This is a translation of the Japanese original. The Japanese version is authoritative; figures follow Japanese tax law.
In Tokyo, under 40, a bonus of ¥500,000 leaves you with ¥400,420. Only two things come out: ¥73,450 of social insurance premiums and ¥26,130 of income tax. Resident tax is not taken from a bonus; you pay it from your salary from the following June. The important point is that the rate deducted does not change with the size of the bonus. It is set only by the previous month's salary and the number of dependents, and it ranges from 16.4% to 26.9%. A bonus paid in December 2026 (Reiwa 8) is withheld on the old table and settled in the same month's year-end adjustment. Start by checking last month's payslip for the figure left after social insurance premiums.
The short answer: a ¥500,000 bonus leaves ¥400,420, with 14.69% plus income tax taken out
This assumes a previous month's salary of ¥350,000, zero dependents, under 40, in Tokyo.
| Item | Employee's rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Health insurance | 4.925% | ¥24,625 |
| Child and child-rearing support levy | 0.115% | ¥575 |
| Employees' pension insurance | 9.15% | ¥45,750 |
| Employment insurance (on the gross bonus) | 0.5% | ¥2,500 |
| Social insurance premiums, total | 14.69% | ¥73,450 |
| Income tax (including special reconstruction income tax) | 6.126% | ¥26,130 |
| Resident tax | — | ¥0 |
| Take-home | — | ¥400,420 |
Rates from the fiscal 2026 premium table[Japan Health Insurance Association], employees' pension 18.3%[Japan Pension Service], employment insurance 5/1,000[MHLW]. Amounts are this site's estimates.
The make-up of the rate is the same as for monthly salary (how to read a payslip). From 40 to 64, long-term care insurance of 0.81% is added and the total becomes 15.50%[Japan Health Insurance Association].
The rate does not change with the size of the bonus: it is set by last month's salary and the number of dependents
The rate comes from the "table for computing the rate of withholding income tax on bonuses" (賞与に対する源泉徴収税額の算出率の表). The row is chosen by last month's salary after social insurance premiums, and the column by the number of dependents and others (扶養親族等の数)[NTA No.2523]. The amount of the bonus appears nowhere in it.
| Last month's salary | After premiums | Rate, 0 dependents | Rate, 2 dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| ¥250,000 | ¥211,856 | 4.084% | 2.042% |
| ¥350,000 | ¥297,166 | 6.126% | 4.084% |
| ¥500,000 | ¥426,550 | 14.294% | 12.252% |
From the rate table for 2026, Column A (甲欄)[NTA]. With zero dependents the rate is 0% below ¥82,000. The after-premium figures are this site's estimates.
- Premiums are 500,000 x 14.69% = ¥73,450.
- Last month: 350,000 - 52,834 of premiums = ¥297,166.
- The table's row "¥260,000 or more but under ¥309,000, zero dependents" is 6.126%.
- Income tax is (500,000 - 73,450) x 6.126% = ¥26,130.
- Take-home is 500,000 - 73,450 - 26,130 = ¥400,420.
How dependents are counted changed for 2026. It is now the total of a spouse eligible for withholding deduction and relatives eligible for withholding deduction (源泉控除対象親族)[NTA withholding tax tables]. Added to the dependent relatives are specified relatives (特定親族), aged 19 to under 23 with estimated income of ¥1,000,000 or less.
The feeling that "the tax rate on a bonus is higher" is not an illusion. Someone with a ¥500,000 monthly salary has about 3.6% of income tax taken each month, while the bonus rate is 14.294%. The monthly table is close to an average divided by 12; the bonus rate table is closer to the rate on the top slice. The difference is settled in the year-end adjustment.
The 3.6% is this site's estimate using the special rule for computer calculation[NTA]. It differs from the monthly table by a few tens of yen.
There are two exceptions. One is where the bonus is more than ten times last month's salary (both after premiums); the other is where there was no salary in the previous month. In both cases the bonus is divided by 6 (by 12 if the calculation period is longer than six months) and the monthly table is applied[NTA No.2523].
