Furusato Nozei: ワンストップ特例 vs 確定申告 — Which Filing Method?

After you donate, you have to claim the tax reduction. There are two ways to do it: the ワンストップ特例 (one-stop exception) or a full 確定申告 (tax return). Pick the wrong one — or use one and then accidentally invalidate it — and you can lose your benefit entirely. Here's how to choose.

New to the system? Read What is Furusato Nozei? first, and check your donation limit before you give.

ワンストップ特例 (One-Stop Exception)

This is the simple route, designed for salaried employees who don't otherwise need to file a tax return. You can use it only if both conditions are true:

• You donated to 5 or fewer municipalities in the calendar year (multiple donations to the same municipality count as one), and
• You have no other reason to file a 確定申告 (no side income requiring a return, no medical deduction, no first-year housing-loan deduction, etc.).

With one-stop, you mail a short application form to each municipality you donated to. The entire benefit then comes back through reduced resident tax (住民税) the following year — there's no income-tax refund step, but the total benefit is the same.

確定申告 (Tax Return)

You must file a 確定申告 (and include your furusato nozei donations in it) if any of these apply:

• You donated to 6 or more municipalities.
• You're already filing a tax return for another reason — for example a medical expense deduction (医療費控除), side income, or your first year of the housing loan deduction (住宅ローン控除).
• You're self-employed or otherwise required to file.

With a tax return, part of the benefit comes as an income-tax refund and the rest as reduced resident tax.

Not sure whether you're required to file a 確定申告 in the first place? Check your situation with the furusato & tax-filing guide at Japan Tax Checker, which walks through exactly when one-stop is voided.

Decision flow

Steps for ワンストップ特例

1. Get the form: it often arrives with your gift, or you can download it from the provider's site (申請書 / 寄附金税額控除に係る申告特例申請書). The standard form and rules are published by the government on the official 総務省 ワンストップ特例申請書 page.
2. Fill it in for each municipality you donated to.
3. Attach a copy of your マイナンバー (My Number) verification — typically your My Number card, or a notification card plus a photo ID such as your 在留カード.
4. Mail it so it arrives at each municipality by January 10 of the following year. This is a hard deadline.

Some providers now offer online one-stop applications via the My Number card and a smartphone app, which can be faster than mailing.

Steps for 確定申告

1. Gather your 寄附金受領証明書 (donation receipt certificate) from each municipality — or the consolidated annual statement (寄附金控除に関する証明書) some portals issue.
2. Enter the donation total in the donation-deduction section of your return — the National Tax Agency's NTA 確定申告 guide walks through the process.
3. File via e-Tax (online) or on paper, along with the rest of your return.
4. The filing window is generally mid-February to mid-March for the prior calendar year.

For a detailed, screen-by-screen walkthrough of entering donations on e-Tax — including the new XML single-file upload — see how to report furusato nozei on your 確定申告.

Which should you choose?

If you're a regular salaried employee donating to a handful of places and have no other filing obligations, one-stop is simpler — no tax return needed. If you're already filing anyway, just fold furusato nozei into that return and skip the mailing entirely.

Next steps

Before any of this, confirm your ceiling with the furusato nozei calculator. Then make sure you avoid the other pitfalls in 5 Mistakes Foreigners Make, and review the basics in What is Furusato Nozei?