Tax & Filing Glossary

A national tax charged on income earned from January 1 to December 31 each year. It uses a progressive taxation system in which the rate rises as income increases, with seven brackets from 5% to 45%.

Employees have it withheld from their salary each month via withholding at source, and any over- or under-payment is settled through the year-end adjustment or a final tax return. Sole proprietors and freelancers generally must file a final tax return.

Residence tax is a local tax combining "prefectural resident tax" and "municipal resident tax," with a combined rate of about 10% (excluding the per-capita levy). It is calculated based on the previous year's income, and payment begins in June of the following year — a major difference from income tax.

Employees have it withheld from their salary each month (special collection). Sole proprietors pay it themselves (ordinary collection), typically in four installments in June, August, October, and the following January. An employee with a side business who chooses to "pay residence tax themselves" makes it less likely that side-business income will be noticed by their employer.

A national tax paid by corporations such as stock companies and limited liability companies on the income earned from their business. The basic rate is 23.2%, but small and medium corporations with capital of ¥100,000,000 or less have a reduced rate of 15% applied to income of ¥8,000,000 or less per year.

In addition to corporate tax, corporate business tax and corporate residence tax are also charged, so the actual tax burden ratio is generally viewed through the statutory effective tax rate (about 30%).

An indirect tax borne by consumers and remitted to the government by businesses. It is 7.8% national tax + 2.2% local consumption tax for a total of 10% (for food and similar items, 6.24% national + 1.76% local ＝ 8%).

Businesses whose taxable sales two years prior exceed ¥10,000,000 become consumption-tax taxable businesses, with an obligation to file and pay. Even with sales of ¥10,000,000 or less, becoming an "invoice-registered business" requires you to remit consumption tax as a taxable business.

The municipality taxes the owner as of January 1 each year. The standard rate is 1.4% of the assessed value of the fixed asset. In urban areas, a city planning tax (up to 0.3%) is also charged.

Machinery, equipment, and other assets (depreciable assets) that a sole proprietor or corporation acquires for business use are also taxable. A depreciable asset declaration must be submitted to the municipality by January 31.

For a sole proprietor, an industry-specific rate (3–5%) is applied to the amount remaining after deducting the "business owner deduction of ¥2,900,000" from business income. If income is ¥2,900,000 or less, no business tax is due.

For corporations, corporate business tax is charged according to income or, for large corporations, size-based factors. Note that individual business tax is paid in two installments the following August and November.

The taxable amount is the total estate minus the basic exemption (¥30,000,000 ＋ ¥6,000,000 × number of statutory heirs). The rate is progressive from 10% to 55%. The deadline to file and pay is within 10 months from the day after you learn of the decedent's death.

Under calendar-year taxation, tax is charged on the amount remaining after deducting the ¥1,100,000 basic exemption from the total gifts received between January 1 and December 31. The rate is progressive from 10% to 55%. You file and pay from February 1 to March 15 of the following year.

From 2024, the "taxation system for settlement at time of inheritance" was also revised, allowing a ¥1,100,000 basic exemption to be used each year.

A mechanism in which the payer (a company, client, etc.) withholds tax on behalf of the recipient and remits it to the government. It applies to salaries, freelance fees, manuscript fees, stock dividends, and more. As a rule, 10.21% is withheld from fees paid to freelancers.

The difference between the amount withheld and the actual tax is settled through a final tax return or the year-end adjustment (with a refund if overpaid).

Each year from February 16 to March 15, you calculate income tax based on the previous year's (January–December) income and file it with the tax office. It is generally required for sole proprietors and freelancers. Even employees must file if they have side-business income over ¥200,000, a medical expense deduction, the first year of a mortgage loan deduction, and so on.

Using e-Tax, you can complete it entirely online, and combining it with the Blue Return qualifies you for a special deduction of up to ¥650,000.

Because monthly withholding at source is only an estimated tax, the exact tax is recalculated at year-end, and any overpayment is refunded while any shortfall is collected additionally. Most salaried workers are freed from filing a final tax return by this process.

Deductions such as the life insurance premium deduction, earthquake insurance premium deduction, spousal deduction, dependent deduction, and mortgage loan deduction (from the second year onward) are claimed on the declaration form. The target period is October–December, and it is often reflected in the December salary or bonus.