Bonus take-home table: the same ¥500,000 leaves anywhere from ¥365,579 to ¥417,840
Take-home amounts for Tokyo, fiscal 2026, under 40, Column A.
| Bonus | Premiums | Last month ¥250,000 | Last month ¥350,000 | Last month ¥500,000 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 dep. | 2 dep. | 0 dep. | 2 dep. | 0 dep. | 2 dep. | ||
| ¥300,000 | 44,070 | 245,478 | 250,704 | 240,252 | 245,478 | 219,348 | 224,574 |
| ¥500,000 | 73,450 | 409,130 | 417,840 | 400,420 | 409,130 | 365,579 | 374,290 |
| ¥800,000 | 117,520 | 654,608 | 668,544 | 640,672 | 654,608 | 584,927 | 598,863 |
| ¥1,000,000 | 146,900 | 818,260 | 835,680 | 800,840 | 818,260 | 731,158 | 748,579 |
| ¥1,500,000 | 220,350 | 1,227,390 | 1,253,520 | 1,201,259 | 1,227,390 | 1,096,737 | 1,122,868 |
| Share deducted | 14.69% | 18.2% | 16.4% | 19.9% | 18.2% | 26.9% | 25.1% |
Amounts in yen. This site's estimates using the Tokyo rates[Japan Health Insurance Association] and the rate table[NTA].
Read the bottom row across and it becomes clear. The share deducted is the same on a ¥300,000 bonus as on a ¥1,500,000 one, and between the lightest 16.4% and the heaviest 26.9% there is a gap of 10.5 points.
If you had a lot of overtime last month, that alone moves you up one row. Burdens by annual income are set out in how much social insurance costs by income.
From 40 to 64, long-term care insurance of 0.81% is added. With a previous month's salary of ¥500,000 and zero dependents the share deducted is 27.6% and take-home is ¥362,108.
Caps that apply only to bonuses: ¥1.5 million per payment for pension, ¥5.73 million a year for health insurance
Premiums on bonuses have two caps. Health insurance, long-term care and the support levy stop at a cumulative ¥5,730,000 a fiscal year (1 April to 31 March), and employees' pension at ¥1,500,000 per payment. Two or more payments in the same month are added together[Japan Pension Service].
| How the bonus is paid | Subject to pension | Subject to health insurance | Reduction for the employee |
|---|---|---|---|
| ¥2,000,000 in one payment | Cut off at ¥1,500,000 | ¥2,000,000 | ¥45,750 less pension |
| ¥3,000,000 in summer plus ¥3,000,000 in winter | Cut off at ¥1,500,000 each time | ¥2,730,000 in winter | ¥13,298 less health insurance in winter |
| Payments after the ¥5,730,000 cumulative cap is passed | Up to ¥1,500,000 per payment | Standard bonus amount is zero | ¥0 for health, care and the levy |
This site's estimates. The treatment of the ¥5,730,000 cap follows the published notes[Japan Pension Service].
The standard bonus amount (標準賞与額) takes the pre-tax figure and rounds it down to the nearest ¥1,000. A bonus of ¥509,800 has the rates applied to ¥509,000. Employment insurance alone is not rounded down[Japan Health Insurance Association].
Resident tax is not taken from a bonus, but you pay it in 12 instalments from the next June
Finding no resident tax line on a bonus payslip is normal. The annual amount of resident tax is fixed on the previous year's income and taken in 12 instalments from the salary for June through the following May[Tokyo Bureau of Taxation]. There is no mechanism that raises it in a bonus month.
