Japan House Prices
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We are not a real estate broker or a tax accountant. We introduce you to licensed Japanese brokers and English-speaking tax accountants.
Tool · Taxes & costs

Japan property tax & cost calculator for foreign buyers

Every tax and fee on a Japanese property in one place: what you pay to buy, what you pay every year, what you pay when you sell, what happens to rent paid to an owner abroad, and — if you borrow — your monthly repayment and the cash you need up front. Each line shows its formula and an official source.

Last reviewed: September 2026Rates as of 2026-09 (several reliefs end 31 March 2027)FX: ECB reference rates
Estimates only — confirm with a licensed Japanese tax accountant (税理士).
This calculator uses standard national rates and an assumed assessed value. Your real bills depend on the assessed value on the municipal tax register (固定資産税評価額), local ordinances, your residence status and your home country's tax rules. It is not tax, legal or investment advice. Last reviewed 2026-09.

The property
Condos: often 20–40%. Houses: land is often most of the value. The contract usually splits it.
For a condo, your share of the site (敷地権). Up to 200㎡ gets the biggest housing-land relief.
Housing reliefs need 40–240㎡ (0.3% registration: 50㎡+).
Buildings with a building permit issued before 1 June 1981 were designed to the old seismic standard (completion year 1983 or earlier can still be old-standard). Area earthquake and flood data: risk by ward (with prices). Not insurance or inspection advice.
You and how you'll use it
A vacation home is not “housing” for local taxes: no housing reliefs.
Selling later
Renting it out
Long-term lets ~5%; holiday lets often 20–40%.
If you borrow (optional)
Changing this resets down payment, rate and term to typical values for that status.
Defaults: 10% / 20% / 40%. Lenders that accept non-residents typically need 30–50% down.
Label only: the estimate assumes the rate stays the same for the whole term.
Defaults: 35 / 30 / 20. Max 35.
Many banks require the loan to be repaid by age 80; the term is shortened to fit.
Often 2.2% incl. tax.
Often ¥33,000–¥55,000.
Roughly 2% for a 35-year loan; varies with term and screening.
Group credit life insurance (団信) is required by most Japanese home loans and is usually included in the rate. We do not arrange loans or receive fees from lenders. See our guide to Japanese mortgages for foreigners.
Assessed-value assumptions (change these if you know better)

Most local taxes are charged on the assessed value (固定資産税評価額), not the price. Land is officially valued at about 70% of the official land price (公示価格), which in hot markets such as central Tokyo or Niseko can be far below what land actually sells for. To sanity-check the land share, look up the official land price (公示地価) for the area: official land prices by ward and station — ¥/㎡ of land × your land area (for a condo, your share of the site) × about 70% gives a rough assessed value. It is a reference point, not the tax office's figure. Buildings are commonly assessed at 50–70% of construction cost, then depreciated. If you have the seller's tax bill (公課証明), enter the real figures.

Your estimate

Talk to a vetted broker or an English-speaking tax accountant

Want real numbers for a real property? Tell us what you're looking at. We can introduce you to licensed Japanese real estate brokers who work with overseas buyers, and to English-speaking licensed tax accountants (税理士) who act as tax representatives for non-residents.

We are not a real estate broker; we introduce you to licensed Japanese brokers. We don't describe, recommend or negotiate properties, we don't give tax advice, and we don't charge buyers. Brokers may pay us a referral fee. Privacy

Regional examples: what a typical property costs in total

Each example uses the latest full-year median sale price from Japan's official transaction data (MLIT Real Estate Information Library) and states every other assumption. Click “Open in calculator” to load it above and change anything. Tokyo and Kyoto condos are shown as long-term rentals; Niseko, Hakuba and the Kyoto house as vacation homes, which get no housing reliefs.

Examples need JavaScript. See the price pages for Niseko, Hakuba, Tokyo and Kyoto.

Source for prices: MLIT Real Estate Information Library (https://www.reinfolib.mlit.go.jp/) — . Medians are our own calculation. Exchange rates: ECB euro reference rates.

