Resident, Non-Permanent Resident, Non-Resident
Answer
The general rule applies to you
No exception is recorded for citizens of Switzerland on this topic. That is the answer, not a gap - everything below is the rule you get, unchanged.
195 exceptions recorded across 74 countries · none match Switzerland to Japan · When you become a tax resident
Japan's residence test is in article 2 of the Income Tax Act and it has two limbs: having a 住所 - a domicile - in Japan, or having had a 居所, a place of abode, continuously for one year up to now. There is no day count. The Order for Enforcement then supplies what decides most cases: someone who comes to live in Japan is presumed to have a domicile here if they hold a job that normally requires living here continuously for a year or more. Japan's distinctive move is the third category. A resident without Japanese nationality who has had a domicile or abode here for five years or less out of the last ten is a non-permanent resident, and is taxed on foreign-source income only to the extent it is paid in Japan or remitted here.
At a glance
- Resident test
- A domicile in Japan, or an abode here continuously for one year up to now
国内に住所を有し、又は現在まで引き続いて一年以上居所を有する個人, article 2(1)(iii) of the Income Tax Act.
- Day count
- There is none
Article 2(1)(iii) states no number of days. The only period in the test is the year of continuous abode, and that is a different test from counting days in a tax year.
- Presumption from a job
- A job normally needing a year's continuous residence makes you domiciled
Article 14(1)(i) of the Order for Enforcement of the Income Tax Act. It is a presumption, so it can be displaced.
- When the presumption bites
- On arrival, not after a year
国内に居住することとなつた個人 - a person who has come to reside in Japan. The presumption looks at the nature of the job rather than at time already spent.
- Non-permanent resident
- No Japanese nationality, and 5 years or less of domicile or abode in the last 10
Article 2(1)(iv). Both limbs are required, so a Japanese national is never a non-permanent resident however long they have been away.
- What a non-permanent resident is taxed on
- Everything but foreign-source income, plus foreign-source income paid in Japan or remitted to Japan
Article 7(1)(ii) of the Act.
- What an ordinary resident is taxed on
- All income, wherever it arises
非永住者以外の居住者 全ての所得, article 7(1)(i).
- Changing category mid-year
- Each period is taxed on its own footing
Article 8: where a person falls into two or more of the categories during a year, tax is charged on the income arising in each period according to the category that applied then.
- Leaving
- A job abroad normally needing a year's residence displaces the domicile
Article 15(1)(i) of the Order for Enforcement, the mirror of article 14.
In detail
No day count, and a presumption that bites on arrival
Most countries answer this question with a number: 183 days, or half a tax year. Japan does not have one. The Act asks whether you have a domicile here, or have had a place of abode here continuously for a year. The first is a question of fact and the Order for Enforcement answers it with a presumption about your job: if your occupation in Japan ordinarily requires you to live here for a year or more, you are presumed to be domiciled. For someone arriving on a work status of residence that is satisfied by the employment contract, so Japanese tax residence begins on arrival rather than after any period of counting.
Five years in ten, and only if you are not Japanese
The non-permanent resident category is the part of the Japanese system a newcomer most needs to understand, and the two conditions are cumulative: no Japanese nationality, and no more than five years of domicile or abode in Japan within the last ten. While it lasts, foreign-source income is outside the charge unless it is paid in Japan or remitted here. The ten-year window means the five years need not be consecutive, and it also means the clock does not reset on departure: a person who spent four years in Japan, left for three, and came back has one year of the allowance left.
Remittance is the thing to watch
The exemption for a non-permanent resident is not an exemption for foreign income. It is an exemption for foreign income that stays abroad. Article 7(1)(ii) brings into charge whatever is paid in Japan and whatever is remitted from abroad, and the Act's own wording is about the act of remitting rather than about tracing a particular sum. Living in Japan on money sent from a foreign account is exactly the case the provision reaches.
What applies to you
Nothing changes for a citizen of Switzerland
We have no rule recorded that treats your citizenship differently here, so the general rule above is the one that applies to you. That is an answer, not a gap.
What the law says
«三居住者国内に住所を有し、又は現在まで引き続いて一年以上居所を有する個人をいう。 四非永住者居住者のうち、日本の国籍を有しておらず、かつ、過去十年以内において国内に住所又は居所を有していた期間の合計が五年以下である個人をいう。 五非居住者居住者以外の個人をいう。»Our translation - not official
(iii) Resident: an individual who has a domicile in Japan, or who has had a place of abode in Japan continuously for one year or more up to the present. (iv) Non-permanent resident: a resident who does not have Japanese nationality and whose periods of having a domicile or a place of abode in Japan total five years or less within the past ten years. (v) Non-resident: an individual other than a resident.