- Resident tax in a bonus month is ¥0 (under collection from monthly salary)
- A 2026 bonus enters the fiscal 2027 resident tax, from June 2027, so next June's payslip goes up
- If you leave mid-year, the remainder is either collected in a lump sum or paid by you directly
A December 2026 bonus is withheld on the old table and comes back in the same month's year-end adjustment
The fiscal 2026 reform raised the basic deduction and the minimum guaranteed employment income deduction. Even so, what is withheld from a December bonus does not change, because the effective date and the order of application are split.
| What changed | Effective | Effect on the December bonus |
|---|---|---|
| Higher basic deduction (up to ¥1,040,000) | 1 December 2026 | First bites at the year-end adjustment |
| Minimum guaranteed employment income deduction of ¥740,000 | 1 December 2026 | Also from the year-end adjustment |
| Withholding tax tables and the bonus rate table | Payments on or after 1 January 2027 | The December bonus uses the old table |
Sources: the Q&A on the tax reform[NTA] and the outline of the same year's reform[Ministry of Finance].
A December bonus is over-withheld on this year's table and settled in the same month's year-end adjustment. The 2026 tax tables build in only ¥580,000 of basic deduction[NTA]. With total income of ¥4,890,000 or less, a further ¥460,000 now takes effect.
- At a 5% tax rate, about ¥23,500 comes back (this site's estimate)
- At 10%, about ¥47,000 (this site's estimate)
- Above an annual income of ¥6,655,556 the basic deduction falls to ¥670,000, so the refund is small
The refund rides on the December or January salary. For a sense of the amount see the year-end adjustment refund, and for the deduction amounts the employment income deduction table. The 2027 bonus rate table has not been published, so it is not shown here.
Bonuses in the month you leave, and during childcare leave, are treated differently for premiums
Premiums are charged only up to the month before the month in which insured status is lost. So a bonus paid in the month you leave carries no premiums, unless you leave on the last day of the month[Japan Pension Service]. One day's difference in the leaving date moves take-home by tens of thousands of yen.
Bonuses with no premiums taken
- You left on 30 December and received a bonus that month
- A bonus during maternity leave (産前産後休業)
- You took childcare leave of more than one continuous month that included the last day of the bonus month
Bonuses with premiums taken
- You left on 31 December (status is lost on 1 January)
- Your childcare leave was one continuous month or less
- A bonus in your first month at a company (on or after the date insured status begins)
Sources: the procedures for childcare leave[Japan Pension Service] and the exemption from premiums[Japan Pension Service].
The conditions for exemption differ between monthly premiums and bonuses. Monthly premiums are waived at 14 days or more, but a bonus needs more than one continuous month. Income tax is not waived.
Summary
- In Tokyo, for someone under 40 with a ¥500,000 bonus, take-home pay is ¥400,420. The deductions are ¥73,450 in social insurance premiums and ¥26,130 in income tax.
- The deduction rate does not change with the bonus amount. It is determined by the previous month's salary and the number of dependents, ranging from 16.4% to 26.9%.
- Resident tax is not deducted from bonuses; it is paid in 12 installments from salary starting in June of the following year.
- Bonuses paid in December of Reiwa 8 (2026) are withheld using the pre-revision table, and settled in the year-end adjustment for the same month.
- First, check the previous month's pay slip for the amount after social insurance premiums are deducted.
Related articles
Editors' picks
Popular articles
Reference links (sources)
- NTA, No.2523 Withholding on bonuses — the three calculation methods
- NTA, bonus rate table for 2026 — the rate brackets
- NTA, withholding tax tables for 2026 — how dependents are counted
- NTA, Q&A on the fiscal 2026 tax reform — effective 1 December
- Ministry of Finance, outline of the fiscal 2026 tax reform — when the tables change
- Japan Health Insurance Association, fiscal 2026 premium table (Tokyo) — rates and caps
- Japan Pension Service, procedures for paying bonuses — above the ¥5,730,000 cumulative cap
- Japan Pension Service, premiums for employees who have left — bonuses in the leaving month
- MHLW, employment insurance rates for fiscal 2026 — employee's share 5/1,000
- Tokyo Bureau of Taxation, individual resident tax and special collection — 12 instalments from June
Note: the take-home and refund amounts are this site's estimates applying the materials above. Rates differ at branches outside Tokyo and at health insurance societies. For a decision, ask your employer or tax office.