You must submit an "application for approval of Blue Return" to the tax office in advance (within 2 months of starting business, or by December 15 of the previous year). The biggest benefit is the Blue Return special deduction (¥650,000 when using e-Tax, ¥550,000 for paper filing).

Other benefits include carrying losses forward for 3 years, deducting Blue Return dedicated-employee salaries paid to family members as expenses, and the special provision for low-value depreciable assets (expensing assets under ¥300,000 all at once).

The bookkeeping requirements are looser than for the Blue Return, but you cannot receive benefits such as the Blue Return special deduction, loss carryforward, or Blue Return dedicated-employee salaries. You attach a statement of income and expenses to your final tax return.

Even with a White Return, you are obligated to prepare books and keep them for 7 years (since 2014). Unless there is a specific reason not to, we recommend considering a switch to the Blue Return.

The payer (a company, client, etc.) withholds income tax on behalf of the recipient and remits it by the 10th of the following month (or, under a special provision, in July and January). In addition to salaries, it applies to fees paid to freelancers (design, manuscript fees, etc.) and to lawyer and tax accountant fees.

Because the withheld amount is an estimate and differs from the final tax, it is settled through the year-end adjustment or a final tax return.

An important document needed when filing a final tax return. The four items that are especially important are "payment amount," "amount after the employment income deduction," "total amount of income deductions," and "withholding tax amount."

If you worked at multiple companies, each one issues its own slip. If you resigned, it is issued within one month after resignation. If you lose it, you can ask your company's payroll department to reissue it.

You can file a final tax return, corporate tax return, consumption tax return, and more online. With a My Number Card and a smartphone, you can complete procedures without going to the tax office.

When a sole proprietor uses e-Tax with the Blue Return, the Blue Return special deduction is increased to ¥650,000. Large corporations with capital over ¥100,000,000 are required to file electronically via e-Tax.

You can handle local-tax procedures for prefectures and municipalities online in one place. In addition to individual residence tax filings, it also supports corporate residence tax and corporate business tax filings.

Corporations with capital over ¥100,000,000 are required to file corporate residence tax and corporate business tax electronically (eLTAX).

There are 524 tax offices nationwide, and you file and pay at the office with jurisdiction over your address. During the filing period (2/16–3/15) the consultation counters are crowded, so using e-Tax or visiting early is recommended.

It is also where you submit business start/close notifications, the application for approval of Blue Return, and various other filing forms.

Your "sales" or "gross salary" corresponds to this. Tax is not charged directly on revenue; it is charged on income — revenue minus expenses and deductions.

Revenue and income are easily confused, but remember: Revenue − Expenses ＝ Income.

Income is classified into 10 types (employment income, business income, real estate income, interest income, dividend income, timber income, retirement income, capital gains, occasional income, and miscellaneous income). The calculation method and treatment of rates differ by type.

Subtracting income deductions further from income gives taxable income, and applying the tax rate to that determines the tax.

Applying the tax rate to taxable income and subtracting tax credits gives the final amount of tax payable. The more you increase income deductions, the lower your taxable income and the lighter your tax burden.

Japan's income tax uses excess-progressive rates, so the rate rises in steps depending on the amount of taxable income. However, the higher rate does not apply to the whole amount — only the portion above each bracket is taxed at the higher rate.

The main rates are: income tax at excess-progressive rates of 5–45%, residence tax at a flat rate of about 10%, and corporate tax at 15–23.2%. Consumption tax is 10% standard and 8% reduced. Even the same "tax rate" can be one that rises in steps like income tax, or a flat one like consumption tax.

When an employee claims various deductions in the year-end adjustment and the withheld amount turns out to be too much, it comes back together with the December salary or a bonus. A refund from a final tax return is transferred to your designated account 1–2 months after filing.

Filing via e-Tax tends to shorten the time until the refund arrives.

If there is an omission or error in your filing, on top of the base tax you are charged an "underreporting additional tax (10–15%)" or a "non-filing additional tax (15–20%)" plus a "delinquent tax (around 8.7% per year)." In malicious cases it becomes a "heavy additional tax (35–40%)."

If you correct the error yourself before filing (a request for correction or an amended return), the penalty is reduced or waived.

By subtracting from "income," it compresses taxable income (subtracted before applying the tax rate). Main types: basic deduction, spousal deduction, dependent deduction, medical expense deduction, social insurance premium deduction, life insurance premium deduction, earthquake insurance premium deduction, iDeCo, and more.

