"200,000 yen in income" is a general guideline for filing tax returns on side jobs

Key Points of This Article

Salaried employees who receive their salary from a single employer and undergo year-end tax adjustments must file an income tax return if their total income from sources other than their salary exceeds 200,000 yen.
The “200,000 yen” threshold refers to “income”—the amount remaining after deducting necessary expenses from your total earnings—rather than the total amount received.
Even if your income is 200,000 yen or less and you are not required to file an income tax return, you must still file a resident tax return.
Keep records of the compensation you receive and the expenses you incur for work so you can calculate them later.

The “200,000 yen” Threshold for Filing a Tax Return

For most salaried employees, their income tax obligations are settled through their company’s year-end tax adjustment. However, even if you receive a salary from only one employer and all of it is subject to withholding tax, you must file a tax return if the total of your income other than salary and retirement benefits exceeds 200,000 yen (National Tax Agency: No. 1900—Salaried Employees Required to File a Tax Return).

There are other conditions under which you must file a tax return, such as receiving wages from two or more employers or having annual wage income exceeding 20 million yen. Please check the National Tax Agency page linked above to see if you fall under any of these categories.

The “200,000 yen” threshold refers to “income,” not “revenue”

Remuneration received from side jobs such as interpreting or guiding is generally classified as “miscellaneous income.”The National Tax Agency lists income from side jobs as an example of miscellaneous income and classifies income from activities conducted continuously for profit as “business-related miscellaneous income.” The amount is calculated as “total gross income – necessary expenses” (National Tax Agency: No. 1500, Miscellaneous Income).

Calculation Example

If you receive 300,000 yen in guide fees over the course of a year and your necessary expenses—such as transportation costs—for that work total 120,000 yen, your income is 180,000 yen. If you have no other income besides your salary, this amount is under 200,000 yen, so you generally do not need to file an income tax return.

Note that depending on the scale and nature of your side job, it may be treated as business income rather than miscellaneous income. If you are unsure, please consult your local tax office.

Deductible Expenses

Deductible expenses are costs directly incurred to earn income from that side job. Examples include transportation costs to get to the meeting point for a tour, or a portion of communication expenses used for work-related contact. For expenses that cannot be clearly separated from personal use, or those where you are unsure how to classify them, it is best to check with the tax office for clarification.

You Must File a Resident Tax Return Even If Your Income Is 200,000 Yen or Less

The rule that “you don’t need to file a return if your income is 200,000 yen or less” applies only to income tax returns.Since there is no such rule for resident tax, even people whose non-salary income is 200,000 yen or less and who do not file an income tax return must file a resident tax return with their municipality of residence. Those who have filed an income tax return do not need to file a resident tax return (Hiroshima City: Where to File, Filing Deadline, Necessity of Filing, etc. (Resident Tax)).

Instructions on how to file and the deadlines vary by municipality. Please check the resident tax page for your municipality.

Keep Records

When filing your income tax return or resident tax return, you’ll need to list your annual income and deductible expenses. Since it’s difficult to gather all this information at once after the new year begins, keeping records of the following details for each job will make the filing process much easier:

Date of payment, amount, and details of the assignment
Date, amount, and details of work-related expenses, along with receipts

Check your employer’s work rules before starting

Apart from tax procedures, some employers may require you to report or obtain permission for side jobs. While the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare’s model employment regulations permit side jobs and concurrent employment, actual policies vary by company (Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare: Side Jobs and Concurrent Employment).Be sure to check your company’s employment regulations before you start. For tips on choosing a side job that utilizes your English skills, see “Types of Side Jobs That Utilize English and How to Choose One.”

Start with a side job just on weekends at jpwork hub

jpwork hub is a service that connects international visitors to Japan with people living in Japan who want to use their English or other foreign language skills. When you register as a partner, you can list services such as interpretation, on-site accompaniment, sightseeing tours, and dining recommendations at rates you set yourself.You can decide for yourself whether to accept a request based on the schedule and details, so you can work as a weekend-only side hustle.

Registration is free, and fees are charged only when a request is confirmed and payment is processed. Since we’ve just launched the service, we can’t guarantee a specific number of requests, but we welcome those who would like to join us as our first partners and help grow the service together.

View details on partner recruitment

Frequently Asked Questions

If my side job income is 100,000 yen per year, do I need to file any tax returns?

If you’re a salaried employee receiving a salary from a single employer and undergoing year-end tax adjustments, you generally do not need to file an income tax return as long as your total non-salary income is 200,000 yen or less. However, you are required to file a resident tax return.

Does the 200,000 yen limit refer to the total compensation received?

No. It is based on your “income” after deducting necessary business expenses incurred for that work from the total compensation (revenue) received.

When filing a tax return to claim deductions such as medical expenses, do I need to include income from a side job that is 200,000 yen or less?

When filing your income tax return, you must include all income, even if it’s 200,000 yen or less. For more details, please refer to the National Tax Agency’s page No. 1900.

Photo credit: A view from above of the red-brick station building at Tokyo Station and Marunouchi Station Square on a sunny day: Basile Morin / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized) Wikimedia Commons.