Kazei Shomeisho vs Nozei Shomeisho: Japan PR Tax Certificates Explained

Of all the documents in a Japan permanent residency application, the tax certificates cause the most confusion — and the most rejections. Many applicants assume that paying their taxes is enough. The ISA doesn't just verify that you paid; it verifies when you paid, how you paid, and whether those payments were on time to the day.

There are two distinct tax certificates involved: the Kazei Shomeisho and the Nozei Shomeisho. They serve different purposes in the PR screening process, and conflating them is a common mistake.

What Is the Kazei Shomeisho?

The Kazei Shomeisho (課税証明書) is the taxation certificate — sometimes called the tax assessment certificate or income certificate. It shows:

• Your total income for the tax year
• How much resident tax was assessed on that income
• Your household configuration (number of dependents)

The ISA uses this document to verify that your income meets the "independent livelihood" requirement. The floor is approximately 3 million JPY per year for a single person, rising by roughly 700,000 to 800,000 JPY for each dependent you claim.

If your income fell below this threshold in any year covered by the lookback period, the Kazei Shomeisho will show that — and it becomes the basis for a rejection on grounds of financial instability.

You can obtain the Kazei Shomeisho at your local city or ward office (shiyakusho or kuyakusho). The fee is typically 300 to 400 JPY per copy. You'll need one for each year covered by your lookback period: five years for the standard 10-year route, and three years for HSP or spouse pathways.

What Is the Nozei Shomeisho?

The Nozei Shomeisho (納税証明書) is the tax payment certificate — and this is the document that catches people off guard. It doesn't just show that you owed tax; it shows whether and exactly when each payment was made.

The ISA uses the Nozei Shomeisho to assess conduct. This is the document that exposes:

• Payments made after the due date (even by one or two days)
• Payments that were never made
• Payments made via ordinary collection (manual payment slips) vs. special collection (payroll withholding)

There are different types of Nozei Shomeisho. The local resident tax version comes from your city or ward office. The national income tax version (sometimes called "Type 3") comes from the National Tax Office (Zeimusho). The PR application typically requires both.

The Payment Date Problem

The critical detail on the Nozei Shomeisho is the date field next to each payment. If you pay your resident tax by the due date, that date simply shows the deadline. If you pay late — even by one or two days — the actual receipt date appears instead, creating a visible record of the delay.

Japan's local resident tax under ordinary collection arrives as four payment slips in the mail annually. Each slip has a due date. If you pay the June installment at a convenience store on July 3 instead of June 30, the Nozei Shomeisho reflects that. The ISA has made clear that even a single late payment can result in a conduct-based rejection.

This is why employees on "special collection" (tokubetsu choushu) — where taxes are deducted automatically from each paycheck — are in a much safer position. The employer handles the timing, and the employee never touches a payment slip. The risk falls almost entirely on people in "ordinary collection" (futsuu choushu), which is common during:

• Job transitions (your new employer may not set up special collection immediately)
• Periods of freelance or self-employment
• Years when you left one company and were between jobs

How to Read Your Tax Certificates Before Applying

Before submitting a PR application, you should obtain and review your own tax certificates — not hand them directly to an immigration lawyer or scrivener without reading them yourself.

When you get your Nozei Shomeisho, look at the payment columns line by line. What you want to see is that every payment appears on or before its due date. If you see any payment date that falls after the corresponding due date, note it down.

On your Kazei Shomeisho, check the income figure for each year. Calculate whether it meets the household income threshold for that year's household configuration. A year where your income dipped — even if you recovered the following year — becomes a point of scrutiny.

What Happens If There Are Problems

A single late payment of one or two days on the Nozei Shomeisho is serious but not necessarily fatal, particularly if it's an isolated incident. Many applicants who have minor payment timing issues include an explanatory letter (Riyusho) in their application acknowledging the delay, explaining why it occurred, and demonstrating that it was an exception rather than a pattern.

A pattern of late payments — or multiple instances across different years — is much more difficult to recover from. The ISA's guidance, based on immigration lawyer accounts, suggests waiting 12 to 24 months of clean payment history after any conduct issues before applying.

If your Kazei Shomeisho reveals a year with income below the threshold, the calculation is more complex. A single low year within a strong overall record may be explainable (illness, job change, startup period). Two or more years below the floor is likely to result in rejection.

Both Certificates Together: What the ISA Is Actually Checking

The ISA uses the Kazei Shomeisho and Nozei Shomeisho together as a dual verification:

1. Kazei Shomeisho: You earned enough to be financially self-sufficient
2. Nozei Shomeisho: You paid what you owed, on time, every time

An applicant with high income but late payments fails the conduct test. An applicant with perfect payment history but one year of low income fails the financial stability test. Both documents need to be clean.

The lookback period for the standard route is five years. For the HSP and spouse pathways, it's typically three years. This means your record from as far back as 2021 is visible if you're applying in 2026.

Getting Your Documents

At the city or ward office (shiyakusho / kuyakusho):

• Kazei Shomeisho (local income/tax assessment)
• Nozei Shomeisho for local resident tax
• Each costs 300–400 JPY per copy, per year
• Take your zairyu card and personal seal (hanko) or official identification
• Waiting times: same day in most cases

At the National Tax Office (Zeimusho):

• Nozei Shomeisho Type 3 (national income tax payment confirmation)
• Find your nearest office by searching "zeimusho" on the National Tax Agency website
• Bring the same identification

Online (My Number Portal):

• Tax payment history is partially accessible through the My Number portal (Mynaportal), though not all municipalities provide full digital access for the PR-relevant format

If your employer handles your taxes via special collection and you've never changed jobs, your certificates should be clean. If you've changed employers at any point, verify the payment dates for the months when you were between companies — that's where gaps most commonly appear.

The Japan Permanent Residency Guide at /jp/permanent-residency/ includes a pre-application tax audit framework that walks through both certificates line by line, with a checklist of the specific fields the ISA examines and guidance on whether to proceed, wait, or submit an explanatory letter.

See more Japan guides →