What percentage of my salary do I actually keep?
About 80% at ¥3,000,000 a year, falling to about 72% at ¥10,000,000 as the progressive tax bands take a larger share. A quick rule of thumb is to multiply your gross by 0.78.
Salary & Take-home Pay
In Japan roughly 20–25% of a salary disappears into tax and social insurance. Enter your gross pay to see what is left.
Fill in the fields, press Calculate, and read the breakdown. Every field has a sensible default, so you can start with an estimate and refine it.
What is taken out of a Japanese salary
Take-home pay in Japan is roughly 75% to 80% of the gross figure on your contract. Five things are withheld: health insurance, nursing care insurance if you are between 40 and 64, employees' pension, employment insurance, and then income tax and resident tax.
Company employees split health insurance, nursing care and pension with their employer, so you pay half of each rate. The pension rate is 18.3%, which means 9.15% comes out of your pay. Health insurance varies by prefecture and sits near 9.98% in Tokyo, so about 4.99% is yours. Employment insurance is a much smaller 0.55%.
Income tax is progressive, running from 5% to 45% on taxable income after the employment income deduction, the basic deduction and your social insurance payments. Resident tax is a flat 10% of taxable income plus a per-capita levy of about ¥5,000.
Why your first year in Japan feels cheaper
Resident tax is charged on last year's income and billed from June of the following year. If you arrived in Japan partway through a year, you had no Japanese income to be taxed on, so your first year carries little or no resident tax at all.
This catches a lot of people out in year two, when a bill worth roughly one month of salary suddenly appears. The same applies in reverse when you leave Japan or stop working: the resident tax for your last full year is still owed, and you may be asked to settle it before you go.
Foreign residents who leave Japan permanently after paying into the pension system for six months or more can claim a lump-sum withdrawal payment (dattai ichijikin) within two years of departure. It refunds a capped portion of the employees' pension contributions.
Take-home pay by annual salary
A company employee under 40 with no dependents, using the Tokyo health insurance rate. Resident tax is included, so a first-year arrival keeps more than this.
| Gross annual | Net annual | Net monthly | Deduction rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| ¥3,000,000 | ¥2,430,000 | ¥202,000 | 19% |
| ¥4,000,000 | ¥3,160,000 | ¥263,000 | 21% |
| ¥5,000,000 | ¥3,880,000 | ¥323,000 | 22% |
| ¥7,000,000 | ¥5,260,000 | ¥438,000 | 25% |
| ¥10,000,000 | ¥7,200,000 | ¥600,000 | 28% |
Figures come from the calculator above and are rounded. Housing loan, iDeCo and insurance deductions would raise them.
Frequently asked questions
When does resident tax start?
From June of the year after you earned the income. Someone who started working in April 2026 will see resident tax appear in June 2027, based on their 2026 earnings.
How is a bonus taxed?
Social insurance is charged on bonuses at the same rates as monthly pay, subject to separate caps, and income tax is withheld at a rate based on the previous month's salary. Take-home on a bonus is usually around 75% to 80%, similar to regular pay. This calculator includes bonuses in the annual figure.
How much does claiming a dependent save?
Each dependent adds a ¥380,000 national deduction and a ¥330,000 resident tax deduction. At a 10% income tax band that is roughly ¥71,000 less tax a year per dependent; in a 20% band, closer to ¥109,000.
Do foreign workers have to pay into the pension system?
Yes, enrolment is compulsory for employees regardless of nationality. If you leave Japan after contributing for six months or more, you can claim a lump-sum withdrawal payment within two years. Some countries also have a social security agreement with Japan that lets contribution periods count towards your home pension.
Does furusato nozei increase my take-home pay?
Not directly. It moves resident tax you would owe anyway to another municipality, and you receive a gift worth roughly 30% of the amount in return, with ¥2,000 kept as your own cost. This calculator does not include it, so treat it as a bonus on top of the result.
About these numbers
- Employees split health insurance, nursing care and pension 50/50 with their employer.
- Pension is capped at a standard monthly remuneration of ¥650,000; health insurance at ¥1,390,000.
- Only the basic deduction and dependent deductions are applied. Housing loan, iDeCo, life insurance and furusato nozei deductions are not included.
- Resident tax uses a flat 10% income levy plus ¥5,000 per capita levy.
Estimates only. Actual costs vary by contract, city and provider. This site is not financial or tax advice.
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