Real estate acquisition tax in Japan (不動産取得税)

06 Sep 2025 | #housing | #tax | #money | #japan

We bought a land in Tokyo in May last year and are currently building a house. A few weeks ago (about 1 year 3 months since buying the land) I received a letter from the Tokyo tax office titled 不動産取得税の申告, Real estate acquisition tax return. But I’m already paying property tax (固定資産税) to my local city every year, so what’s this then?

Real estate acquisition tax return

The letter I got was asking me to file a real estate acquisition tax return (不動産取得税の申告) within about 3 weeks (deadline: September 16). It also included the estimated tax amount to pay: 285,300 yen

The calculation showed the following:

  • assessed value of the land: 19,021,657 yen
  • tax basis: 9,510,000 yen (if the land is used for residential house, then this is half the value of the land)
  • tax to pay: 285,300 yen (3% of the tax basis)

But the letter also told me to not pay yet, as there are multiple reductions and exemptions. So they were only asking me to file the details (e.g. whether I’m building a house, whether that will be residential or commercial, and if I’m eligible for any other deductions), and then they will send me the final bill to pay at a later time.

Real estate acquisition tax

Tokyo’s tax office has a great website on the topic.

The real estate acquisition tax (不動産取得税) is a one-time tax levied at the time when someone acquires a real estate (e.g. buys a land or house, but also if receives it as a gift even from family). It is paid to the prefecture (so Tokyo, in my case), unlike the yearly property tax (固定資産税) which is paid to the city (Musashino City in my case).

Amount: 3% of the the assessed value of the property (固定資産税評価額, not the actual purchase price) for residential land and houses (4% for commercial)

Reductions / exemptions: there are numerous reductions and exemptions, and most people end up paying nothing or only a small amount

Reporting requirement: if the ownership change is registered within 30 days (ownership transfer registration, 所有権移転登記) then the Legal Affairs Bureau (法務局) will automatically notify the tax office, and no reporting is required. This covers most people buying a place. Otherwise the buyer must notify the tax office within 30 days

Tokyo Zero Emission -> full exemption

To improve the energy efficiency of houses, Tokyo is running their zero emission certification program (東京ゼロエミ住宅) that provides subsidies and various discounts. It has 3 levels (水準A, 水準B, 水準C) with A being the best. Our house got 水準A (Ichijo just handled this, so it is likely that all of their houses get this).

Based on the Tokyo tax office website the 3 levels receive the following reductions from the real estate acquisition tax:

  • 水準A: 100% reduction (full exemption)
  • 水準B: 80% reduction
  • 水準C: 50% reduction

Since our house is 水準A, we will get full exemption (due to this I didn’t look into other exemptions or reductions, but there are quite a few).

The explanation pdf list the following documents as required attachments:

  • Tokyo Zero-Emission Housing Certification (東京ゼロエミ住宅認証書)
  • Tokyo Zero-Emission Housing Design Confirmation (東京ゼロエミ住宅設計確認書)
  • (For apartment buildings with different standards) Tokyo Zero-Emission Housing Construction Completion Inspection Application Form (（異なる水準の住戸を有する共同住宅の場合）東京ゼロエミ住宅工事完了検査申請書)

We already received the Tokyo Zero-Emission Housing Design Confirmation (東京ゼロエミ住宅設計確認書) as that was based on the house design, but the Tokyo Zero-Emission Housing Certification (東京ゼロエミ住宅認証書) will only be issued after the house is ready.

Submitting the tax return

So we called the tax office and they told us to return the tax return with the current information (we are building a house, expected to be ready by November, expected to have zero-emi 水準A), then in November once we have the Tokyo Zero-Emission Housing Certification (東京ゼロエミ住宅認証書), then apply for the full exemption. They also told us that essentially as long as the header of the filing is correct (my name, land address), the rest is fine to have some mistakes, since they will finalize it once the house is built.

I will post a part2 of this once we finalize applying for the exemption, but I expect it won’t be too complicated.

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