It can, where the taxable estate exceeds the basic exemption. Japanese inheritance tax attaches to the heir. A Japanese-citizen heir with an address in Japan within ten years is taxed on all property acquired; any other heir abroad is taxed on all property unless the decedent was a foreigner or a non-resident, and then on property in Japan only.
It can, where the taxable estate exceeds the basic exemption. If you live in Australia and inherit from a relative in Japan, the Japanese tax on that inheritance is yours, not the estate's. Japan assesses inheritance tax on the person who receives the property, its scope table reaches heirs with no address in Japan, and the return is due within ten months from the day after the death is notified. A taxpayer with no domicile or residence in Japan deals with the tax office through a tax agent resident in Japan.
Key Takeaways
- Japanese inheritance tax is imposed where the value of property acquired by inheritance or bequest exceeds a basic exemption of 30 million yen plus 6 million yen for each statutory heir, on the excess.
- A Japanese-citizen heir who had an address in Japan within the last ten years is taxed on all property acquired, whoever the decedent was.
- Any other heir with no address in Japan is taxed on all property acquired unless the decedent was a foreigner or a non-resident in the National Tax Agency's defined senses, in which case on property in Japan only.
- Declaration and payment are required within ten months from the day following the day the death was notified.
- A taxpayer who has no domicile or residence in Japan deals with the tax office through a tax agent resident in Japan, notified to the district director under Article 117 of the Act on General Rules for National Taxes.
The tax attaches to the heir
Many countries tax an estate before it is distributed and let the heirs receive what is left. Japan's inheritance tax is assessed on the acquirer. The National Tax Agency (NTA) states that if the total value of properties acquired by inheritance or bequest, after subtracting the amount of debt and adding certain earlier gifts, exceeded the amount of basic exemption, inheritance tax is imposed on the excess amount. It follows with the obligation: in this case, a declaration and payment of inheritance tax is required within ten months from the day following the day when the death of the decedent was notified. The decedent is the person who has died; a bequest is a gift made by will.
That framing is why a person in Australia can find themselves a Japanese taxpayer. The tax is not deducted from the estate before distribution. It is assessed on each heir, and the NTA's table of who is liable is written to reach heirs wherever they live.
The exemption is a formula rather than a flat figure. The NTA states that the amount of basic exemption is calculated as 30 million yen plus 6 million yen multiplied by the number of statutory heirs. Statutory heirs are the relatives entitled to inherit under Japanese law. An estate with three statutory heirs therefore carries a basic exemption of 48 million yen, and tax is imposed only on the net estate above it.
Who is liable, and on what
The NTA's table sorts heirs by two facts: whether the heir has an address in Japan at the time of inheritance, and, for those who do not, their citizenship and recent history. The rows that matter for someone living in Australia are the non-resident ones.
| The heir, having no address in Japan at the time of inheritance | Scope of taxable property |
|---|---|
| holds Japanese citizenship and had an address in Japan within the last ten years before the inheritance | all properties acquired |
| holds Japanese citizenship and had no address in Japan within the last ten years | all properties acquired, excluding the case where the decedent is a foreigner or non-resident |
| does not hold Japanese citizenship | all properties acquired, excluding the case where the decedent is a foreigner or non-resident |
| acquires properties in Japan and is in none of the rows above | properties in Japan |
Two things follow. The first is that a Japanese citizen who moved to Australia six years ago is inside the first row. They are taxed on everything they inherit, wherever it is and whoever left it. The ten-year look-back is what keeps a recent emigrant within the worldwide scope, and the exclusion for a foreigner or non-resident decedent does not reach that row at all. The second is that an Australian with no Japanese citizenship who inherits from a parent who was a Japanese national living in Japan is in the third row. They are also taxed on all property acquired, because the exclusion in that row turns on who the decedent was rather than on the heir.
The words foreigner and non-resident carry defined meanings in the table's notes. A decedent who is a foreigner is one who had a status of residence listed in the upper column of Attached Table 1 of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act at the time of death, and who had an address in Japan. A decedent who is a non-resident is one with no address in Japan at the time of death who falls into one of two groups. The first group had an address in Japan at some time within the last ten years but did not hold Japanese citizenship at any time within that period. The second group had no address in Japan within the last ten years at all.
Where the decedent falls into either definition, an heir in the second or third row drops to the last row and is taxed on the properties in Japan only. An heir in the first row does not move.
So for the common shape of the question, a Japanese parent who lived in Japan and an adult child who has settled in Australia, the scope is the whole inheritance, not the Japanese part of it.
The ten-month clock, and the agent who has to run it
The deadline is fixed from the day after the death was notified: ten months to declare and pay. The NTA states the deadline with no residence condition attached.
