Japan Inheritance Tax Calculator (Spouse and Children, 2026)

Tax is due when the total taxable value (property less debts and funeral costs, after excluding exempt items) exceeds the basic deduction of ¥30 million plus ¥6 million for each statutory heir, and it applies to the excess. If the total is within the basic deduction, no return or payment is generally needed (NTA No.15001 in English; No.4152 and No.4205 in Japanese).

• 1 statutory heir: ¥36,000,000
• 2 statutory heirs: ¥42,000,000
• 3 statutory heirs: ¥48,000,000
• 4 statutory heirs: ¥54,000,000
• 5 statutory heirs: ¥60,000,000

The number of statutory heirs counts anyone who renounced the inheritance as if they had not. If the spousal tax reduction or the small-residential-land rule brings the tax to zero, you must still file a return to claim them (NTA No.4158 and No.4124, Japanese).

A spouse pays no inheritance tax on the net estate actually acquired, up to the greater of ¥160 million and the spouse's statutory share of the total taxable value (one half when there are children) (NTA No.4158, Japanese; Inheritance Tax Act Article 19-2).

For example, with 2 children and an estate of ¥100 million, the spouse can take all of it and still owe nothing, because it is within ¥160 million (the spouse's share can go up to 100%). With an estate of ¥400 million the limit is the statutory share of ¥200 million, so the spouse's share can go up to 50%. Anything above the limit is taxed at the normal rates.

The reduction applies to what the spouse actually receives once the estate has been divided. Property not yet divided by the filing deadline does not count; if you file with a note that it will be divided within 3 years and then divide it within that time, the reduction can be claimed (NTA No.4158).

Because of the spousal reduction, giving everything to the spouse makes the first inheritance tax very small. But the spouse's estate grows by the same amount, and when the spouse dies the children are the only heirs, with no spousal reduction and a smaller basic deduction. In this calculator's example of an estate of ¥200,000,000 and 2 children (the spouse owns nothing else and the second inheritance happens 15 years later), if the spouse takes everything the tax is ¥5,400,000 at the first inheritance and ¥31,780,000 at the second, ¥37,180,000 in total. If the spouse takes the statutory share (50%), it is ¥13,500,000 and ¥7,700,000, ¥21,200,000 in total: ¥15,980,000 less.

This is a calculation under simple assumptions (the spouse neither spends nor grows the assets, the children inherit equally), not a recommendation. In the example the lowest total among the rows shown is at 25%, not at the 50% statutory share, and where the lowest point falls depends on the size of the estate, the number of children and the years until the second inheritance. Living and care costs, gifts in between and the small-residential-land rule also change the result. Use the table above and the calculator to compare your own assumptions.

If the second inheritance is within 10 years of the first, part of the tax the spouse paid at the first inheritance is deducted from the second (the successive-inheritance credit, NTA No.4168, Japanese).

More children mean more statutory heirs, so the basic deduction rises by ¥6 million each, and the statutory-share amounts are smaller and fall into lower brackets, so the total tax falls. In the table above, the same estate pays far less tax with 3 children than with 1.

The number of adopted children counted as statutory heirs is capped: 1 if the decedent has biological children, 2 if not. That count is used for the basic deduction, the life insurance and retirement-benefit exemptions and the total-tax calculation (NTA No.4170, Japanese; Inheritance Tax Act Article 15). Children adopted through special adoption and a spouse's child adopted by the decedent are counted like biological children. In the calculator, tick “Adopted” only for other adopted children.

An adopted child is a first-degree relative, so the 20% surcharge does not apply. It does apply to a grandchild adopted by the decedent (except where the grandchild inherits in place of a deceased child), which this calculator cannot handle (No.4157, Japanese).

An heir under 18 gets a deduction of ¥100,000 for each year until they turn 18 (the age is counted in whole years, so 15 years and 9 months counts as 15, giving 3 years and ¥300,000). For example, with a spouse and one 10-year-old child and an estate of ¥100 million inherited by statutory shares, the child's calculated tax of ¥3,850,000 less ¥800,000 leaves ¥3,050,000 (NTA No.4164, Japanese).

If the deduction is larger than the heir's own tax (for example because the spousal reduction leaves little for them), the unused part is deducted from the tax of the people who support them, such as the spouse and the other children, apportioned by their calculated tax after the spousal reduction (Inheritance Tax Act Article 19-3 and the Enforcement Order Article 4-3).

