Japan
Japan: 5 company types, its taxes, banking and business environment, and what it is known for.
Forming a company
Company types in Japan
The 5 forms a founder can choose here, each with its own figures. Open one for its sources.
What it is known for
Where Japan is in the world’s top 10 on a measure anyone can check, the best rank first. Only the top is shown; a low rank is never stated.
- World’s1stWorld-leading exports Semiconductor-manufacturing machinesMachines and apparatus of a kind used solely or principally for the manufacture of semiconductor boules or wafers, semiconductor devices, electronic integrated circuits or flat panel displays; machines and apparatus specified in note 11(C) to this chapter; parts and accessoriesUS$30.8 bn · 23.6% of world exports of 157 exporters · 2024 CEPII BACI, January 2026 release See the top 10
- World’s1stKnowledge-intensive economy Economic Complexity Index1.73 of 142 economies · 2024 Harvard Growth Lab, Atlas of Economic Complexity (CC0) See the top 10
- World’s2ndWorld-leading exports CarsMotor cars and other motor vehicles principally designed for the transport of persons (other than those of heading 8702), including station wagons and racing carsUS$115.3 bn · 11.8% of world exports of 208 exporters · 2024 CEPII BACI, January 2026 release See the top 10
- World’s2ndWorld-leading exports Printers, copiers and printing machineryPrinting machinery used for printing by means of plates, cylinders and other printing components of heading 8442; other printers, copying machines and facsimile machines, whether or not combined; parts and accessories thereofUS$12.3 bn · 15.0% of world exports of 218 exporters · 2024 CEPII BACI, January 2026 release See the top 10
- World’s3rdResearch and technology Patent applications by residents237,169 of 121 economies · 2024 World Bank, World Development Indicators See the top 10
- World’s5thResearch and technology Research and development spending3.44% of GDP of 78 economies · 2023 World Bank, World Development Indicators See the top 10
- World’s6thLogistics and freight Container port traffic22.4 million TEU of 118 economies · 2021 World Bank, World Development Indicators See the top 10
- World’s8thLogistics and freight Air freight carried8,474 million tonne-km of 137 economies · 2023 World Bank, World Development Indicators See the top 10
A rank is among everything the source reports for that year, so it moves when the source adds or drops economies. Exports include goods passing through for re-export. Nothing here is a recommendation.
Doing business here
Business accounts
Providers whose own published list of countries names Japan. A listing means a company formed here may apply, not that it will be accepted.
Not in our records No provider's country list has been read for Japan.
EU listings
Two lists a bank checks when it opens an account for a company or its owner.
- EU high-risk third countries (AML)
- Not listed
- EU non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes
- Not listedOfficial EUR-Lex, 52026XG01465, Annex I as of 2026-02-17
Official sites
The authorities’ own sites for Japan: where to register, file and check.
Blocs and agreements
The trade arrangements Japan belongs to, as each arrangement’s own texts state them: since when, and what each covers. What a membership means for a business is for you to judge.
- Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership
- Free trade area · since 1 January 2022
Covers goods, services, investment.
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1 January 2022 Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Japan, Lao PDR, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam
- Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership
- Free trade area · since 30 December 2018
Covers goods, services, investment, public procurement.
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any State or separate customs territory may accede to this Agreement, subject to such terms and conditions as may be agreed between the Parties and that State or separate customs territory.
Regional and customs arrangements only, 36 of them; bilateral trade agreements are not yet in our records.
Tax
Company tax
Tax, and what the company owes the registry each year.
- Corporate income tax
- 29.74%
- Distributions
- Not in our records
- Audit
- Not in our records
- Small-company relief
- Not in our records
- Annual obligations
- Not in our records
- Annual registry fee
- Not in our records
Sales and consumption tax
The tax on what the company sells in Japan, and when it must register, as the tax authority states it.
- The tax
- Consumption tax
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軽減税率制度の実施に伴い、令和元年10月１日からの消費税等の税率は、以下のとおり、標準税率（10％）と軽減税率（８％）の複数税率となりました。 適用時期
- Standard rate
- 10%
From 1 April 2027 to 31 March 2029 the consumption tax rate on transfers of food and beverages is to be lowered; the NTA page announces the two-year cut but does not yet state the rate.