How the taxes work

At purchase: typically 4–8% on top of the price

  • Real estate acquisition tax (, prefectural, billed months later): 3% of the assessed value for land and housing, 4% for other buildings, until 31 March 2027. Residential-type land (宅地) is taxed on half its assessed value. New homes get a ¥12m deduction; used homes bought as your own residence get up to ¥12m depending on the build date. A vacation home (別荘) is not “housing”: its building pays 4% and gets no deduction.
  • Registration & license tax (): land 1.5% of assessed value (until 31 March 2029), building 2%. The 0.3% rate is for an individual's own home with a municipal housing certificate, which a non-resident normally can't get.
  • Stamp duty () on the contract: ¥10,000 for ¥10–50m, ¥30,000 for ¥50–100m, ¥60,000 for ¥100–500m (reduced rates to 31 March 2027).
  • Brokerage fee (): legal maximum 3% + ¥60,000 plus 10% consumption tax for a price over ¥4m. ¥100m → up to ¥3,366,000.
  • Judicial scrivener (): national average ¥56,678 for a sale transfer (2024 survey); more for foreign buyers who need sworn statements and translation.

Every year: Japan property tax rate for foreigners is the same as for locals

There is no extra property tax for foreign owners. Fixed asset tax () is 1.4% of the assessed value and city planning tax () up to 0.3%, billed to whoever owns the property on 1 January. Land under a home gets a big reduction: the tax base is 1/6 of the value for the first 200㎡ (1/3 for city planning tax). Land under a vacation home doesn't. Because the assessed value is well below market value, the annual bill is usually far less than 1.7% of the price.

Selling property in Japan: tax on the gain

The gain is the sale price minus what you paid (plus purchase costs, minus building depreciation) and selling costs. If you have held the property more than five years as of 1 January of the year of sale the rate is 20.315% (15.315% national + 5% local); otherwise 39.63%. A non-resident generally pays only the national part (15.315% / 30.63%) because local inhabitants tax is charged on people living in Japan on 1 January. If you sell as a non-resident, the buyer must usually withhold 10.21% of the whole price and pay it to the tax office; you get the excess back by filing a return.

Japan rental income tax rate for non-residents

When a company or business pays rent to an owner living abroad, it must withhold 20.42% of the gross rent. That is a prepayment: you file a Japanese return, deduct expenses and depreciation, and pay tax on the net income at 5–45% (plus 2.1%), usually getting a refund. You need a tax representative () in Japan to file and receive notices.

If you borrow: monthly repayment

Japanese home loans are usually repaid in equal monthly instalments (): the same payment every month, mostly interest at first. Permanent residents can borrow from most banks, often with 10% down or less; foreign residents without permanent residency face stricter screening; and only a few lenders lend to people living abroad, typically with 30–50% down and higher rates. Many banks require the loan to be repaid by age 80, and the state-backed Flat 35 requires Japanese nationality or permanent residency and caps repayments at 30–35% of gross income. We do not arrange loans or receive fees from lenders. More in our guide to Japanese mortgages for foreigners.

Japan property rental yield: gross vs net

Gross yield is a year's rent divided by the price. Net yield subtracts management, condo fees and reserve, insurance and property taxes, and divides by the price plus purchase costs. Enter a rent above to see both.

What this calculator does not include

  • Loan costs unless you tick “Show a mortgage estimate” (then the lender's fee, guarantee fee and 0.4% mortgage registration tax are added; the scrivener's fee for the mortgage and fire insurance are not). Consumption tax on a new building (it's in the price).
  • For loans: rate changes over the term, the 5-year / 125% payment rules on variable loans, early repayment, bonus repayments and the lender's own screening.
  • Local variations: some towns charge more than 1.4% or less than 0.3%; Tokyo's 23 wards halve city planning tax again on small housing land; Kyoto plans a new tax on vacant and second homes.
  • The phase-in of land tax bases (負担調整), pre-1982 buildings with seismic certificates, long-life certified homes, the ¥30m home-sale deduction for residents, and personal deductions for income tax.
  • Tax in your home country, tax treaties, inheritance and gift tax.
  • Earthquake insurance () premiums, and any cost of a seismic assessment or retrofit for an older building. We don't give insurance or building-inspection advice; for public earthquake and flood data by area see Tokyo earthquake & flood risk by ward.

Official sources

Estimates only — confirm with a licensed Japanese tax accountant (税理士). Japan House Prices is not a real estate broker or tax accountant and does not give tax advice; we introduce you to licensed Japanese brokers and tax accountants. Rates last reviewed 2026-09. Exchange rates: ECB euro foreign exchange reference rates (date shown in the results).