Because income deductions are subtracted "before applying the tax rate," the higher a person's tax rate, the greater the tax-saving effect (e.g., at a 20% rate, a ¥1,000,000 deduction cuts tax by ¥200,000).

Whereas an income deduction reduces taxable income, a tax credit is subtracted from the calculated tax itself. For example, with a mortgage loan deduction (deduction amount ¥100,000), tax is reduced by ¥100,000 regardless of income.

Representative examples: mortgage loan deduction, foreign tax credit, dividend credit, Furusato Nozei (residence-tax deduction under the One-Stop special exception), and more.

It applies to everyone with income, whether or not filing is required. It is reduced in stages once total income exceeds ¥24,000,000, and becomes ¥0 once it exceeds ¥25,000,000. The basic deduction for residence tax is ¥530,000.

A deduction used to calculate employment income by subtracting a set amount from salary revenue. It is ¥650,000 if revenue is ¥1,625,000 or less, and the deduction increases as revenue rises, reaching the cap of ¥1,950,000 once revenue exceeds ¥8,500,000.

It is the equivalent of a sole proprietor's "necessary expenses," calculated automatically with no application needed.

If the spouse's total income is ¥580,000 or less (¥1,230,000 or less in salary revenue) and the taxpayer's own total income is ¥10,000,000 or less, a deduction of up to ¥380,000 (¥480,000 for a spouse aged 70 or over) is available.

If the spouse's income is over ¥580,000 and ¥1,430,000 or less, up to ¥380,000 is applied in stages as the "special spousal deduction."

The deduction amount differs by the dependent's age. A general dependent (ages 16–18 and 23–69) is ¥380,000, a specified dependent (ages 19–22) is ¥630,000, and an elderly dependent (70 or over) is ¥580,000 if living together and ¥480,000 if living apart.

Children under 16 are not eligible for the dependent deduction (due to the child allowance). You claim it on the dependent deduction declaration in the year-end adjustment.

The amount exceeding ¥100,000 (or 5% of income if total income is under ¥2,000,000) of the total medical expenses (consultations, medicine, hospitalization, dental treatment, etc.) for yourself and your family is eligible. Amounts compensated by insurance are subtracted.

Because employees cannot claim it in the year-end adjustment, a final tax return is required. Receipts must be kept for 5 years. Purchases of over-the-counter medicine also qualify for the Self-Medication tax system under certain conditions.

The full amount of social insurance premiums paid during the year is deductible. For employees, amounts withheld from salary are stated on the withholding tax slip and reflected automatically in the year-end adjustment. Sole proprietors who pay National Health Insurance and National Pension themselves claim it when filing a final tax return.

If you paid premiums for a family member, you can also claim them as your own deduction.

There are three categories — "general life insurance premium deduction," "nursing-care/medical insurance premium deduction," and "individual annuity insurance premium deduction" — each up to ¥40,000 (new contracts), for a combined income deduction of up to ¥120,000. You need the "deduction certificate" sent by the insurance company.

Employees claim it in the year-end adjustment, and sole proprietors in a final tax return.

Earthquake insurance premiums for residential homes and household goods are eligible. If the amount paid is ¥50,000 or less, the full amount is deductible; if over ¥50,000, a flat ¥50,000 is the deduction. Use the deduction certificate sent by the insurance company in the year-end adjustment or a final tax return.

A tax credit available when buying or renovating your own home. The annual deduction is the year-end loan balance × 0.7%, and the deduction period is up to 13 years for new and certified housing (10 years for used homes).

A final tax return is required in the first year. From the second year onward, you can claim it in the year-end adjustment. If the deduction cannot be fully absorbed by income tax, part of it is also deducted from residence tax.

There are three levels: record with double-entry bookkeeping and file via e-Tax: ¥650,000 deduction / record with double-entry bookkeeping and file on paper: ¥550,000 deduction / simple bookkeeping: ¥100,000 deduction.

The ¥650,000 deduction (at a 20% rate) has a tax-saving effect of up to ¥130,000. It is one of the most impactful tax-saving measures a sole proprietor can take.

The entire donation amount minus a ¥2,000 out-of-pocket share is deducted from income tax and residence tax. The deduction ceiling varies by annual income and family structure. You can use the "One-Stop special exception" (for donors giving to 5 or fewer municipalities), which requires no final tax return.

