What is a げんせん? ( Gensen )

What is this?

This is a 源泉徴収票 gensen choshu hyo, the statement of wage and income tax. For our American readers, think of a gensen as the Japanese version of your Form W-2. Most Japanese payroll professionals call it gensen for short. Gensen shows the result of year-end adjustment and is issued by your employer along with your final paycheck of the year.

What should I do with it?

If your employer issues a gensen electronically to you, you should download it, save it on your personal device, and keep it for 7 years per Japanese tax laws which require the employer and the employee to keep tax documents for at least 7 years.

How do I read this?

• 令和３年 is the year 2021 in the Japanese imperial calendar.
• Your registered address should match the address on your residence card or juminhyo as of January 1, 2022. If your gensen address is different from your registered address, please notify your payroll administrator immediately and ask for a revised gensen.
• Your name should be the same as your other official documents such as residence card, juminhyo, and koseki (if you are married to a Japanese). If your katakana name is not correctly written, it could cause delays or issues with visa applications, housing documents, or other government paperwork. Please contact your HR department to get your name sorted out.

1. 種別 is the type (of income). 給与・賞与 means salary and bonus.

2. 支払金額 is “the payment amount” or gross wage. In the example, 10,000,008 JPY is the total wage you got paid between January 1, 2021 – December 31, 2021.

3. 給与所得控除後の金額 is “after-payroll-adjustment amount” or the adjusted gross wage which equals the gross wage MINUS the payroll adjustment. In the sample gensen, the adjusted gross wage is 10,000,008 – 1,950,000 = 8,050,008 JPY

4. 所得控除の額の合計額 is the total deductions. 1,791,471 JPY is the sum of insurance, dependent, and other deductions.

5. 源泉徴収税額 is the total income tax due for 2021. If your employer withheld more than 841,400 JPY (refer to the sample gensen) before the final pay run, they will refund the overpaid tax. The tax refund will be labeled as 年調過不足税額 and appear in the withholding section of the pay stub in the negative figure. (see the sample pay stub below)

6. （源泉）控除対象配偶者の有無等 Spouse Deduction Eligibility will be circled if (i) your total taxable income or shotoku is 9,000,000 JPY or less AND (ii) your spouse’s shotoku is 480,000 JPY or less.

7. 配偶者（特別）控除の額 10,000 – 380,000 JPY of Special Spouse Deduction will be applied if (i) your shotoku is 10,000,000 JPY or less AND (ii) your spouse’s shotoku is 480,001 – 1,330,000 JPY.

8. 控除対象扶養親族の数 is the number of tax dependents but does not include the spouse.

• 特定（扶養親族）are any dependents aged 19 ~ 22 years as of December 31, 2021.
• 老人（扶養親族）are any dependents aged 70 years or above as of December 31, 2021.
• その他（の扶養親族）are dependents who are not in any other dependent categories.

9. 16歳未満扶養親族の数 is the number of dependents under 16 years old (born on or after January 1, 2006).

10. 障害者の数 is the number of disabled dependents.

• 特別（障害者） are dependents who are classified as the disability level 1 or 2.
• その他（の障害者）are disabled dependents who are NOT classified as level 1 or 2.

11. 非居住者である親族の数 is the number of dependents who live abroad.

12. 社会保険料等の金額 is the social insurance contributions. In the example, 1,311,471 JPY is the sum of health insurance, nursing care, worker’s pension, unemployment insurance contributions, etc. If you paid any national health insurance or national pension, those contributions are included here.

13. 生命保険料の控除額 is the life insurance deduction.

14. 地震保険料の控除額 is the earthquake insurance deduction.

15. 住宅借入金等特別控除の額 is the mortgage deduction.

16. 摘要 is the comment section. If you joined the company in the middle of the year, the gross wage, income tax, social insurance contributions from your previous company will be written here.

17. The breakdown of deductions (Section 12 – 15) will be shown here.

18. （源泉・特別）控除対象配偶者 shows your spouse’s name if he or she is your dependent.

• 配偶者の合計所得 shows your spouse’s shotoku if he or she is your dependent.

19. 控除対象扶養親族 shows the names of your dependent who are 16 years old and above. The left box will be circled if he or she lives abroad.

20. １６歳未満の扶養親族 shows the names of your dependent under 16 years old. The left box will be circled if he or she lives abroad.

21. This section shows your status as a taxpayer.

• 未成年者 is circled if you are under 20 years old.
• 外国人 is circled if you are not a Japanese citizen.
• 死亡退職 is circled if your death is the reason for the termination of employment.
• 災害者 is circled if you are a victim of natural disaster, house fire, theft, etc. You are not eligible for the year-end tax adjustment and must file a personal tax return for the tax exemption.
• 乙欄 is circled if this is not your main job, or you forgot to submit 給与所得者の扶養控除等の（異動）申告 for this year.
• 本人が障害者・特別 is circled if you are disabled and classified as the level 1 or 2.
• 本人が障害者・その他 is circled if you are disabled but NOT classified as the level 1 or 2.
• 寡婦 is circled if (i) you are a single mother, (ii) your child is your dependent, and (iii) your annual shotoku is 5,000,000 JPY or less.
• ひとり親 is circled if (i) you are a single parent, (ii) your child is your dependent, and (iii) you are not in a common-law marriage.
• 勤労学生 is circled if (i) you are a student as of December 31, 2021, AND (ii) you provided the copy of your student ID.

22. 中途就・退職 shows your employment start date or end date if you join or leave the company during the year.

23. 受給者生年月日 shows your date of birth (Japanese imperial year, month, and day).

If you are looking for help with your payroll calculations, have a question, or are looking for a payroll service provider, please feel free to contact us as we work with a variety of different companies who provide payroll services and we would be happy to make an introduction.