Articles about tax & systems
1 in 10 Japanese estates now hit inheritance tax — double the rate from a decade ago. A salaryman from a low-income family explains why he supports paying it, while most loudly oppose
Japanese variable-rate mortgages have two 'safety' mechanisms that actually hide rate increases behind a fixed payment facade. How they work, and why 80% of Japanese borrowers don't understand what they signed.
Japan started collecting a new childcare support levy from every worker's paycheck in April 2026. I broke down the costs and benefits for my own household — the math surprised me.
Should you take iDeCo as a lump sum or pension in Japan? Short answer: for retirement benefits under ¥20M, lump sum wins. Full math on a ¥10M retirement + ¥10M iDeCo case — including the 10-year rule and the 19-year reverse rule no one mentions.
I started iDeCo in 2019 and never thought about the exit. Then Japan changed the rules in 2026, and I realized how naive I'd been.
Japan's basic deduction jumped to ¥580,000 in 2026 (up ¥100K). The ¥1.03M income tax wall moved to ¥1.6M. And there's a furusato nozei One-Stop pitfall that voids your tax break. Full salary-worker breakdown.
Japan's Children's NISA (Kodomo NISA) launches January 2027 — ¥600K annual / ¥6M lifetime tax-free for kids 0-17. The math says splitting your contribution between adult and child NISA gives identical returns, so fill your own first. But there's one reason to open one anyway — and otoshidama is how you fund it.
8 years of index investing, $130K in unrealized gains, zero investment tax work. Here's exactly how e-Tax works and why I still file every year.