit (the basic allowance), on the other hand, is tax-free and does not go into your income at all. Retirement pay is settled by withholding as long as you gave your employer the "Report on receipt of retirement income", so it does not need to go on the tax return (if you did not submit it, including it can bring money back).

The procedure: from January of the following year, with one withholding statement

1. Get the "withholding statement for employment income" from your employer. Employers are obliged to issue it within one month of your leaving. If it does not arrive, ask the employer, and if it still does not come you can file a "notification of non-issue of a withholding statement" with the tax office.
2. Collect the certificates for the premiums you paid after leaving. For the National Pension, the deduction certificate the Japan Pension Service sends around November; for National Health Insurance, the payment record from your municipality; for life insurance and the rest, each company's deduction certificate.
3. Use the "Tax return preparation corner" from 1 January of the following year. A refund return can be filed from January, without waiting for 16 February. Enter the figures from the withholding statement, add the social insurance premium deduction and the rest, and the refund is calculated automatically. With a My Number card the whole thing can be done on a smartphone, and the transfer takes about three weeks.
4. The deadline is five years. A refund return can be filed for five years from 1 January of the year after the year in question. If there is a year in the past when you left and never filed, the money still comes back now.

In the "breakdown of income" section of the return, copy the payment amount and the withheld tax from the withholding statement as they are; retirement pay does not need to be entered (where you submitted the report). The preparation corner shows a screen that mirrors the boxes on the withholding statement, so it is hard to get lost.

If you found a new job within the year, or start one in the new year

• If you started a new job within the same year, the new employer's year-end adjustment settles the previous job as well. Hand the withholding statement from the previous job to the new employer. Forget it and nothing is settled, leaving you to file yourself.
• If you start a new job in the new year, file a refund return yourself for the year you left. The new employer's year-end adjustment covers the following year, so it will not settle the earlier year.
• Resident tax is a separate matter. Even with an income tax refund, resident tax on the income of the year you left arrives from June of the following year as ordinary collection (you pay it yourself). Leaving between January and May means the remainder is taken in a lump from your final pay; leaving between June and December means payment slips arrive. For planning your take-home pay, see tax and paperwork when changing or leaving a job.
• If you have no income while unemployed, no return is needed for the following year. A refund return exists to get back tax that was over-withheld, so if you have no income in the following year there is nothing to file for that year. A resident tax return may still be required (the resident tax return for people who do not file an income tax return).

Summary

• People who quit partway through the year and did not land a new job before year-end have overpaid income tax because there was no year-end adjustment.
• On a ¥300,000 monthly salary, quitting at the end of March brings back roughly ¥19,000; quitting at the end of June, roughly ¥37,900.
• Adding national pension and national health insurance premiums paid after leaving, life insurance premiums, and the medical expense deduction increases the refund.
• From January 1 of the following year, file a refund return using the withholding slip through the tax return preparation website. The deadline is 5 years.
• If you land a new job within the year, submitting your previous employer's withholding slip lets the new company settle it through year-end adjustment.

Reference links (sources)

This article is based on the materials below. The refunds are estimates and vary with social insurance premiums, bonuses and whether you have dependants.

• National Tax Agency, Tax Answer No.1910, When you leave partway through the year and receive no year-end adjustment (refund by filing a return the following year, for five years)
• National Tax Agency, Tax Answer No.2030, Refund returns (for five years from 1 January of the following year)
• National Tax Agency, Withholding tax tables for the 2026 tax year (monthly table)
• National Tax Agency, Tax return preparation corner

Note: this article is general information. For an individual decision, check with your tax office.