Note, however, that even if you use the One-Stop special exception, filing a final tax return invalidates the exception, so be careful.

Spending necessary for the business is recognized as expenses, and subtracting it from revenue lowers taxable income. Main expenses: rent (business-use portion), communications, transportation, purchases, advertising, outsourcing, utilities, consumables, depreciation, and more.

Items used for both private and business purposes are expensed after "proportional allocation." To be recognized as expenses, "relevance to the business" and "supporting documents (receipts)" are important.

As a rule, assets of ¥100,000 or more cannot be expensed all at once and are instead expensed gradually each year according to their statutory useful life (4 years for a PC, 6 years for an ordinary passenger car, etc.). This is depreciation expense.

Blue Return sole proprietors and small and medium corporations can use the "special provision for low-value depreciable assets," which lets them expense assets under ¥300,000 all at once in the year of acquisition.

If you work from home, you allocate rent, utilities, internet fees, and the like by the "proportion of business use." Example: if your workroom occupies 20% of the total area, you can expense 20% of the rent. For a smartphone, 50–80% business use is a rough guide.

It is important to keep records so you can objectively show the basis for the allocation (area, time, number of cases, etc.).

The Blue Return (¥650,000 deduction) requires books kept by double-entry bookkeeping (journal and general ledger). Even the White Return requires simple books (based on the statement of income and expenses).

Using cloud accounting software (freee, Money Forward, etc.), you can automatically import bank and credit-card statements so that books are prepared almost automatically.

Example: if you paid ¥3,000 of transportation costs in cash → you record debit "travel and transportation expense ¥3,000" and credit "cash ¥3,000." In double-entry bookkeeping, debit and credit always match.

Using cloud accounting software, many journal entries are suggested automatically, so you can keep books even without bookkeeping knowledge.

The left side (debit) lists assets (cash, deposits, accounts receivable, fixed assets, etc.), and the right side (credit) lists liabilities (borrowings, accounts payable, etc.) and net assets (capital, retained earnings, etc.). The left and right totals always match.

The ¥650,000 Blue Return deduction requires submitting a balance sheet. Corporations always prepare one at the financial closing.

Starting from net sales, it subtracts cost of sales, selling and administrative expenses, non-operating gains/losses, and extraordinary gains/losses in order to show the final net income (or loss) for the period. It is the basis for calculating corporate tax and income tax.

In a sole proprietor's final tax return, the "statement of income and expenses" (White) or the "Blue Return financial statement" (Blue) corresponds to the P/L.

Contributions are fully income-deductible (deduction for small-scale enterprise mutual aid contributions, etc.), investment gains are tax-free, and at payout you can use the retirement income deduction and public pension deduction. Employees can contribute up to ¥23,000 per month (if they have no corporate pension), and sole proprietors up to ¥68,000 per month.

Note that, as a rule, you cannot withdraw until age 60.

From 2024 it was renewed as the new NISA, allowing tax-free management of a combined ¥3,600,000 per year — a "reserve investment allowance (¥1,200,000/year)" and a "growth investment allowance (¥2,400,000/year)" — with a lifetime investment cap of ¥18,000,000. The tax-free period has been made permanent.

Unlike iDeCo, you can withdraw at any time. However, there is no income deduction for contributions, so the tax-saving effect applies only when investment gains arise.

Your My Number must be stated on final tax returns, withholding tax slips, various deduction certificates, and more. The My Number Card (a photo IC card) can also be used for electronic filing via e-Tax and for obtaining a certificate of residence at a convenience store.

Do not carelessly tell it to others. Leaking or misusing it carries criminal penalties.

Premiums vary by municipality, but are calculated from an "income-based portion" tied to the previous year's income, a "per-capita portion" tied to household size, and so on. In many cases the premiums are higher than employees' social insurance (such as the Japan Health Insurance Association).

Premiums paid are fully claimable as a social insurance premium deduction in a final tax return.

For the self-employed and freelancers (Category 1 insured persons), the monthly premium is about ¥16,980 (FY2024), fully borne by the individual. Premiums paid are fully eligible for the social insurance premium deduction.

Prepaying premiums in a lump sum (advance payment) gives a discount. Also, if your income is low, you can use exemption or deferral systems (though this affects your future benefits).

