How to use the Furusato Nozei (Hometown Tax) System

The hometown tax system is a program in Japan that allows taxpayers to to prepay their annual income and residential taxes to other municipalities, rather than to where they live.

Usually your taxes are paid to the city or ward you live in. When you use the furusato nozei system you can pay a part of your taxes to other city or wards, which in return provide gifts for the taxpayers.

These gifts often are local products like foods or traditional crafts. Some places also over vouchers for museums and restaurants.

The system is available for all taxpayers in Japan. Expats can use it as well. The only drawback is that in order to participate you pay a 2,000 yen fee and you will be faced with some paperwork.

In order to make use of the system you first have to figure out how much of your taxes you can pay as furusato nozei. This website can provide an estimate.

Now there are several website available, that provide an overview of the gifts and let you donate right through the website. For example there are Furusato Choice: furusato-tax.jp and Furunabi: furunavi.jp.

You can send your taxes to as many municipalities as you like, however if you keep the number below 6 there is an easier system (one-stop system) available for the paperwork.

Once you have chosen and paid, the gifts will be send out to you. Sometimes it can take a while until they arrive.

I received this gift for donating to a place in Okinawa.

A receipt for the donation will be send to you as well.

If you chose to use the one-stop system you will also receive a document to fill out. The one-stop system is available for everyone that is not required to file a kakutei shinkoku and donated to no more than 5 places in a year.

The receipt and the One-Stop System documents

All you have to do is fill out the document and take a copy of your My Number card. Then you send it back to the municipality you donated to until the 10th of January of the following year.

That is all the paperwork you have to do for the one-stop system. If you do not apply for the system you will have to file a kakutei shinkoku and attach the donation receipts.

A certain amount of Japanese skills is required to use the websites and work through the paperwork but you can enjoy a lot of regional specialties by only paying the 2,000 yen fee.