Furusato Nozei Simulator (English) — Donation Cap for Foreigners
How the Furusato Nozei simulator works
This free Furusato Nozei simulator estimates your annual donation cap — the maximum you can give to Japanese municipalities in a year while your own out-of-pocket cost stays fixed at ¥2,000. Enter your gross income and household situation and it returns an estimated cap, three donation strategies (Safe, Balanced, Max), and optionally what the return gifts are actually worth to your household budget.
It is built for foreigners and international households in Japan who want the number in English, without working through a Japanese-language portal that assumes you already understand the resident tax system.
What is Furusato Nozei, in one paragraph?
Furusato Nozei (ふるさと納税) lets you donate to any municipality in Japan — it does not have to be your hometown — and receive a local return gift worth up to about 30% of the donation. The donation is then deducted from next year's resident tax. Stay inside your cap and your real cost for the whole year is ¥2,000 total, not ¥2,000 per donation. Go over the cap and the excess loses its tax credit entirely, which is why estimating the cap first matters more than choosing the gift.
How is the Furusato Nozei cap calculated?
Your cap is driven by your resident tax liability, which in turn depends on gross income, household composition (spouse, dependents), and your other deductions — iDeCo contributions, insurance premiums, a housing loan credit, medical expenses. Two people on identical salaries can have materially different caps.
Because the cap scales with income, it also scales with certainty: your income for the year is not final until the year is. This calculator therefore offers a Safe strategy at roughly 80% of the estimated cap, which leaves room for the bonus that comes in lower than expected or the deduction you forgot about. For a first year, that buffer is worth more than the extra few thousand yen of gift value.
Worked example
A single full-time employee in Tokyo earning ¥5,000,000 has a cap of roughly ¥61,000. Donating that much costs ¥2,000 net and returns gifts worth somewhere around ¥18,000. A married household with one dependent spouse and a child, on the same income, sees a cap roughly 25–30% lower. At the other end, a single employee on ¥15,000,000 has a cap in the region of ¥395,000.
The figures the simulator returns are estimates built on published reference tables, not a tax filing. Your definitive number comes from your 源泉徴収票 (year-end withholding slip) and, if you want certainty, a tax professional.
Two deadlines that decide whether it works
- 31 December — the donation cutoff. A donation made on 1 January counts against the next year's cap. Portals get congested in late December.
- 10 January — the One-Stop Tax Exemption (ワンストップ特例) form deadline. One-Stop is the simplified route that avoids filing a tax return, but it works for a maximum of five municipalities. Donate to a sixth and One-Stop is void for all of them; you file a 確定申告 instead.
The credit itself appears in your resident tax from June the following year — a reduced monthly line on your payslip, or a smaller bill from your municipality.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate my Furusato Nozei limit? The cap depends on your income, household composition, and your other deductions — there is no single flat figure. Enter your gross salary and household details above for an estimate, then donate to around 80% of it in your first year to leave room for income variance.
Can foreigners use Furusato Nozei? Yes. Eligibility depends on paying Japanese resident tax, not on nationality. Most foreign employees become eligible in their second calendar year in Japan, because resident tax is charged on the prior year's income — in your first year there is usually nothing for the donation to reduce.
Is the ¥2,000 cost real? Yes, if you stay within your cap, and it is ¥2,000 for the year rather than per donation. Anything above the cap loses the credit and becomes a straightforward donation.
Which Furusato Nozei site should I use? Furusato Choice and Satofuru have the strongest English support; Rakuten Furusato Nozei suits households already inside the Rakuten ecosystem; Furunavi carries its own catalogue. They list overlapping municipalities, so the practical differences are language support, payment methods, and points — not the tax outcome, which is identical.
What if I leave Japan during the year? The resident tax credit logic still applies for the year you were a Japan resident. But the One-Stop route requires Japan residency on 1 January of the following year, so most people leaving use the 確定申告 route with their pre-departure filing.
This is an educational estimate, not tax advice. Furusato Nozei caps vary by income, deductions, family status, municipality, and year — confirm your own position with your municipal office or a qualified Japanese tax professional.