An heir under 85 with a disability gets ¥100,000 (¥200,000 if specially disabled) for each year until they turn 85, with unused amounts handled the same way (NTA No.4167, Japanese). You can enter this under “Children's ages, disabilities and adoption” in the calculator. The spouse's own disability deduction is not calculated.

Death benefits from life insurance whose premiums the decedent paid, and death retirement benefits whose amount is fixed within 3 years of death, are treated as inherited property. When received by heirs, each type is exempt up to ¥5 million times the number of statutory heirs. If the heirs' total exceeds that limit, the limit is shared out in proportion to what each received (NTA No.4114 and No.4117, Japanese; Inheritance Tax Act Article 12). People who are not heirs get no exemption.

For example, with a spouse and 2 children (3 statutory heirs), if the spouse receives ¥10 million and the children ¥20 million (¥10 million each), the limit is ¥15,000,000 and ¥15,000,000 of the ¥30 million total is taxable. The calculator assumes the decedent paid the premiums and the beneficiaries are the spouse or children.

If the decedent had themselves inherited property within the previous 10 years and paid inheritance tax on it, part of that tax is deducted from this inheritance tax (NTA No.4168, Japanese; Inheritance Tax Act Article 20). It falls by 10% for every full year since the earlier inheritance and reaches zero at 10 years. The typical case is a husband dying, his wife paying inheritance tax, and the wife dying a few years later.

In the calculator's second-inheritance section, set the years until the second inheritance below 10 to see it. For example, with an estate of ¥200,000,000 and 2 children where the spouse takes everything (and pays ¥5,400,000 at the first inheritance), a second inheritance in the same year costs ¥5,400,000 less. If the spouse paid no inheritance tax at the first inheritance (the spousal reduction brought it to zero), there is no credit.

The calculator uses the property value exactly as entered. If you use the special rule for small residential and business land (for example, residential land the decedent lived on can be reduced by 80% up to 330 m², subject to conditions on who takes it and on occupancy and holding), enter the value after the reduction (NTA No.4124, Japanese). Whether the rule applies is not checked.

Gifts under calendar year taxation made shortly before death are added back to the estate, with a credit for the gift tax paid. For a death on or before December 31, 2026 the period is 3 years; for deaths from January 1, 2027 to December 31, 2030 it runs from January 1, 2024; and from January 1, 2031 it is 7 years (NTA No.15001 in English; No.4161 in Japanese). Gifts under settlement-at-inheritance taxation are also included in the estate. None of this is calculated here; see the gift tax calculator for the gift-tax side.

File and pay within 10 months of the day after you learned of the death (usually the death itself), at the tax office with jurisdiction over the decedent's address at the time of death, not the heirs' (NTA No.15001 in English; No.4205 in Japanese). If the deadline falls on a weekend or holiday it moves to the next day. Returns can be filed through e-Tax, by post or in a drop box outside office hours. Late or understated filing can lead to additional tax and late-payment interest.

Whether Japan taxes the inheritance depends on where the heir lives (and, in some cases, their nationality and recent residence) and on whether the decedent was a foreigner or non-resident, not on nationality alone. In general, an heir who has an address in Japan is taxed on all the property they acquire (with an exception for a temporary resident when the decedent was a foreigner or non-resident), while some heirs without an address in Japan are taxed on all property and others only on property in Japan. NTA No.15001 (English) has the table.

This calculator assumes the decedent and the heirs all live in Japan and does not check the taxable scope.

Cases where the heirs are parents, siblings or grandchildren; renunciation of the inheritance; the addition of gifts made 3 to 7 years before death and the gift-tax credit; settlement-at-inheritance taxation; deciding whether special land rules apply and valuing property (values are used as entered); the spousal reduction when the estate has not been divided; foreign tax credits; tax deferral; the spouse's disability deduction; gifts by will to non-heirs (the 20% surcharge); and the taxable scope for foreign nationals or non-residents. Rounding follows the National Tax Agency's return (each taxable value and each statutory-share amount down to ¥1,000; the total tax and the tax payable down to ¥100), but an actual return can differ by a few hundred yen because of how the apportionment ratio is rounded (Circular 17-1).