Mandatory electronic filing for large corporations: covered entities, covered documents, and the paper-filing exceptionBig companies must file their taxes over the internet
Corporate tax and consumption tax returns of corporations whose capital exceeds JPY 100 million must be filed through e-Tax. The e-Tax guidance page sets out which corporations are covered, which procedures are covered, the covered documents including attachments, and the approval needed for exceptional paper filing.
- ○Applies: Domestic corporation with capital or similar amount over JPY 100 million at the start of the business year
- ○Applies: Consolidated-group corporation, mutual company, investment corporation or special purpose company
- ×Does not apply: Foreign corporation
- ×Does not apply: Unincorporated association
Key points
- For corporate tax and local corporate tax, the obligation applies to domestic corporations whose capital or similar amount exceeds JPY 100 million at the start of the business year, as well as consolidated-group (tsusan) corporations, mutual companies, investment corporations and special purpose companies. For consumption tax and local consumption tax, the national government and local governments are also covered.
- Unincorporated associations and foreign corporations are not covered by the obligation.
- Covered procedures are final returns, interim (estimated) returns, provisional-settlement interim returns, amended returns and refund returns, including the return itself and all documents that must be attached.
- If e-Tax cannot be used because of a telecommunications line failure, a disaster or similar, a paper filing is allowed with the prior approval of the head of the tax office with jurisdiction over the place of tax payment.
- Electronic filing is also mandatory for the local taxes: corporate inhabitant tax and corporate enterprise tax.
What to do in practice
- Check whether you are covered by using your capital or similar amount at the start of the business year.
- Confirm the procedure for obtaining prior approval from the head of the tax office in case a paper filing becomes necessary because of an outage.
Big companies, such as those with capital of more than JPY 100 million, must send their tax returns over the internet instead of on paper. But if the internet system is really unusable because of a line failure or a disaster, they can file on paper if they get permission beforehand.
- 1. CheckLook at whether capital is over JPY 100 million on the first day of the business year
- 2. File onlineIf it is, send the return through e-Tax
- 3. AttachmentsSend the documents that go with the return online too
- 4. Just in caseIf the system cannot be used because of a failure or disaster, get the tax office head's approval first and file on paper
Points
- Big companies (capital over JPY 100 million, for example) file online.
- The documents that go with the return are also sent online.
- If there is a special reason the internet cannot be used, ask for permission beforehand.
What the words mean
- Capital
- The money that shareholders and others put in when a company is started
- e-Tax
- A government system that lets you file and pay taxes over the internet
- National Tax Agency (NTA) (e-Tax): e-Tax: Mandatory Electronic Filing for Large Corporations (last revised January 5, 2026, Reiwa 8)
This article summarizes and explains materials published by government agencies and is not advice on any individual case. Rules can change, so for actual procedures and decisions always check the latest original materials and consult professionals such as tax accountants or labor and social security attorneys. English, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese versions are translations prepared from the Japanese articles for convenience. If anything differs, the Japanese text and the original source take precedence.