Two Jobs in Japan: Social Insurance and Tax

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

With salaries from two employers in Japan, two things work differently from a single job. Social insurance: if both jobs would insure you, you tell the Japan Pension Service within 10 days, and your premiums are worked out on the combined pay and split between the employers. Income tax: only one employer gets your dependents declaration; the other withholds at the higher column otsu (乙欄), nobody settles the second salary at the year-end, and you usually file a final tax return (確定申告). On a main salary of ¥300,000 a month and a second job paying ¥80,000, that return still asks for ¥9,800. Each salary on its own can be tried in the take-home calculator.

This is a general explanation for an employee with two salaried jobs in Japan. Side income that is not salary, such as freelance work, follows different rules — see the ¥200,000 side-income rule.

Social insurance: one job, or both

Each job is checked on its own against the usual conditions for employee health insurance and pension — for a part-time job, the 20-hour rule and the size of the employer.

• Only one job qualifies. You are insured there, on that job’s pay only. The other job takes no health insurance or pension from you.
• Neither qualifies. You stay on National Health Insurance and the national pension, or on a family member’s insurance if your income allows.
• Both qualify. Within 10 days you file the notice for working at two or more workplaces (被保険者所属選択・二以上事業所勤務届), choosing one as your main workplace; its insurer is the one you deal with. Your grade is set from the two monthly salaries added together, and the premium for that grade is split between the employers in proportion to what each pays you.

Adding the salaries together matters near the top. On ¥500,000 a month from one employer and ¥300,000 from another, in Tokyo at 30, the combined ¥800,000 puts the pension at its top grade of ¥650,000: health insurance and pension come to ¥99,291 a month in all, against ¥113,520 if each job were charged separately. The two employers take it in the proportion five to three.

Income tax: column otsu at the second job

The dependents declaration (扶養控除等申告書) can be given to one employer only, normally the one paying your main salary. That employer withholds on column kou (甲欄) and does your year-end adjustment. The second employer withholds on column otsu (乙欄), which takes more from each payment — on ¥80,000 a month, ¥2,450 — and settles nothing at the end of the year.

Column otsu is not designed to get the year right either. For somebody on ¥300,000 a month in Tokyo, under 40 and single, with a second job paying ¥80,000 a month and no insurance there:

The second salary is taxed at your top rate, on top of the first. Resident tax follows the next year: on both salaries together it is ¥76,800 higher than on the main job alone.

The tax return

With salaries from two employers, the National Tax Agency asks for a return when the salary that was not year-end adjusted, plus any other income outside it, comes to more than ¥200,000 in the year. Below that you can usually skip it, unless something else calls for a return, such as a salary over ¥20,000,000; the National Tax Agency also excuses some people whose total salary is low. Both employers report your salary to your city, so resident tax is charged on it either way. Bring both withholding tax statements (源泉徴収票) — the second employer also has to give you one.

Questions people ask

Can I hand the dependents declaration to both employers?

No. It goes to one employer only, the one paying your main salary. The other withholds on column otsu (乙欄), and only the first does the year-end adjustment.

Will my main employer find out about the second job?

Possibly. If both insure you, the premiums are worked out on your combined pay and each employer is told its share. Resident tax on both salaries is normally collected together through one employer’s payroll, usually the main one, so the amount there reflects the second salary.

Does the ¥200,000 rule mean I need not file?

Usually only when the second job’s salary and any other income outside the year-end adjustment come to ¥200,000 or less in the year, and nothing else, such as a salary over ¥20,000,000, calls for a return. The National Tax Agency also excuses some people whose total salary is low. A second job paying every month is usually well over ¥200,000.

Sources

• Japan Pension Service — 複数の事業所に雇用されるようになったときの手続き (the notice within 10 days, the main workplace, the grade on the combined pay, the premium split by each workplace’s pay). Japanese, opened 19 October 2026.
• National Tax Agency — No.1900 給与所得者で確定申告が必要な人 (two employers: a return when the salary not year-end adjusted plus other income is over ¥200,000). Japanese, opened 19 October 2026.
• National Tax Agency — 令和8年分 源泉徴収税額表 (the monthly table, columns kou and otsu). Japanese.

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