The following are some of the documents that you are sure to come across when employed in Japan. The knowledge of the list will certainly be helpful to the ones new to Japan but there is a possibility that one may not have the knowledge of a few of the documents even after being employed in Japan for many years. In addition to the below mentioned documents, you may come across many others but these are the most frequent ones depending on the length of employment in Japan.

Withholding Tax Slip / 源泉徴収票 (Gensen Choshu Hyou)

This is a document issued by an employer, who pays salaries and has the obligation to settle the procedures under the Withholding tax system. An eligible employer is supposed to issue the Gensen Choshu Hyou for each of its employee at the end of every year. Another instance wherein the Gensen Choshu Hyou is issued is when the employee quits a company. Usually within a month of the employee quitting the company this needs to be issued. This is an important document that will need to be submitted at the next workplace or during the Kakutei shinkoku procedure.

Gensen Choshu is the procedure in which the income tax is deducted beforehand from the salary paid to each employee per month. However this is just an approximation and the exact calculation will be done at the end of the year in december by a procedure called Nenmatsu chousei. Here any possible tax adjustments will be calculated for each employee before the income tax is finalized for the year. In case the employee himself/herself calculates and submits the income tax return the procedure is called Kakutei shinkoku.

Dependent declaration form for tax deduction / 給与所得者の扶養控除等(異動)申告書 (Kyuyoshotokusha no Fuyokojo nado shinkokusho)

This is the main document to be submitted by each of the employee with/without dependents for the Nenmatsu chousei/Year end tax adjustment procedure. The adjustments may be done for salary fluctuations if any during the course of the year. Adjustments also apply in case of any change in the number of dependent family members, special exemptions for spouse, life insurance premiums, damage insurance premiums, etc. The purpose of adjustment is to calculate the difference between the total salary or bonus tax withheld by the employer and the actual tax amount you have left to pay or be refunded at the end of the year.

The tax deduction form will let you update information regarding dependents. Separate forms will be provided by the employer for private insurance contributions, social insurance premiums, etc and needs to be submitted if applicable.

Income Tax certificate / 市民税・都民税 課税(非課税)証明書 (Kazei/Hi-Kazei Shomeisho)

This is one of the required documents that must be submitted to the Japan embassy when you invite someone to japan. Issued by municipalities where you live/lived, a tax certificate provides proof of income from January 1 to December 31 of the indicated year and the amount of inhabitant tax you paid on that sum. Because income is shown along with the amount of residence tax you paid for that year, this can also be used to certify that you had no income. In case of no income it is called a “tax exemption certificate (Hi-Kazei Shomeisho).”

Residence Tax notice / 市民税・都民税　税額決定納税通知書 (Shiminzei Tominzei Zeigaku kettei nozei tsuchi-sho)

If you are self-employed or if you have changed jobs and haven’t instructed the new company regarding deduction of Juminzei from salary, you will receive a tax notice from the Municipal Taxation Office or Municipal Taxation Branch Office. The annual amount due will be divided into four installments: June, August, October, and January of the following year. You will be asked to pay them by the end of these months. It will be calculated on the basis of your previous year’s income in Japan. You will not be required to pay for the first year if you lived abroad the previous year. You will be required to pay Juminzei to the city where you live on 1st January. Even if you move out on 2nd January to another city, you must pay the amount of Juminzei calculated based on the amount in the city where you lived on 1st January.

If you are an employee of a company, the company will notify you of the amount of tax due. The annual amount due is divided into 12 installments and withheld from your salary every month from June through May of the following year.

Certificate of loss of qualification for health insurance / 健康保険資格喪失証明書 (Kenkohoken soshitsu Shomeisho)

Employee Health Insurance (EHI), as the name suggests, is an employment-based health insurance; meaning, your employer pays half of your EHI premium. The other half is simply deducted from your monthly paycheck. The insurance covers 70 percent of your medical bills (and any of your dependent family members as well).

However, when you switch companies in Japan, you will be disqualified from current health insurance and have to return your health insurance card to your current employer. Your employer will withdraw you from the health insurance after you leave the job and issue you the Kenkohoken soshitsu Shomeisho. Your new employer will enroll you to their Employees’ Health Insurance System afresh and you will be issued a new card. In case your new employer hasn’t joined employee health insurance system, you need to switch to National Health Insurance by yourself within 14-days after you left the previous job.

Notification of the Contracting Organization / 契約機関に関する届出 (Keiyakukikan ni kansuru todokede)

If you’re a mid- or long-term resident who doesn’t have the status of “Permanent Resident”, you are required by law to inform the Immigration Bureau of Japan about any changes in employment within 14 days of that change. Don’t panic if you didn’t know about this law or haven’t done so within the period specified – but making sure to inform the Immigration Bureau “sooner” rather than “later” or “not at all” is always a good idea. Please note that this is a personal responsibility. The current employer may inform you about the process when you leave, but they otherwise have nothing to do with the procedure. However, there is also a possibility that the new company may inform or perform this procedure for you.

Employment Insurance Certificate / 雇用保険被保険者証 (Koyohokenhihokenshasho)

When you switch companies in Japan, this is one of the documents that will be handed over by the current employer. However in some cases, the company hands over the responsibility of safeguarding the certificate to the employee as soon as it is issued by the government organization. When the employee joins a new company, the same social security insurance will be carried forward by submitting the certificate to the new employer.