Japanese tax procedure has a mechanism for exactly that distance: the tax agent. The NTA's guidance for a person leaving Japan describes it for income tax. A person who loses their domicile or residence in Japan but is still subject to procedures for tax return submission and other national tax matters needs to appoint a tax agent who is a resident in Japan, and notify the district director of the tax office with jurisdiction over their place for tax payment. The tax agent, in the NTA's words, will deal with the tax procedures on behalf of you, and a Japanese corporation or a person who resides in Japan can be appointed. The rule that carries the tax agent to national taxes generally, inheritance tax included, is Article 117 of the Act on General Rules for National Taxes, whose second paragraph requires the notification to the district director when a tax agent is appointed, and again if the agent is dismissed.
The practical sequence for an heir in Australia therefore runs from the deadline backwards. The tax agent is designated and notified, the estate is valued against the basic exemption, and the return is filed and the tax paid within the ten months. The tax is the heir's own liability, and what is sent to Australia is whatever remains after it has been met.
What arrives, and what does not travel with it
Once the Japanese tax is settled, the share is an ordinary transfer out of Japan. The JPY to AUD rate page shows the reference rate for the pair on the day it moves.
What does not travel is the liability. The Japanese tax was the heir's and was paid in Japan. How Australia treats the receipt is a separate question under Australian law, and nothing on this page speaks to it. Nor does this page cover gifts made during the donor's lifetime, which Japan taxes under a separate gift tax. The NTA notes that certain earlier gifts are added back into the estate for inheritance tax, over a period that depends on the date of death: within three years before death where death occurs up to 31 December 2026, from 1 January 2024 to the date of death where death occurs between 1 January 2027 and 31 December 2030, and within seven years before death from 1 January 2031.
Where to look next
- Receiving money from Japan - the live rate page for this corridor.
- How the Bank of Japan was given a number - how the Bank of Japan set its 2 per cent target, and what the statute leaves open.
- How international transfers work - the sequence a payment moves through once it leaves a Japanese bank.
- Understanding transfer fees - what can come off a transfer in transit.
- AUD to JPY - the convert page for the pair on its own.
Sources
- No.15001 Cases where inheritance tax is imposed, National Tax Agency of Japan - the framework, the ten-month deadline from the day following notification of the death, the basic exemption of 30 million yen plus 6 million yen per statutory heir, the table of people with an obligation to pay inheritance tax and the scope of taxable property for each, and the notes defining a temporary resident, a decedent who is a foreigner and a decedent who is a non-resident.
- No.12004 Income tax information for an individual who will leave Japan, National Tax Agency of Japan - the tax agent mechanism: a person who loses their domicile or residence in Japan but remains subject to national tax procedures appoints a tax agent who is a resident in Japan, a Japanese corporation or a person who resides in Japan, and submits a Notification of Tax Agent to the district director of the tax office with jurisdiction over their place for tax payment.
- Act on General Rules for National Taxes, Act No. 66 of 1962, Article 117 (Tax Agent), Japanese Law Translation, Ministry of Justice - the statutory basis for the tax agent, and paragraph 2's notification to the district director on appointment and dismissal.
- No.15002 Cases where a gift tax is imposed, National Tax Agency of Japan - the separate gift tax, which this page does not cover.
General information about Japanese inheritance tax as it applies to an heir living outside Japan. Not financial advice, not tax advice in either country, and not a recommendation of any product or institution. Reviewed by the Tradergy editorial team, September 2026.
Common questions
Is an inheritance from Japan taxed in Japan if I live in Australia?
It can be, where the taxable estate exceeds the basic exemption. Under the National Tax Agency's table of people with an obligation to pay inheritance tax, a Japanese-citizen heir who had an address in Japan within the last ten years is taxed on all properties acquired whoever the decedent was. Any other heir with no address in Japan is taxed on all properties acquired unless the decedent was a foreigner or a non-resident in the table's defined senses, in which case on properties in Japan only.
When is a non-resident heir taxed only on Japanese assets?
Where the heir is not a Japanese citizen with an address in Japan within the last ten years, and the decedent was a foreigner or a non-resident in the table's defined senses. A foreigner means a decedent who had a status of residence listed in the upper column of Attached Table 1 of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act and had an address in Japan; a non-resident means a decedent with no address in Japan at death who either had none within the last ten years or had one without holding Japanese citizenship at any time in that period. That heir falls under the last row of the table and is taxed on the properties in Japan.
How much is exempt?
The NTA states that the amount of basic exemption is calculated as 30 million yen plus 6 million yen multiplied by the number of statutory heirs. Inheritance tax is imposed where the net estate exceeds that figure, on the excess.
What is the deadline?
The NTA states that a declaration and payment of inheritance tax is required within ten months from the day following the day when the death of the decedent was notified.
Can I deal with the Japanese tax office from Australia?
Through a tax agent. The National Tax Agency describes the mechanism in its guidance for income tax: a person who loses their domicile or residence in Japan but is still subject to national tax procedures appoints a tax agent who is a resident in Japan and notifies the district director of the tax office with jurisdiction over their place for tax payment. Article 117 of the Act on General Rules for National Taxes applies the tax agent to national taxes generally, and its second paragraph requires that notification on appointment and dismissal.