Resident Tax (jūminzei / 住民税) is a regional tax, levied separately from income tax (shotokuzei / 所得税), which is a national tax. Jūminzei is comprised of municipal tax (shiminzei / 市民税) and prefectural tax (kenminzei / 県民税) on a per capita levy (kintōwari / 均等割) and income levy (shotokuwari / 所得割). Municipal and prefectural taxes on individual residents are levied and collected together by the local government of the municipality in which one resides.

Foreigners who have a domicile within Japan as of 1 January (base date for assessment) must pay jūminzei based on their income for the previous year to the municipality in which they were residing on 1 January.

In addition, an individual who owned an office, place of business, or dwelling within a ward as at 1 January, yet was not a resident of the same ward, will be subject to the per capita levy only.
Jūminzei is usually paid in four installments, in June, August, October, and January of the following year, using the Tax Notice (nōzei tsūchisho / 納税通知書) or Tax Payment Slip (nōfusho / 納付書) sent by a municipal tax office.

In the case of salaried company employees, jūminzei is divided into 12 installments and withheld from one's monthly salary from June until May of the following year, as per a notification from the City of Nagoya.

Those currently living in Japan as of 1 January each year and who had income during the previous year must prepare a resident tax report (jūminzei no shinkokusho / 住民税の申告書) and submit it to the municipal tax office with jurisdiction over the area in which they live not later than 15 March of each year. If, however, your salary was your only source of income in the previous year and your employer carried out a year-end adjustment (nenmatsu chōsei / 年末調整) on your behalf, or if your declaration of total income was filed on your final tax return (kakutei shinkoku / 確定申告) by 15 March, you are not required to submit a resident tax report.

For more information on the contents of the Tax Notice in English, Chinese, Korean, Spanish and Portuguese, please see the City of Nagoya website.