Ours. Three definitions in one place, and they are the whole of the personal scope of Japanese income tax. 住所 and 居所 are different words and the Act uses both.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Japanese government's own consolidated statute book, run by the Digital Agency. It is the only place that publishes Japanese law as it currently stands: each law page states the date the displayed text came into force, the amending instrument that produced it, and a Law RevisionID of the form <lawid>_<yyyymmdd>_<amending-id> which identifies that exact version. A page also warns 未施行あり where amendments are enacted but not yet in force. The text is Japanese and there is no English anywhere on it; each page links out to the Ministry of Justice translation where one exists, which is how the two publishers are related. Renders through Firecrawl without difficulty despite being a single-page application.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Japanese only. It publishes the consolidated law and not the amending acts, so an article number here is the article of the resulting law and the instrument that put it there has to be read from the header. It carries no commentary, no notification (告示) and no ministerial guidance, and a great deal of Japanese immigration practice lives in 告示 made by the Minister of Justice which this site does not hold. It must not be cited for anything the Immigration Services Agency decides administratively, and it must not be cited for English: the English on the law pages is a link, not a text.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«一非永住者以外の居住者全ての所得 二非永住者第九十五条第一項（外国税額控除）に規定する国外源泉所得（国外にある有価証券の譲渡により生ずる所得として政令で定めるものを含む。以下この号において「国外源泉所得」という。）以外の所得及び国外源泉所得で国内において支払われ、又は国外から送金されたもの»Our translation - not official
(i) A resident other than a non-permanent resident: all income. (ii) A non-permanent resident: income other than foreign-source income as defined in article 95(1) (foreign tax credit) - including income from the transfer of securities located outside Japan as specified by Cabinet Order - together with foreign-source income that is paid in Japan or remitted from abroad.
Ours. The remittance limb is the practical rule: money that stays abroad stays outside the charge, and money that arrives is taxed whether or not it is the same money.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Japanese government's own consolidated statute book, run by the Digital Agency. It is the only place that publishes Japanese law as it currently stands: each law page states the date the displayed text came into force, the amending instrument that produced it, and a Law RevisionID of the form <lawid>_<yyyymmdd>_<amending-id> which identifies that exact version. A page also warns 未施行あり where amendments are enacted but not yet in force. The text is Japanese and there is no English anywhere on it; each page links out to the Ministry of Justice translation where one exists, which is how the two publishers are related. Renders through Firecrawl without difficulty despite being a single-page application.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Japanese only. It publishes the consolidated law and not the amending acts, so an article number here is the article of the resulting law and the instrument that put it there has to be read from the header. It carries no commentary, no notification (告示) and no ministerial guidance, and a great deal of Japanese immigration practice lives in 告示 made by the Minister of Justice which this site does not hold. It must not be cited for anything the Immigration Services Agency decides administratively, and it must not be cited for English: the English on the law pages is a link, not a text.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«第十四条国内に居住することとなつた個人が 次の各号 のいずれかに該当する場合には、その者は、国内に住所を有する者と推定する。 一その者が国内において、継続して一年以上居住することを通常必要とする職業を有すること。 二その者が日本の国籍を有し、かつ、その者が国内において生計を一にする配偶者その他の親族を有することその他国内におけるその者の職業及び資産の有無等の状況に照らし、その者が国内において継続して一年以上居住するものと推測するに足りる事実があること。»Our translation - not official
Article 14 Where an individual who has come to reside in Japan falls under either of the following, that person is presumed to have a domicile in Japan: (i) the person has in Japan an occupation that ordinarily requires residing continuously for one year or more; (ii) the person has Japanese nationality and has in Japan a spouse or other relative sharing living expenses, or there are other facts sufficient to infer, in the light of the person's occupation and holdings of assets in Japan and other circumstances, that the person will reside in Japan continuously for one year or more.
