Cross-border gift tax in Japan
How Japan’s calendar-year gift-tax system works — the ¥1.1 million basic exemption, recipient-based calculation, and the residence/nationality factors — and when a cross-border gift needs professional advice.
Under Japan’s calendar-year system, a ¥1.1 million basic exemption is subtracted from the total gifts a person receives in the year, and the recipient is generally the taxpayer — but residence, nationality, and property location can change the result, so large cross-border gifts need professional advice.
Key points
- The basic exemption is generally ¥1.1 million of total gifts received per recipient per calendar year — not per donor.
- The recipient is generally the relevant taxpayer under the ordinary calendar-year system.
- Residence history, nationality, donor status, and property location can all change the outcome.
- Genuine ordinary living or education support can be treated differently from an unrestricted gift, but facts and timing matter.
How the exemption works
Japan’s calendar-year gift-tax system generally subtracts a ¥1.1 million basic exemption from the total gifts a person receives during the calendar year. Crucially, this is per recipient, not per donor — you do not get a fresh ¥1.1 million allowance for each person who gives you money. The recipient is generally the relevant taxpayer under the ordinary system.
Citizenship, domicile, residence history, donor status, property location, special exemptions, and the inheritance-settlement election can all change the outcome, especially for cross-border gifts where the giver and receiver are in different countries or one party recently moved.
Family support and when to get advice
Genuine payments for ordinary living or education can receive different treatment from an unrestricted gift, but the facts, timing, necessity, and direct use matter. Large accumulated transfers, funding a property purchase, funding investments, or payments beyond normal support can look like gifts and require professional review. For certain Japanese dependent-deduction claims involving overseas relatives, the NTA requires relationship and remittance documentation, with additional rules for some relatives aged 30 to 69, including a ¥380,000 remittance condition unless another exception applies.
This page is educational and cannot determine your liability. Before making or receiving a large cross-border gift — or funding a property purchase for a family member — consult a Japanese tax professional, and keep evidence of the relationship, purpose, and use of the funds.
Who this is for
- People giving or receiving a cross-border gift
- Families funding a relative’s home or education
What this is not
- Calculating your exact gift tax — see a tax professional
- The ¥1.1 million exemption is per recipient per year, not per donor; large gifts and property funding need professional advice.