Part-Time Income Limits in Japan for 2026

Last updated: 19 October 2026 · the National Tax Agency’s, the Japan Pension Service’s and the Immigration Services Agency’s pages · figures for the 2026 tax year

For somebody paid only a salary in 2026, the “income walls” (年収の壁, nenshū no kabe) sit at different heights for different things: resident tax starts above ¥1,190,000 in a large city, a parent or spouse stops counting you as a dependent above ¥1,360,000, and your own income tax starts above ¥1,780,000. Health insurance has its own line, and since 1 October 2026 the employer’s insurance depends on your hours rather than your pay. To see what a given salary leaves you, use the take-home calculator.

This is a general explanation for somebody whose only income is a salary. Other income, a disability or being a single parent move the lines. Your city office, the tax office and your employer are the authority on your own year.

The lines in 2026

For a single person whose only income is salary, counted over the calendar year from every employer:

Resident tax: above ¥1,190,000

Resident tax (住民税) is not charged on a low income, and the line depends on the size of the town. In Tokyo’s 23 wards and other large cities it is ¥450,000 of income for a single person, or ¥1,190,000 of salary in 2026; smaller towns draw it lower. The bill arrives the following year, from June.

Income tax: above ¥1,780,000

The basic exemption (基礎控除) is ¥1,040,000 for 2026, and the employment income deduction (給与所得控除) is at least ¥740,000, so a salary of ¥1,780,000 or less pays no income tax for the year. Anything taken from your pay during the year comes back through the year-end adjustment or a tax return. Both amounts are raised only for 2026 and 2027 — the 2026 change has the detail.

Your family’s tax: ¥1,360,000, and more for students of 19 to 22

A parent or spouse can claim you while your income for 2026 is ¥620,000 or less, which is ¥1,360,000 of salary. For a child aged 19 to 22 on 31 December, the parent then gets the special exemption for specified relatives (特定親族特別控除) instead: the full amount up to ¥1,590,000 of salary, shrinking until it ends above ¥1,970,000. The exemption for dependents and what a dependent spouse is worth show what each is worth to the family.

A spouse is different: above ¥1,360,000 the exemption for spouse (配偶者控除) becomes the special exemption for spouse (配偶者特別控除), at the same amount up to ¥1,690,000 of the spouse’s salary and then tapering until it ends above ¥2,070,000, as long as the earner’s own income is not too high. So there is no cliff for a spouse at ¥1,360,000.

Health insurance: ¥1,300,000 a year

You can stay on a family member’s employee health insurance as a dependent (被扶養者) while your expected income is under ¥1,300,000 a year — under ¥1,500,000 if you are 19 to 22 and not the insured person’s spouse, and under ¥1,800,000 at 60 or over or with a qualifying disability. Unlike the tax lines, it is about the year ahead from when you are assessed, not the calendar year behind you. Above it you join your own insurance — employee health insurance or National Health Insurance.

The 20-hour rule for your employer’s insurance

A part-timer joins the employer’s health insurance and pension (社会保険) when all of these are true:

• the contract is for 20 hours or more a week;
• the employer has 51 or more employees on its pension scheme, not counting part-timers covered by this rule; or has chosen to cover part-timers anyway (任意特定適用事業所); or is a national or local government office. The size line falls to 36 or more from October 2027;
• the job is expected to last more than two months — a shorter contract counts from the start if it is expected to be renewed beyond that;
• you are not a student at a high school, university, vocational school or the like. Students on evening or correspondence courses, on leave from their studies, or who will stay on with the employer after graduating are covered like anybody else.

There used to be a fourth condition, monthly pay of ¥88,000 or more, which is where the “¥1,060,000 wall” came from. The Japan Pension Service says it was abolished on 1 October 2026. Joining means paying premiums from your own pay, but also a pension of your own and sick pay.

Students: the 28-hour limit and tax

• Hours. A student on a Student visa (留学) needs permission to work (資格外活動許可), and the usual permission allows up to 28 hours a week, across all jobs together, or up to 8 hours a day during the school’s long vacations.
• Tax. The lines above are the same for students. The working student exemption (勤労学生控除) adds a further deduction for a student whose income is low, but in 2026 the basic exemption already covers more, so it mainly lowers resident tax.
• Insurance. Full-time students are outside the 20-hour rule. A student working part-time usually stays on National Health Insurance or a family member’s insurance, unless the hours come close to a full-time employee’s, which brings anybody into the employer’s insurance.

Questions people ask

Is there still a ¥1,060,000 wall?

No. That line came from the monthly pay test for joining the employer’s insurance, and the test was abolished on 1 October 2026. What decides it now is working 20 hours or more a week at a large enough employer, or one that has opted in, in a job expected to last more than two months, and not as a full-time student.

Do the limits count my income from every job?

Yes. The tax lines are about your whole year’s salary from all employers, and the health insurance line is about your expected yearly income. The 28-hour limit for students also counts every job together.

Does crossing a line cost me more than I earn?

Not for income tax, which taxes only the part above its line. Resident tax is different: crossing its line brings in the flat per-capita part (均等割) as well, so the first yen over it costs several thousand yen. Once you pay your own insurance, the premiums apply to the whole wage, and a parent loses the ordinary exemption for a dependent all at once. For a child of 19 to 22 the parent’s special exemption for specified relatives carries on and tapers instead, and a spouse moves to the special exemption for spouse.

Sources

• National Tax Agency — No.1199 基礎控除 and No.1410 給与所得控除 (the 2026 amounts). Japanese, opened 19 October 2026.
• National Tax Agency — No.1180 扶養控除 and No.1177 特定親族特別控除 (the income limits for 2026). Japanese.
• City of Nagoya — 令和9年度以降適用される市民税・県民税に関する主な税制改正 (the same minimum employment income deduction applies to resident tax on 2026 income). Japanese, opened 19 October 2026.
• Japan Pension Service — 2026（令和8）年10月に社会保険の短時間労働者に係る賃金要件が撤廃されました and 短時間労働者に対する健康保険・厚生年金保険の適用の拡大 (the 20 hours, the employer size and its step to 36 in October 2027, students and jobs of two months or less excluded, the pay test abolished). Japanese, opened 19 October 2026.
• Japan Pension Service — 「学生」とはどのような者を指すのですか (which students are excluded; evening and correspondence students, students on leave and those staying on after graduating are covered). Japanese, opened 19 October 2026.
• Japan Pension Service — 従業員が家族を被扶養者にするとき (the income limits for a dependent on health insurance). Japanese.
• Immigration Services Agency — 「留学」の在留資格に係る資格外活動許可について (28 hours a week, 8 hours a day in long vacations). Japanese, opened 19 October 2026.

Try a salary in the calculator