Ours. Limb (i) is nationality-blind and is what settles the question for almost everyone arriving on a work status of residence: the contract itself creates the domicile.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Japanese government's own consolidated statute book, run by the Digital Agency. It is the only place that publishes Japanese law as it currently stands: each law page states the date the displayed text came into force, the amending instrument that produced it, and a Law RevisionID of the form <lawid>_<yyyymmdd>_<amending-id> which identifies that exact version. A page also warns 未施行あり where amendments are enacted but not yet in force. The text is Japanese and there is no English anywhere on it; each page links out to the Ministry of Justice translation where one exists, which is how the two publishers are related. Renders through Firecrawl without difficulty despite being a single-page application.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Japanese only. It publishes the consolidated law and not the amending acts, so an article number here is the article of the resulting law and the instrument that put it there has to be read from the header. It carries no commentary, no notification (告示) and no ministerial guidance, and a great deal of Japanese immigration practice lives in 告示 made by the Minister of Justice which this site does not hold. It must not be cited for anything the Immigration Services Agency decides administratively, and it must not be cited for English: the English on the law pages is a link, not a text.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«２前項 の規定により国内に住所を有する者と推定される個人と生計を一にする配偶者その他その者の扶養する親族が国内に居住する場合には、これらの者も国内に住所を有する者と推定する。 （国内に住所を有しない者と推定する場合） 第十五条国外に居住することとなつた個人が 次の各号 のいずれかに該当する場合には、その者は、国内に住所を有しない者と推定する。 一その者が国外において、継続して一年以上居住することを通常必要とする職業を有すること。 二その者が外国の国籍を有し又は外国の法令によりその外国に永住する許可を受けており、かつ、その者が国内において生計を一にする配偶者その他の親族を有しないことその他国内に»Our translation - not official
(2) Where a spouse sharing living expenses with an individual presumed under the preceding paragraph to have a domicile in Japan, or another relative dependent on that individual, resides in Japan, those persons are also presumed to have a domicile in Japan.
Ours. The presumption travels to the family, so a non-working spouse who arrives with the worker is a Japanese tax resident from the same moment.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Japanese government's own consolidated statute book, run by the Digital Agency. It is the only place that publishes Japanese law as it currently stands: each law page states the date the displayed text came into force, the amending instrument that produced it, and a Law RevisionID of the form <lawid>_<yyyymmdd>_<amending-id> which identifies that exact version. A page also warns 未施行あり where amendments are enacted but not yet in force. The text is Japanese and there is no English anywhere on it; each page links out to the Ministry of Justice translation where one exists, which is how the two publishers are related. Renders through Firecrawl without difficulty despite being a single-page application.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Japanese only. It publishes the consolidated law and not the amending acts, so an article number here is the article of the resulting law and the instrument that put it there has to be read from the header. It carries no commentary, no notification (告示) and no ministerial guidance, and a great deal of Japanese immigration practice lives in 告示 made by the Minister of Justice which this site does not hold. It must not be cited for anything the Immigration Services Agency decides administratively, and it must not be cited for English: the English on the law pages is a link, not a text.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«第十五条国外に居住することとなつた個人が 次の各号 のいずれかに該当する場合には、その者は、国内に住所を有しない者と推定する。 一その者が国外において、継続して一年以上居住することを通常必要とする職業を有すること。 二その者が外国の国籍を有し又は外国の法令によりその外国に永住する許可を受けており、かつ、その者が国内において生計を一にする配偶者その他の親族を有しないことその他国内におけるその者の職業及び資産の有無等の状況に照らし、その者が再び国内に帰り、主として国内に居住するものと推測するに足りる事実がないこと。 ２前項 の規定により国内に住所を有しない者と推定される個人と生計を一にする配偶者そ»Our translation - not official
Article 15 Where an individual who has come to reside outside Japan falls under either of the following, that person is presumed not to have a domicile in Japan: (i) the person has outside Japan an occupation that ordinarily requires residing continuously for one year or more.
Ours, and the first limb only. The second limb for leaving is not the mirror of the second limb for arriving: it asks about foreign nationality or permanent residence abroad and about the absence of a dependent family left behind.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Japanese government's own consolidated statute book, run by the Digital Agency. It is the only place that publishes Japanese law as it currently stands: each law page states the date the displayed text came into force, the amending instrument that produced it, and a Law RevisionID of the form <lawid>_<yyyymmdd>_<amending-id> which identifies that exact version. A page also warns 未施行あり where amendments are enacted but not yet in force. The text is Japanese and there is no English anywhere on it; each page links out to the Ministry of Justice translation where one exists, which is how the two publishers are related. Renders through Firecrawl without difficulty despite being a single-page application.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Japanese only. It publishes the consolidated law and not the amending acts, so an article number here is the article of the resulting law and the instrument that put it there has to be read from the header. It carries no commentary, no notification (告示) and no ministerial guidance, and a great deal of Japanese immigration practice lives in 告示 made by the Minister of Justice which this site does not hold. It must not be cited for anything the Immigration Services Agency decides administratively, and it must not be cited for English: the English on the law pages is a link, not a text.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«第八条その年において、個人が非永住者以外の居住者、非永住者又は 第百六十四条第一項各号（非居住者に対する課税の方法）に掲げる非居住者の区分のうち二以上のものに該当した場合には、その者がその年において非永住者以外の居住者、非永住者又は当該各号に掲げる非居住者であつた期間に応じ、それぞれの期間内に生じた 前条第一項第一号から第三号まで に掲げる所得に対し、所得税を課する。»Our translation - not official
Article 8 Where in a year an individual has fallen within two or more of the categories of resident other than a non-permanent resident, non-permanent resident, or non-resident as listed in the items of article 164(1) (method of taxing non-residents), income tax is charged on the income arising within each of the periods during which the person was a resident other than a non-permanent resident, a non-permanent resident, or a non-resident under those items, as set out in article 7(1), items (i) to (iii).