Corporations can freely set their fiscal year (accounting period). Within 2 months of the closing date in principle (3 months by application), they must file and pay corporate tax, corporate residence tax, corporate business tax, and consumption tax.

They prepare financial documents such as the balance sheet, income statement, and statement of changes in net assets, and obtain approval at the shareholders' meeting.

Corporations whose corporate tax for the previous fiscal year exceeded ¥200,000 must make an interim return and payment 6 months after the start of the fiscal year. There are two methods: ① estimated return (automatically pay half of the previous year's corporate tax) ② provisional closing (calculated based on actual results for the interim period). If performance has worsened compared to the previous year, a provisional closing can be advantageous.

Main supplementary tables: Table 1 (calculation of corporate tax), Table 4 (income calculation), Table 5 (retained earnings, capital, etc.), Table 6 (tax credits), Table 7 (loss carryforward), Table 16 (depreciation), and more.

Using filing software (Yayoi, freee filing, etc.), the supplementary tables are generated automatically from the figures in the financial statements.

For tax purposes, only three types are recognized as deductible expenses (loss): "fixed periodic salary," "advance-notice fixed salary," and "performance-linked salary." The most common, fixed periodic salary, pays the same amount each month, and increases or decreases partway through the year are, as a rule, non-deductible.

Officer remuneration is an important tax-saving means for compressing a corporation's profit, but if it is too high it may be partly non-deductible as "unreasonably high."

Recipient: after subtracting the retirement income deduction (e.g., years of service × ¥400,000), only half is taxed, giving a far lower rate than ordinary salary. Payer (corporation): if the amount is appropriate, the full amount is deductible, compressing corporate tax.

A rough guide for the appropriate amount of officer retirement pay is "final monthly remuneration × years of service × merit multiplier (usually 2–3 times)."

For corporations, a Blue Return corporation can carry a loss forward for up to 10 years and offset it against future income. Small and medium corporations can offset the full amount of income (large corporations up to 50% of income).

Even for an individual Blue Return, a 3-year carryforward deduction of net losses is allowed, so a loss year can be offset against income from the following year onward.

A corporation's actual tax burden must be considered not by corporate tax alone, but together with corporate residence tax (local tax) and corporate business tax (local tax). The formula for the statutory effective tax rate:

For a standard small or medium corporation in Tokyo (capital of ¥100,000,000 or less, annual income over ¥8,000,000), it is about 33–34%.

Income tax classifies income into the following 10 types: employment income, business income, real estate income, interest income, dividend income, retirement income, timber income, capital gains, occasional income, and miscellaneous income.

Which classification applies changes the scope of expenses, whether aggregation of profit and loss is possible, and the rate (comprehensive taxation or separate taxation). For example, even for the same "renting out a room," ordinary rental is real estate income while a vacation rental is, as a rule, miscellaneous income — different classifications.

Because employment income is settled through withholding at source and the year-end adjustment, many employees do not need to file a final tax return. Those who receive salary from two or more places, or whose income other than salary exceeds ¥200,000, do need to file.

Income arising from a business carried on continuously and repeatedly for profit. Choosing the Blue Return lets you use the up-to-¥650,000 Blue Return special deduction, loss carryforward, and more. A loss can be offset against other income through aggregation of profit and loss. Even a side business can be business income if you keep books and run it as a business (judged by scale and continuity).

Public pensions, side-business manuscript fees and affiliate income, gains from selling crypto assets (virtual currency), vacation-rental income, and so on are typical examples of miscellaneous income. An employee's side business is, as a rule, this miscellaneous income (business-related miscellaneous income).

An important point: a miscellaneous income loss cannot be aggregated (aggregation of profit and loss) with other income such as employment income. Note that "making a side business run a loss to recover tax on your salary" is not possible. An employee whose income other than salary (including miscellaneous income) exceeds ¥200,000 per year must file a final tax return.

Rental income from apartments, condominiums, parking lots, and the like is eligible. A loss can be offset against other income through aggregation of profit and loss (though some restrictions apply, such as interest on borrowings to acquire land). Note that a vacation rental involving accommodation services is not real estate income but is, as a rule, classified as miscellaneous income.

As a rule, aggregation is limited to losses in four types: real estate income, business income, capital gains, and timber income (remembered in Japanese by the initials "fu-ji-jō-san"). These losses can be offset against profits such as employment income, lowering the tax burden.

