Bonus is assumed to be paid in two instalments. Leave at 0 if there is none.
Take-homeSocial insuranceIncome taxResidence tax
What the employer pays on top
Assumes a company employee in the national health scheme for small and mid-sized employers (協会けんぽ), no dependants, only the basic and social-insurance deductions, and the same salary last year (residence tax is levied on the previous year’s income). Standard-remuneration grades, bonus caps and the residence-tax adjustment credit are applied. A company health society, dependants, other deductions or a municipal surcharge change the figures. Rates from Kyokai Kenpo, the Japan Pension Service, MHLW, the National Tax Agency and MIC.
Hiring? The cost-of-hire calculator adds the employer side and the recruitment fee.
Questions
How is take-home pay calculated in Japan?
Start from gross salary. Subtract the employee’s share of health insurance, employees’ pension, employment insurance and the child-support levy (and long-term care insurance from age 40). Then subtract income tax, which is charged on taxable income after the employment-income deduction, the social-insurance deduction and the basic deduction, at progressive rates of 5% to 45% plus a 2.1% reconstruction surtax. Then subtract residence tax: 10% of taxable income plus a per-capita charge of about ¥5,000 and the ¥1,000 forest environment tax. What is left is take-home pay.
What is the take-home pay on ¥8,000,000 in Tokyo?
With the rates as of October 2026, for an employee under 40 with no bonus and no dependants: social insurance ¥1,164,964, income tax ¥434,400, residence tax ¥453,000, leaving ¥5,947,636 a year, or ¥495,636 a month, 74.3% of gross.
Does the prefecture change take-home pay?
Yes, a little. The health-insurance rate is set per prefecture for employees in Kyokai Kenpo, which puts tens of thousands of yen a year between the cheapest and dearest prefectures on the same salary. A few prefectures also add a small forest or water levy to the residence-tax per-capita charge. Income tax and pension are the same everywhere.
Why do high earners pay a smaller share in social insurance?
Premiums are charged on a standard monthly remuneration that is capped: ¥1,390,000 a month for health insurance and ¥650,000 for the pension, with caps on bonuses too. Salary above the caps carries no premium, so the premium falls as a share of pay as the salary rises. Income tax works the other way and keeps rising.
Why is residence tax based on last year’s income?
Residence tax is assessed on the previous calendar year’s income and deducted from salary from June to the following May. This calculator assumes the same salary last year. In the first year after arriving in Japan there is no residence tax to deduct; in the year after a pay rise or a move abroad, the deduction lags.
When do the rates change?
Kyokai Kenpo health rates change each March, the employment-insurance rate each April, and the pension’s upper remuneration grades step up from September 2027. Income-tax deductions change with each tax reform. This page uses the rates as of October 2026 and is rechecked every April.
Rates and their sources are recorded with the data (Kyokai Kenpo 令和8年度, NTA and MIC tables for 2026).