Ours. Japan splits the year rather than deeming a whole-year status, which is why arrival and departure dates matter here in a way they do not in a country with a day-count test.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Japanese government's own consolidated statute book, run by the Digital Agency. It is the only place that publishes Japanese law as it currently stands: each law page states the date the displayed text came into force, the amending instrument that produced it, and a Law RevisionID of the form <lawid>_<yyyymmdd>_<amending-id> which identifies that exact version. A page also warns 未施行あり where amendments are enacted but not yet in force. The text is Japanese and there is no English anywhere on it; each page links out to the Ministry of Justice translation where one exists, which is how the two publishers are related. Renders through Firecrawl without difficulty despite being a single-page application.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Japanese only. It publishes the consolidated law and not the amending acts, so an article number here is the article of the resulting law and the instrument that put it there has to be read from the header. It carries no commentary, no notification (告示) and no ministerial guidance, and a great deal of Japanese immigration practice lives in 告示 made by the Minister of Justice which this site does not hold. It must not be cited for anything the Immigration Services Agency decides administratively, and it must not be cited for English: the English on the law pages is a link, not a text.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
Practical notes
The Income Tax Act and its Order for Enforcement were read in the e-Gov consolidated texts, in force from 1 October 2026 and 22 May 2026 respectively. The Act is 1.4 million characters and only the provisions cited here were read; nothing in this record claims a survey of it.
Japan's English translation of the Income Tax Act on the Ministry of Justice site covers the non-resident and foreign-corporation parts only, which the e-Gov record page states in terms. There is no official English for article 2 or article 7, so nothing in this record quotes one.
The scope of what counts as a remittance, and the rules on what a non-permanent resident's foreign-source income includes, are left by article 7(2) to Cabinet Order. Those provisions were not read.
Nothing read here is a tax treaty. Japan's treaties override the Act's definitions for a person covered by one, and no treaty has been read for this record.
Inhabitant tax, which is charged by the municipality on whoever has an address there on 1 January, is a separate charge under the Local Tax Act and was not read.
- consolidates所得税法 - e-Gov 法令検索
e-Gov 法令検索 (e-Gov Law Search) · consolidated to 2026-10-01
About this source
The Japanese government's own consolidated statute book, run by the Digital Agency. It is the only place that publishes Japanese law as it currently stands: each law page states the date the displayed text came into force, the amending instrument that produced it, and a Law RevisionID of the form <lawid>_<yyyymmdd>_<amending-id> which identifies that exact version. A page also warns 未施行あり where amendments are enacted but not yet in force. The text is Japanese and there is no English anywhere on it; each page links out to the Ministry of Justice translation where one exists, which is how the two publishers are related. Renders through Firecrawl without difficulty despite being a single-page application.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Japanese only. It publishes the consolidated law and not the amending acts, so an article number here is the article of the resulting law and the instrument that put it there has to be read from the header. It carries no commentary, no notification (告示) and no ministerial guidance, and a great deal of Japanese immigration practice lives in 告示 made by the Minister of Justice which this site does not hold. It must not be cited for anything the Immigration Services Agency decides administratively, and it must not be cited for English: the English on the law pages is a link, not a text.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
- consolidates所得税法施行令 - e-Gov 法令検索
e-Gov 法令検索 (e-Gov Law Search) · consolidated to 2026-05-22
About this source
The Japanese government's own consolidated statute book, run by the Digital Agency. It is the only place that publishes Japanese law as it currently stands: each law page states the date the displayed text came into force, the amending instrument that produced it, and a Law RevisionID of the form <lawid>_<yyyymmdd>_<amending-id> which identifies that exact version. A page also warns 未施行あり where amendments are enacted but not yet in force. The text is Japanese and there is no English anywhere on it; each page links out to the Ministry of Justice translation where one exists, which is how the two publishers are related. Renders through Firecrawl without difficulty despite being a single-page application.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Japanese only. It publishes the consolidated law and not the amending acts, so an article number here is the article of the resulting law and the instrument that put it there has to be read from the header. It carries no commentary, no notification (告示) and no ministerial guidance, and a great deal of Japanese immigration practice lives in 告示 made by the Minister of Justice which this site does not hold. It must not be cited for anything the Immigration Services Agency decides administratively, and it must not be cited for English: the English on the law pages is a link, not a text.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source