Tax & Filing 2026

February can't remember what the year didn't write down. Get the records into shape before 31 December.

What to actually do between September and December so filing isn't guesswork.

16 Feb–15 Mar

Filing window, as a rule

4 months

Still coverable from September

7 years

Statutory book retention

9 slides

In February you have what you kept by 31 December

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The filing period runs, as a rule, 16 February to 15 March.

My first year I planned to assemble everything in February. The commission figures were still in the dashboard. The expense side was not — a decent share of card charges I could no longer identify, and anything I couldn't reconstruct, I left out.

💡 February isn't the problem; the twelve months before it are (source: NTA No.2020)

Split the money before you pick software

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🏦

The receiving account: one account for commissions, no living expenses through it

💳

The paying card: tools, ad spend and books all on one card

📁

Where files live: one agreed folder for statements and receipts

💡 Software doesn't remove the sorting work from a mixed account — it moves it inside the software

Deductible turns on whether it can be separated

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On mixed private/business costs, only the clearly separable portion is deductible.

Since that is the actual test, splitting the account isn't about tidiness. Leave one mixed account and you have signed up to do the separating in February, from merchant strings.

💡 Source: NTA No.2210, on necessary expenses and kaji kanren-hi

Keep the payments you're unsure about

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📅

Date

💴

Amount

✍️

What it was for: no verdict, no "business" or "personal" label. Facts only

✅ Dropping it is a February decision. Creating the record is not

Retention is counted in years, not months

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What has to be kept	Retention
Books recording revenue and necessary expenses (statutory)	7 years
Other books prepared for the business (optional)	5 years
Inventory lists and other accounts documents	5 years
Invoices, delivery notes, shipping notes, receipts	5 years

💡 Source: NTA No.2080 (white return); blue return is 7 years as a rule, No.2070. Cut folders by year

Records feed straight into the classification

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With no books or documents kept, income lands on the miscellaneous side.

That's the note to Directive 35-2 — the exception being revenue over ¥3 million together with facts supporting business income. And the obligation line runs on revenue from two years earlier, so being out of scope now doesn't mean out of scope later.

⚠️ The heavier-additional-tax measure for missing sales books does not list people with miscellaneous income alone (NTA leaflet, Sept 2022)

The ¥200,000 line is drawn on income, not deposits

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The figure tested is revenue after necessary expenses.

Which means anyone without expense records cannot calculate whether they are over the line. It is also a rule about income tax returns specifically — resident tax is a separate system with separate rules.

💡 Source: NTA No.1900, which lists several other conditions on the same page

Four things, before the year ends

Split the receiving account and paying card off from living expenses

Decide one folder per year for statements and receipts

Export the commission statement as a PDF at month end (twelve a year)

For unclear payments, keep date, amount and purpose

General information only. Confirm anything specific with your tax office or a tax professional