Selling Japanese property from abroad
A buying guide that never mentions the exit has described half a transaction. Selling as a non-resident owner involves a withholding that takes a tenth of the price before it reaches you, a filing to recover the excess, and documents that take weeks to assemble.
In short
- Where a non-resident sells, the buyer generally withholds 10.21 per cent of the price and remits it. The exception is narrow.
- Tax on the gain depends on how long you held the property, and the boundary is at five years measured in a way that is not intuitive.
- What you skipped when buying arrives here. An unconfirmed boundary or an unregistered extension becomes your problem at the exit.
The withholding comes first
When property in Japan is bought from a seller who is not resident here, the buyer is generally required to withhold 10.21 per cent of the price and remit it to the tax office. You receive the rest.
There is one exception, and it is narrow: a sale at or below one hundred million yen to an individual who is buying it as a home for themselves or a relative. Anything outside that, including any sale to a company, carries the withholding.
This is not a tax on the sale. It is tax collected in advance against whatever you eventually owe, and the position is settled when you file. If too much was withheld, the difference is refunded, and the refund requires a filing.
Two consequences follow for planning. The money is out of your hands between completion and the refund. And a tax representative is needed to make the filing, which is one more reason to have appointed one long before you decide to sell.
Between the contract price and the money arriving in your account, a tenth of it goes somewhere else first.
Tax on the gain
Japanese capital gains tax on property distinguishes short-term from long-term holdings, and the rate difference is large.
The boundary is five years, but it is not measured from the day you sell. It is measured as at 1 January of the year in which the sale occurs. A property bought in June 2020 and sold in October 2025 has been held for more than five years in ordinary terms, but on 1 January 2025 it had been held for less than five, so the sale is treated as short-term.
That distinction can move a sale between rate bands, and it is decided by a date rather than by anything you can influence at the point of sale. If you are within sight of it, the timing of the sale is worth a conversation with a tax accountant before, not after.
The gain itself is broadly the price less what you paid, less the costs of acquisition and sale, with depreciation taken into account for the building. Keep the purchase contract, the settlement statement and every invoice for work done. Without evidence of what you paid, the calculation can be made on an assumed basis that is worse for you.
Reliefs, and why they may not reach you
Japan has substantial reliefs on the sale of a residence. Most of them are built around the property having been the seller's home, which is a poor fit for an owner who has been living abroad.
There are also reliefs aimed at inherited vacant houses, intended to get them sold and demolished rather than left standing. Those carry their own conditions, including requirements about the age of the building and what happens to it on sale.
Whether any of this applies to you is a question for a certified tax accountant, and it is worth asking before you agree a price, because some reliefs depend on how the sale is structured.
What you skipped when buying arrives now
This is the part worth internalising if you are still at the purchase stage.
| Skipped at purchase | Cost at sale |
|---|---|
| No confirmed boundary survey | Your buyer asks for one. Months, and your cost, and every adjoining owner has to attend |
| Unregistered extension | Registry and building do not match. Lending and insurance become difficult for your buyer |
| No completion inspection certificate | Narrows the pool of buyers who can obtain finance |
| Unresolved encroachment | Has to be settled with the neighbour before completion |
| Deferred maintenance | Reflected in the price, or in a demand for repair before contract |
The boundary question is the most common of these and the slowest to fix. A confirmed survey needs every adjoining owner to attend and agree, and if one of them has died and the heirs are untraceable, it may not complete at all.
You will be asked to resolve, from abroad, the thing you did not resolve when you were buying.
The documents, again
Selling as a non-resident raises the same documentary problem as buying. Without a Japanese residence registration there is no seal certificate and no residence certificate.
A sworn affidavit certified by a notary where you live takes their place, submitted with a passport copy meeting prescribed conditions, and foreign-language documents generally need Japanese translations attached. If a representative will act for you, a power of attorney is needed and may itself require authentication. The same document set, in the same order, as a purchase.
These take weeks. Start them when the sale becomes likely, not when a completion date has been agreed.
One further item: if the address on the register is no longer where you live, it has to be corrected before the transfer can be registered. Since April 2026 that correction is a legal duty in its own right, with its own deadline.
The sequence
- Confirm your registered address is current, and correct it if not
- Establish the boundary position, and start a confirmed survey if one will be needed
- Assemble the purchase records: contract, settlement statement, invoices for work
- Ask a tax accountant about the holding period, the gain and any available relief
- Appoint the agent and agree the marketing
- Begin the affidavit and power of attorney early, in parallel
- Contract, then completion with the withholding applied
- File to settle the position and recover any excess withheld
Steps one to three are what determine whether this takes three months or a year. They are also the steps nobody does until an offer arrives.
What this article does not calculate
Rates, reliefs, the treatment of a particular gain and the application of any tax treaty between Japan and your country of residence all depend on your circumstances. No figures for tax payable appear here for that reason.
This is general information, not tax or legal advice. Take the sale to a certified tax accountant and the transfer to a judicial scrivener. En Beau lo is not a licensed real estate broker, is not a certified tax accountant, and introduces qualified professionals where they are needed.
Think about the exit while you are still buying
Almost nothing on this page is a surprise if you read it before purchasing. The withholding is knowable. The document requirements are the same ones you met on the way in. The boundary survey is the item you were advised to sort out at the start.
The exit is where an incomplete purchase presents its bill, and the person paying it is you, at a distance, under time pressure, with a buyer waiting. Which is the argument for settling these questions at the beginning.
Somebody has to hold the Japanese end of this
We receive and explain correspondence, obtain registry records, coordinate with a judicial scrivener and a tax accountant, and check the condition of the property while it is being marketed. One point of contact in Japan, reporting in your language.
Talk to us about sellingSources and notes
Withholding at 10.21 per cent on consideration paid to a non-resident for the transfer of real property in Japan, and the exception for a transfer at or below one hundred million yen to an individual acquiring it as a residence for themselves or a relative, arise under income tax legislation as administered by the National Tax Agency. The distinction between short-term and long-term holdings for capital gains purposes is determined as at 1 January of the year of transfer. Reliefs on the transfer of a residence, and on inherited vacant property, carry their own statutory conditions. Documentary requirements for registration by a person without a Japanese residence registration follow registry practice. The duty to register a change of registered address took effect on 1 April 2026.