On the other hand, a miscellaneous income loss cannot be aggregated. If a side business is miscellaneous income, a loss is written off for that year, and tax on salary cannot be recovered.

In contrast to "comprehensive taxation," which combines salary, business income, and the like and applies progressive taxation, separate taxation splits off certain income and taxes it at its own rate. Retirement income, capital gains from land and buildings, and gains and dividends from stocks (separate self-assessment) are eligible.

Example: gains and dividends from stocks are taxed at a flat rate of about 20% (income tax 15% + residence tax 5% + special income tax for reconstruction), regardless of the amount of salary.

For a buyer to deduct the consumption tax they paid (take a purchase credit), they now need to keep the "qualified invoice" issued by the seller. Only a taxable business (registered business) that has registered with the tax office can issue invoices.

As a result, cases have increased where tax-exempt businesses that previously did not remit consumption tax register and become taxable businesses at their clients' request. There are transitional measures such as the "20% special provision" to reduce the burden.

As a rule, if taxable sales in the base period (two years prior for individuals, the fiscal year two years prior for corporations) exceed ¥10,000,000, you become a taxable business with an obligation to file and pay consumption tax. If sales are ¥10,000,000 or less, you are a tax-exempt business.

However, registering under the Invoice System makes you a taxable business regardless of sales. Right after starting a new business, there are no base-period sales, so it is common to be a tax-exempt business for the first 2 years in principle.

A calculation method that businesses with base-period taxable sales of ¥50,000,000 or less can choose by prior notification. Instead of totaling the consumption tax on actual purchases, you find the tax due as consumption tax on sales × (1 − deemed purchase rate). The deemed purchase rate differs by industry (wholesale 90%, retail 80%, manufacturing 70%, services 50%, etc.).

For industries with few actual purchases (such as service industries), it can be more advantageous than the general taxation method. Once chosen, it must, as a rule, be continued for 2 years.

For Furusato Nozei, it can be used by ① salaried workers who do not need to file a final tax return, and ② those whose donation destinations are 5 or fewer municipalities per year. Simply sending an application form to each municipality gets the full donation amount minus ¥2,000 deducted from the following year's residence tax.

Note: if you file a final tax return for a medical expense deduction or the like, the One-Stop special exception becomes invalid. In that case you must also record the donation on the final tax return.

Special collection is where the company withholds residence tax from your monthly salary and pays it on your behalf (12 installments from June to the following May). This is the rule for employees. Ordinary collection is where you pay it yourself using the payment slips sent to you (4 times a year in principle). It is chosen by sole proprietors, and by employees who do not want their employer to know about their side business.

An employee with a side business who chooses "pay residence tax yourself (ordinary collection)" on their final tax return makes the residence tax on the side business less likely to be combined into the employer's salary withholding.

The difference is that grants can, as a rule, be received if the requirements are met, while many subsidies are awarded to recipients selected by screening. Most are paid afterward (reimbursement), so you need to front the money with your own funds first.

Tax note: subsidies and grants received are, as a rule, taxable income (gains for corporations, business income revenue for sole proprietors). If you buy a fixed asset with a subsidy, you can defer taxation to the following year onward using reduced-value accounting.

Because a subsidy is taxed all at once in the year received, leaving it as is causes "a sudden spike in the tax burden in the year you receive the subsidy." Reduced-value accounting reduces the book value of the acquired fixed asset by the amount of the subsidy, thereby holding down the current year's profit (taxation) and, through the resulting decrease in depreciation expense thereafter, defers taxation.

It is strictly a "deferral" of taxation, not an exemption. Blue Return individuals and corporations can use it (the processing is complex, so consulting a tax accountant is reassuring).

A tax borne by guests, collected and held by the lodging facility, and remitted to the municipality. Adopting municipalities are expanding — Tokyo, Osaka Prefecture, Kyoto City, Hokkaido, Fukuoka Prefecture, and more — and the amount differs by municipality, such as a flat "¥○ per person per night" or a percentage of the lodging fee. Vacation rentals (residential lodging business) are generally included as taxable.

On the business side, the accommodation tax collected is not sales but is treated as a deposit received, managed separately from the lodging fee. Because the amount, tax-free threshold, and effective date change by municipality and fiscal year, check each municipality's official source for the latest.