Japan's 'Single Tax' Is Coming for Your Bonus

Just when you thought the 'single tax' was only a few hundred yen a month, they're coming for your bonus. 🥲

Wait, another deduction?

So I was mentally preparing for this new "Child-Rearing Support Fee" to show up on my payslip. You know, the one everyone is unofficially calling the "single tax."

The government said for someone earning around ¥6 million a year, it would be about ¥575 a month. Annoying, but fine. I can budget for my daily Strong Zero to become a weekly treat instead.

Then I got my summer bonus payslip. And there it was again: another deduction for the exact same thing.

The bonus slip surprise

Turns out, that ¥575 figure is just a monthly *average* of the total yearly payment. Because of course it's not that simple. This is Japan.

The fee is calculated on your monthly salary *and* your bonuses separately. Using the government's own example, if your bonus is ¥1.5 million, you can expect to see about ¥862 vanish from it right there.

It all adds up to roughly the same annual total they promised, but seeing it get snipped from your hard-earned bonus just hits different, you know?

Oh, and it's going up

And just for fun, this is only the 2026 rate. This is the introductory offer.

The plan is to gradually increase the rate until 2028. By then, that same person earning ¥6 million might be paying closer to ¥1,000 a month.

So yeah. Just another line item to look for on that beautifully complicated payslip of yours.