Japan KK/GK — 法人税・消費税 Corporate Return

Confirm the legal entity type (KK vs GK vs branch), fiscal year end, capital amount, and whether the company qualifies as an SME (中小法人 — paid-in capital ≤ ¥100 million). Identify the NTA filing office (税務署), check whether the company is subject to consolidated tax (連結納税) or the new group tax relief regime (グループ通算制度), and flag any prior-year carryforward losses (繰越欠損金).

Obtain the finalized trial balance and statutory financial statements (損益計算書 / P&L and 貸借対照表 / balance sheet) prepared under Japanese GAAP (企業会計原則) or SME accounting guidelines (中小会計要領). Reconcile accounting profit (当期純利益) to the opening figure used on 別表四. Verify accruals for 未払法人税等 (income tax payable) and 未払消費税 (consumption tax payable) are correctly stated.

Prepare 別表四 (所得の金額の計算に関する明細書), the core income adjustment schedule. Start from accounting profit and apply mandatory add-backs (加算 — non-deductible items) and deductions (減算 — allowable items). Key add-backs include: excess depreciation (減価償却超過額), entertainment over the ¥8 million SME cap (交際費等の損金不算入額 per 別表十五), non-deductible director bonuses (役員賞与), and tax penalties (延滞税・加算税). Key deductions include carryforward losses being utilized.

Apply the correct corporate tax rates to taxable income from 別表四. SMEs (資本金 ≤ ¥100m): 15% on the first ¥8 million of income, 23.2% on the excess (法人税法 Article 66). Add the local corporation tax (地方法人税) at 10.3% of the national corporate tax. Compute the total tax liability, credit any interim payments (中間申告納付額), and determine the balance due. Also prepare the 都道府県民税 and 市町村民税 returns for the local inhabitants tax.

Determine if the company is a taxable business operator (課税事業者) — registration is required once prior base-period taxable sales exceed ¥10 million, or voluntarily earlier. Classify all revenue into taxable (課税売上 — standard 10% / reduced 8%), exempt (非課税売上), and export zero-rated (輸出免税売上). Apply either the full input tax credit method (本則課税) or, if eligible (base-period sales ≤ ¥50 million), the simplified method (簡易課税) using the deemed purchase ratio (みなし仕入率) for the company's industry sector. Verify that all supplier invoices are qualified invoices (適格請求書) under the Invoice System (インボイス制度) introduced October 2023.

Assemble the complete filing package for electronic submission via e-Tax (国税電子申告・納税システム). Corporate returns must be filed within two months of fiscal year end (e.g., by 31 May for a 31 March year end), extendable to three months with NTA approval (申告期限の延長). Coordinate payment of corporate income tax, local corporation tax, consumption tax, and local inhabitants tax. Ensure any outstanding interim tax payments are credited correctly.