When a contract is drawn up for a real estate transaction, a tax called stamp tax is imposed. Stamp duty is a tax levied on taxable documents.
A taxable document is a document defined by the Stamp Tax Law, such as a receipt, contract, IOU, bill, stock certificate, or bond. The amount of stamp tax depends on the type of document.
Some contracts are “non-taxable” documents that do not fall under the category of taxable documents, and in some cases, no stamp tax is required if the contract amount is less than 10,000 yen.
Attaching revenue stamps to sales contracts, receipts, and other documents serves as proof that the transaction is in compliance with the law. However, simply affixing revenue stamps does not mean that the tax has been paid, so a “postmark” must be affixed with a seal or signature. Postmarking the taxable document and revenue stamps makes them non-reusable and indicates that the revenue stamps have been used.
Where we can buy the stamp
Convenience store: 200 yen
Post office: 1 yen to 100,000 yen
Legal affairs bureaus: 1 yen to 100,000 yen
Amount of stamp tax on contracts
As of March 2024, a “reduced tax rate” will be applied for the period from April 1, 2014 to March 31, 2024. Reduced tax rate is a measure to apply a lower tax rate than the basic tax rate.
| Property sale price | Basic tax rate | Reduced tax rate |
| Less than 10,000 yen | Exempt | Exempt |
| Less than 100,000 yen | 200 yen | 200 yen |
| Less than 500,000 yen | 400 yen | 200 yen |
| Less than 1 million yen | 1,000 yen | 500 yen |
| Less than 5 million yen | 2,000 yen | 1,000 yen |
| Less than 10 million yen | 10,000 yen | 5,000 yen |
| Less than 50 million yen | 20,000 yen | 10,000 yen |
| Less than 100 million yen | 60,000 yen | 30,000 yen |
| Less than 500 million yen | 100,000 yen | 60,000 yen |
| Less than 1 billion yen | 200,000 yen | 160,000 yen |
| Less than 5 billion yen | 400,000 yen | 320,000 yen |
| Over 5 billion yen | 600,000 yen | 480,000 yen |
Amount of stamp tax on contracts other than sales contracts
In addition to real estate sales contracts, “Construction contract agreement” and “Loan agreement” exist as other types of real estate contracts. As with real estate sales contracts, a reduced tax rate will be applied to construction contract agreement until March 31, 2024.
| Contract amount stated | Construction Contract Agreement | Loan agreement |
| Less than 10,000 yen | Exempt | Exempt |
| Less than 100,000 yen | 200 yen | 200 yen |
| Less than 500,000 yen | 200 yen | 400 yen |
| Less than 1 million yen | 200 yen | 1,000 yen |
| Less than 2 million yen | 200 yen | 2,000 yen |
| Less than 3 million yen | 500 yen | 2,000 yen |
| Less than 5 million yen | 1,000 yen | 2,000 yen |
| Less than 10 million yen | 5,000 yen | 10,000 yen |
| Less than 50 million yen | 10,000 yen | 20,000 yen |
| Less than 100 million yen | 30,000 yen | 60,000 yen |
| Less than 500 million yen | 60,000 yen | 100,000 yen |
| Less than 1 billion yen | 160,000 yen | 200,000 yen |
| Less than 5 billion yen | 320,000 yen | 400,000 yen |
| Over 5 billion yen | 480,000 yen | 600,000 yen |
Also, the cost of stamps to be attached to the receipt is as follows.
| Stated amount | Stamp duty amount |
| Less than 50,000 yen | Exemption |
| Less than 1 million yen | 200 yen |
| Less than 2 million yen | 400 yen |
| Less than 3 million yen | 600 yen |
| Less than 5 million yen | 1,000 yen |
| Less than 10 million yen | 2,000 yen |
| Less than 20 million yen | 4,000 yen |
| Less than 30 million yen | 6,000 yen |
| Less than 50 million yen | 10,000 yen |
| Less than 100 million yen | 20,000 yen |
| Less than 200 million yen | 40,000 yen |
| Less than 300 million yen | 60,000 yen |
| Less than 500 million yen | 100,000 yen |
| Less than 1 billion yen | 150,000 yen |
| Over 1 billion yen | 200,000 yen |
If you have any questions or/and if you would like to have more details, feel free to contact us by contact form.