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軽減税率制度の実施に伴い、令和元年10月１日からの消費税等の税率は、以下のとおり、標準税率（10％）と軽減税率（８％）の複数税率となりました。 適用時期
- Other rates
- 8% Food and beverages excluding alcoholic drinks and eating out, and newspapers published at least twice a week under a subscription contract
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「酒類・外食を除く飲食料品」と「定期購読契約が締結された週２回以上発行される新聞」を対象に、消費税の軽減税率制度が実施されています。
- Registration threshold
- JPY 10,000,000 · about €56,382
taxable sales (課税売上高) in the base period; also where taxable sales in the six-month special period exceed ¥10 million; base period: the year before last for an individual, the business year two years before for a corporation
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その課税期間の基準期間（個人事業者の場合はその年の前々年、事業年度が1年である法人の場合はその事業年度の前々事業年度）における課税売上高が1,000万円以下である場合には、原則として、納税義務が免除されます。
- Voluntary registration
- Yes
A business under the threshold may file a notice of election to become a taxable business (消費税課税事業者選択届出書); from the period it takes effect the exemption no longer applies.
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選択届出書 を提出して課税事業者となっている課税期間については、基準期間における課税売上高が1,000万円以下であっても、納税義務は免除されません。
- A foreign company
- The same threshold applies; needs a local tax representative
The ¥10 million base-period test applies to any business, including a foreign one, so the threshold applies; a newly established corporation has no base period and is exempt for its first two periods unless capital is ¥10 million or more. A taxpayer with no home or office in Japan must appoint a tax agent (納税管理人) living in Japan where it needs to file returns or handle other national-tax matters (Act on General Rules for National Taxes Art. 117(1)); this is the general rule for national taxes, not a consumption-tax-specific page.
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その課税期間の基準期間（個人事業者の場合はその年の前々年、事業年度が1年である法人の場合はその事業年度の前々事業年度）における課税売上高が1,000万円以下である場合には、原則として、納税義務が免除されます。
- Returns filed
- Annually
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課税期間とは、納付すべき消費税額等の計算の基礎となる期間であり、原則として、個人事業者は暦年（1月1日から12月31日まで）、法人は事業年度（法人税法における事業年度の特例を含む）となります。
- Tax authority
- Registration page read 2026-10-22
Tax calendar
When the main returns and payments fall due in Japan, tax year 2026, as the tax authority states it.
- Corporate tax return
- 2 months after the end of the accounting period · each year
NTA: filing and tax payment must, as a rule, be made within two months from the day following the account-closing day; for a 31 March year end that is 31 May. The NTA list of due dates states the corporation tax final return is within two months of the day after the fiscal year end.
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As a rule, filing and tax payment must ... be made within two months from the day following the account-closing day.
- Corporate tax, final payment
- 2 months after the end of the accounting period · each year
NTA: filing and tax payment must, as a rule, be made within two months from the day following the account-closing day (the balance of tax is paid by the same deadline as the return).
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As a rule, filing and tax payment must ... be made within two months from the day following the account-closing day.
- Corporate tax, instalments
- 8 months after the end of the accounting period · twice a year
JP: 事業年度が6か月を超える普通法人は、原則として事業年度開始の日以後6か月を経過した日から2月以内に中間申告書を提出する必要があります。EN: an ordinary corporation whose fiscal year exceeds six months files an interim return within two months from the day six months after the start of the fiscal year — for a 12-month year that is eight months after the preceding year end (e.g. 30 November for a 31 March year end). The rule keys the date to the preceding accounting period end. A corporation may choose the prior-year-basis (予定申告) or a provisional-settlement basis; no return is due where the amount is 100,000 yen or less.
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事業年度が6か月を超える普通法人は、原則として事業年度開始の日以後6か月を経過した日から2か月以内に中間申告書
- Personal income-tax return
- 15 March · each year
NTA: the filing period for a calendar year's income is 16 February to 15 March of the following year (for 2025 income, 16 February through 16 March 2026, since 15 March 2026 is a Sunday). The rule records the statutory 15 March date with the weekend shift.
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From February 16 (Mon.) through March 16 (Mon.), 2026
- Personal income tax, final payment
- 15 March · each year
NTA: the due date for payment of the year's income tax (third instalment) is 15 March of the following year (16 March 2026, the next day, since 15 March 2026 is a Sunday).
