"Should I hire a tax accountant?" Major accounting media outlets do not answer this question head-on. Accounting software companies earn revenue from referring tax accountants, so they have interests aligned with the tax-accountant industry. This site sells no one's products, so we write honestly. The conclusion: most sole proprietors and employees can manage on their own. At the same time, there are situations where hiring one is clearly worthwhile. Along with the market rates for fees, we draw the line between them.
① Rough fees: ¥100,000–150,000 for a one-off individual tax return (add ¥50,000–150,000 to hand over all bookkeeping); for a company, an advisory fee of ¥30,000 a month plus a closing fee, about ¥500,000 a year.
② Fine on your own: refund filings (medical expenses, Furusato Nozei), miscellaneous income from a side business, a simple blue return with sales of ¥10 million or less (completed with accounting software + e-Tax).
③ Great value in hiring one: corporate filings, the standard method of consumption tax, inheritance tax, handling a tax audit, and situations where the credibility of financial statements is needed for financing or subsidies.
④ A tax accountant's exclusive work is "tax representation, preparation of tax documents, and tax consultation" (Certified Public Tax Accountant Act)[National Tax Agency (in Japanese)]. Attending an audit and negotiating can only be done by you or a tax accountant, and this is the value that remains to the very end.
⑤ "Hiring one means no audit will come" and "they will dramatically cut your taxes" are both misunderstandings.
Market rates for fees (there is no official set price)
The official standard for tax accountant fees was abolished in 2002, and pricing is now completely free. Estimates from multiple pieces of public information are as follows.
| What you request | Rough market rate (per year) |
|---|---|
| Individual, tax return only (one-off) | ¥100,000–150,000 (handing over all bookkeeping adds ¥50,000–150,000) |
| Individual, advisory contract (including bookkeeping guidance) | ¥10,000–30,000 a month + a filing fee |
| Company (guideline: sales of ¥30 million or less) | Monthly advisory around ¥30,000 + a closing fee (4–6 months of the advisory fee) = ¥400,000–600,000 a year |
| Inheritance tax filing | Customarily 0.5–1% of the total estate |
| Attendance at a tax audit | ¥30,000–50,000 per day + a fee for the amended return |
The yardstick for deciding is simple: if "the fee you pay" > "the time you save + the taxes and risk you reduce," don't hire; if it's the reverse, hire. Below we apply this concretely.
Cases where you are fine on your own (the majority fall here)
- An employee's refund filing: for the medical expense deduction, Furusato Nozei, and the first year of the mortgage loan credit, the National Tax Agency's online tax return preparation corner guides you in a question-and-answer format. This is not the kind of thing worth paying a tax accountant ¥100,000 for.
- Filing for a side business (miscellaneous income): you simply total up income and expenses and enter them (the ¥200,000 rule).
- A simple blue return: if you have few business partners and use accounting software linked to your bank account and cards, then by grasping the basics of journal entries you can reach the ¥650,000 deduction on your own via e-Tax. The ¥10,000–30,000 a year for the software and 1–2 hours a month of bookkeeping are "in place of the fee."
- Consumption tax under the simplified method or the 20% special provision: the calculation is routine, so it is within reach on your own.
Cases where hiring one is highly worthwhile
- Corporate filings: there are many documents — supplementary schedules, breakdowns of account items, and local taxes — and considering the risk of errors and the working time, it is reasonable for most companies to hire one (budget for this running cost separately from incorporation costs).
- The standard method of consumption tax: classifying invoices and judging deductions is error-prone, and the amounts of error are large.
- Inheritance tax: asset valuation (land, unlisted stock) is a mass of specialized expertise, and it is not uncommon for the tax to shift by more than the fee (consultation is recommended if you are likely to exceed the basic deduction).
- A notice of a tax audit has arrived: attending and negotiating in an audit (tax representation) is a tax accountant's exclusive work. Differences in experience directly affect the outcome (the reality of tax audits).
- Financing and subsidies: financial institutions tend to trust financial statements a tax accountant was involved in, and some subsidies require the involvement of a certified support institution.
Two common misunderstandings (from a neutral standpoint)
- "Hire a tax accountant and no tax audit will come" → a misunderstanding. The selection of who gets audited is based on the content of the filing and data analysis, not on whether a professional is involved. If you use the written-attachment system (Article 33-2 of the Certified Public Tax Accountant Act), the tax accountant is asked for their opinion before an audit, and as a result an audit is sometimes omitted — but this is no guarantee.
- "Hire one and you can dramatically cut taxes" → half a misunderstanding. The drawers of legal tax savings (mutual-aid schemes, salaries to family employees, designing executive compensation, etc.) are indeed valuable, but many of them can be learned from public information like this site. Rather, the essential value of a tax accountant lies in "not making mistakes, being able to defend you in an audit, and being someone to consult about the numbers of your business."
Conversely, be careful of experts who aggressively pitch "tax-saving schemes" to you (verifying tax-saving scheme products).
FAQ
At what annual revenue should a sole proprietor hire a tax accountant?
Judge by the "content" rather than the amount. If sales are ¥10 million or less and the business is simple, doing it yourself with accounting software is reasonable. Once any one of the following applies — you have become subject to the standard method of consumption tax, you have hired staff, your transactions have grown complex, or bookkeeping takes several hours or more a month — it becomes worth paying a fee.
How much is it to have just the tax return done?
On the premise that bookkeeping is already done, a one-off request is around ¥100,000–150,000. Bookkeeping agency work, where you hand over everything from organizing receipts, costs a separate ¥50,000–150,000 or so. Since fees are freely priced, comparing several estimates is effective.
Can I run a company without a tax accountant?
It is possible by law, and there are company presidents who file on their own. However, a corporate tax return (the supplementary schedules) is difficult, and considering the cost and time to correct errors, for most companies it is worth the ¥400,000–600,000 a year fee. Right after incorporation, while transactions are few, there is also a way to hold down costs with a one-off request for just the filing.
If I hire a tax accountant, will tax audits stop coming?
They will not stop. Who gets audited is chosen by the content of the filing and data analysis. However, if you use the written-attachment system, the tax accountant is asked for their opinion before an audit, and if the questions are resolved there, an audit is sometimes omitted. Also, the ability to respond if an audit does happen is a great value.
Data sources and editorial policy
- A tax accountant's exclusive work (tax representation, preparation of tax documents, tax consultation): National Tax Agency — The tax accountant system (in Japanese)
- The written-attachment system: National Tax Agency — The written-attachment system (in Japanese)
- Fee market rates: because no official standard exists, these are estimates based on the public fee schedules of multiple tax accountant offices and referral services (as of June 2026).
* This article is general information provided with no vested interest in any particular tax accountant, referral service, or accounting software; please confirm individual contract decisions for yourself.