Last updated: 1 September 2026. This article is based on the fiscal 2027 tax reform requests published by each ministry at the end of August 2026 (the Financial Services Agency, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism). Everything covered here is a request, not a decided policy. Whether each is adopted will be settled in the ruling parties' tax reform outline in December.
This is an English translation of our Japanese article. The Japanese version and the documents published by each Japanese ministry are authoritative. Everything here is a request, not settled law. Adoption is decided by the ruling party's tax reform outline in December.
Last updated: 1 September 2026. Based on the FY2027 tax reform requests published by Japan's ministries at the end of August 2026 — the Financial Services Agency, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
The short answer. Japan's ministries filed their FY2027 tax reform requests at the end of August 2026. The newest item that touches households is a request for tax treatment of babysitting and household support service costs — a new request filed by the MHLW jointly with METI and the Children and Families Agency, covering income tax and individual resident tax. If it happens, what dual-income households already pay for sitters and home help could start counting in the tax calculation. This article picks out only the items that reach households, across ministries.
What happened at the end of August
Every August, ministries file their requests with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. For FY2027, the MLIT published on 28 August and both the FSA and the MHLW on 31 August.
One structural point matters: almost every ministry request is a tax cut, a wider exemption or an extension, because ministries advocate for the sectors they oversee. So reading the whole August list tells you nothing about next year's tax increases. That logic is set out in how to read tax reform requests.
The newest item: tax treatment for sitters and home help
New requestFiled by the MHLW jointly with METI and the Children and Families Agency. The wording reads:
In order to prevent childcare and nursing care from causing people to leave work or damaging their careers, and to help people combine work with raising children and caring for family, take the necessary tax measures regarding the cost of using household support services and unlicensed childcare facilities including babysitters.
From the MHLW's "Main FY2027 tax reform requests". The taxes covered are income tax and individual resident tax.
Three things stand out.
First, it is a new request. Not an extension or an expansion — a measure that does not exist yet. That is harder to pass than extending something, and bigger if it lands.
Second, the scope is broad. Not just babysitters: household support services and unlicensed childcare facilities are named alongside them, which is close to what dual-income households actually pay for.
Third, three agencies filed it together. Joint requests need more coordination, but they also signal broader political backing.
The form of the measure is not written down yet. Whether it would be an income deduction or a tax credit, what the cap would be, and where the line falls between qualifying services — none of that exists at the request stage. Reading this as "sitter costs will be refunded" is premature. It is decided from December onwards.
The MHLW's other requests
| Request | Type | Taxes |
|---|---|---|
| Extending special depreciation for equipment securing healthcare provision | Expand and extend | Income, corporate |
| Measures following review of the SME retirement allowance mutual aid and asset-building schemes | New, expand | Income, corporate, inheritance, resident and others |
| Tax measures for household support service and babysitting costs | New | Income, individual resident |
| Extending special depreciation for shared facilities of sanitation trade associations | Extend | Corporate |
| Extending the special treatment of entertainment expense taxation | Expand and extend | Corporate, corporate resident, enterprise |
Closest to an employee's own finances is the review of the SME retirement allowance mutual aid scheme and the payroll asset-building scheme. The wording is that the Labour Policy Council will examine how these schemes should work, and tax measures will follow from that. Both come bundled with tax advantages today, so the treatment could change depending on the conclusion — worth watching in December if you are enrolled.
For business owners, the entertainment expense item asks to extend, after reviewing the conditions, the 10,000-yen-per-person threshold for meal costs excluded from entertainment expenses, along with the rules allowing 50% of meal costs to be deducted and up to 8 million yen of entertainment expenses to be fully deducted.
The MLIT: housing and property
The MLIT published on 28 August. Under "realising affluent living", the housing items include:
| Request |
|---|
| Measures on the gift tax exemption for housing acquisition funds |
| Expanding special treatment for registration of ownership of residential buildings (registration and licence tax) |
| Expanding and extending measures to curb the creation of vacant homes |
| Expanding and extending special treatment for buy-and-resell housing |
| Expanding and extending the tax reduction for condominiums that have undergone major repairs |
| Measures responding to price surges in new condominiums |
| Extending the fixed asset tax burden adjustment and by-law reduction system for land |
| Extending the stamp duty measure for construction and property transfer contracts |
| Reviewing how vehicles are taxed (vehicle weight tax, automobile tax and others) |
Extracted from the main items of the MLIT's "FY2027 tax reform requests". Item names follow the wording of the source document.
The housing loan deduction is absent because it has already been handled. Its deadline was extended by five years in the FY2026 reform, so there is nothing to request this time. Being missing from the list does not mean being abolished.
The eye-catching name is measures responding to price surges in new condominiums. At the request stage this is only a heading; the substance sits in the source document. It does not mean condominiums will get cheaper.
Relevant to inheritance is the vacant home item — the special deduction on capital gains when selling an inherited empty house, which is proposed for expansion and extension.
The FSA: NISA and life insurance
The FSA filed on the same day. For households the three that matter are letting the NISA allowance refill in the year you sell, making permanent the 20,000 yen life insurance top-up for households with a child under 23, and widening loss offsetting to derivatives and deposits.
Its long tail also includes raising the inheritance tax exemption for death benefits, and abolishing the gift tax exemption for lump-sum marriage and childcare funds. Details are in the FSA's FY2027 tax reform requests.
Ranked by how directly it reaches a household
| Request | Who it reaches | Filed by |
|---|---|---|
| Tax measures for babysitting and household support costs | Dual-income families; those combining work and care | MHLW, METI, CFA |
| Making the 20,000 yen life insurance top-up permanent | Households with a child under 23 | FSA and others |
| NISA allowance refilling in the same year | Anyone trading inside NISA | FSA |
| Raising the inheritance exemption for death benefits | Those using life insurance in estate planning | FSA |
| Expanding the vacant home measure | Those inheriting a family home | MLIT |
| Abolishing the lump-sum marriage and childcare gift exemption | Those expecting help from grandparents | CFA |
Only the last runs the other way. Abolition means it stops being available, so anyone considering it should plan around the 31 March 2027 deadline. See why the lump-sum marriage and childcare gift is heading for abolition.
Summary
- At the end of August 2026, ministries and agencies published their tax reform requests for FY2027 (Reiwa 9), which will be decided in the ruling parties' tax reform outline in December.
- The newest item is a tax measure for babysitter, housekeeping support, and unlicensed childcare costs, a new request covering income tax and individual resident tax.
- Whether it becomes an income deduction or a tax credit, the cap, and the scope are all undecided, so it is too early to read it as "babysitter fees fully refunded."
- The Financial Services Agency requested restoring NISA limits within the same year and making permanent the extra ¥20,000 life insurance premium deduction for households with children under 23.
- Only the lump-sum gift for marriage and child-rearing funds is slated for abolition, so if you use it, plan around the March 31, 2027 deadline.
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This article summarises published tax reform requests, not settled law. Adoption is decided by the ruling party's tax reform outline and subsequent legislation. For individual tax decisions, consult a tax office or a licensed tax accountant.