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The due date for payment for 2025 income tax etc. (for the third installment) is March 16 (Mon.), 2026.
- Personal income tax, instalments
- 31 July · twice a year
JP: 予定納税は、予定納税基準額の3分の1の金額を、第1期分として7月1日から7月31日までに、第2期分として11月1日から11月30日までに納めることになっています。EN: a third of the estimated tax base is paid in the first period between 1 and 31 July, and the second period between 1 and 30 November; the rule records the first period. The NTA due-date list shows 予定納税第1期 on 31 July 2026 and 第2期 on 30 November 2026.
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第1期分として7月1日から7月31日までに、第2期分として11月1日から11月30日までに納めることになっています。
- VAT return
- 2 months after the end of the accounting period · each year
JP: 法人（課税事業者に限る。）は、課税期間ごとにその課税期間の終了の日から2か月以内に、納税地を所轄する税務署長に消費税の確定申告書を提出しなければなりません。EN: a corporation files the final consumption tax return within two months after the end of the tax period (the tax is paid by the same date); a sole proprietor's taxable period is the calendar year and the return is due 31 March of the following year. An interim return is required where the preceding period's tax exceeded 480,000 yen.
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課税期間の終了の日から2か月以内に、納税地を所轄する税務署長に消費税の確定申告書を提出しなければなりません
- Payroll withholding
- Day 10 of the following month · each month
NTA: income tax withheld by a withholding agent is paid by the 10th of the month following the month in which the income subject to withholding was paid; if the due date is a Saturday, Sunday or holiday the next business day is the due date. A withholding agent with fewer than ten employees may be approved for the special provision: amounts withheld from January to June are due 10 July, and from July to December due 20 January of the following year.
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Income tax and special income tax for reconstruction withheld by a withholding agent shall be paid by the 10th of the month following the month in which the income subject to withholding was paid.
Running the company
Running a company here
Not in our records The authorities’ pages on running a company have not been read for Japan yet.
Economy and trade
What it exports
Goods Japan exported, by product, as a share of its goods exports each year. Exports include goods passing through for re-export. A share describes Japan’s own trade; it does not compare places.
| Product (HS heading) | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Value, 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Motor cars and other motor vehicles principally designed for the transport of persons (other than those of heading 8702), including station wagons and racing cars HS 8703 | 12.1% | 15.8% | 15.8% | US$115.3 bn |
| Electronic integrated circuits HS 8542 | 5.0% | 4.7% | 5.2% | US$38.4 bn |
| Machines and apparatus of a kind used solely or principally for the manufacture of semiconductor boules or wafers, semiconductor devices, electronic integrated circuits or flat panel displays; machines and apparatus specified in note 11(C) to this chapter; parts and accessories HS 8486 | 4.1% | 3.5% | 4.2% | US$30.8 bn |
| Parts and accessories of the motor vehicles of headings 8701 to 8705 HS 8708 | 4.1% | 3.9% | 3.7% | US$27.1 bn |
| Gold (including gold plated with platinum), unwrought or in semi-manufactured forms, or in powder form HS 7108 | 1.8% | 1.9% | 2.7% | US$19.7 bn |
| Printing machinery used for printing by means of plates, cylinders and other printing components of heading 8442; other printers, copying machines and facsimile machines, whether or not combined; parts and accessories thereof HS 8443 | 1.6% | 1.6% | 1.7% | US$12.3 bn |
| Self-propelled bulldozers, angledozers, graders, levellers, scrapers, mechanical shovels, excavators, shovel loaders, tamping machines and roadrollers HS 8429 | 1.8% | 2.0% | 1.6% | US$11.8 bn |
| Motor vehicles for the transport of goods HS 8704 | 1.3% | 1.3% | 1.3% | US$9.5 bn |
| Flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel, of a width of 600 mm or more, hot-rolled, not clad, plated or coated HS 7208 | 1.5% | 1.5% | 1.3% | US$9.5 bn |
| Cruise ships, excursion boats, ferry-boats, cargo ships, barges and similar vessels for the transport of persons or goods HS 8901 | 1.1% | 1.3% | 1.3% | US$9.1 bn |
Total goods exports, 2024: US$730.8 bn. The ten largest headings are shown.