How to Read a Japanese Payslip: 2026 Salary, Overtime & Deduction Guide

A monthly or bonus 給与明細書 is a payment statement for a particular payroll. Your annual 源泉徴収票 is a different tax document that summarizes salary and withholding for the year.

The National Tax Agency treats salary payment statements as documents that must be provided to the recipient. Electronic delivery is permitted under specified conditions, but a worker can request paper under the electronic-delivery rules.

Do not wait for the annual withholding certificate to check a monthly payroll problem. Overtime, attendance, deductions and bank-transfer mismatches are easier to correct when you review each payslip as soon as it is issued.

• 給与明細書 — salary payment statement / payslip
• 源泉徴収票 — annual withholding certificate
• Check the payslip every payday
• Keep annual tax documents separately

Payroll mistakes are often timing misunderstandings. A June pay date can represent May attendance, while a bonus may be processed on a completely separate statement.

Find the payment month, payment date, attendance period or closing date, employee number and department. If the company uses a cut-off date, confirm which shifts and overtime entries were included before deciding an hour is missing.

A useful comparison is not simply 'this month versus last month' but 'the same type of payroll covering the same kind of attendance period.'

• 支給年月 / 給与年月 — payroll month
• 支給日 / 振込日 — payment or transfer date
• 対象期間 / 勤怠期間 — attendance period
• 締日 — payroll cut-off date
• 社員番号 / 所属 — employee number / department

The attendance section, usually labeled 勤怠, is the bridge between your time records and your pay. It can show scheduled days, actual workdays, work hours, overtime, late-night work, holiday work, paid leave, absence, lateness and early departure.

Not every payslip shows every attendance item, because company formats differ. However, the employer's wage ledger is required to record key payroll facts including wage calculation period, workdays, work hours, overtime, holiday work, late-night work, wage amounts by type and deductions.

Compare the payslip with your timecard, shift record or approved attendance system before checking the yen amounts.

• 出勤日数 — days worked
• 実働時間 / 総労働時間 — working hours
• 時間外 / 残業時間 — overtime hours
• 深夜時間 — late-night hours
• 休日労働 / 休日出勤 — holiday work
• 有給休暇 / 有休 — paid leave
• 欠勤 / 遅刻 / 早退 — absence / lateness / early leave

Japanese payroll systems often separate overtime categories because the statutory premium rates differ. The label 残業 does not always tell you which legal category the hours fall into.

Under the Labour Standards Act framework, statutory overtime generally requires at least a 25% premium, work on a statutory holiday at least 35%, and work between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. an additional 25%. Overtime beyond 60 hours in a month requires at least a 50% premium. Combined categories can stack.

Your company may pay more than the statutory minimum or use a fixed-overtime arrangement. Compare the payslip with your employment terms and actual recorded hours, not just the headline rate.

• 時間外手当 / 残業手当 — overtime allowance
• 休日手当 — holiday-work allowance
• 深夜手当 — late-night premium
• 法定時間外: 25%+
• 法定休日: 35%+
• 深夜: 25%+
• 月60時間超の法定時間外: 50%+

The 支給 section contains the amounts credited before deductions. Start with the base salary, then identify fixed allowances, variable work-related payments and reimbursements.

Common fixed items include 基本給, 役職手当, 職務手当, 資格手当, 住宅手当 and 家族手当. Variable items can include overtime, late-night, holiday, incentive and attendance-based pay.

Do not automatically treat every payment as ordinary taxable salary. Commuting allowance can be non-taxable for income-tax purposes up to statutory limits, and genuine expense reimbursement can be shown separately. The payroll label and underlying rule matter.

• 基本給 — base salary
• 役職手当 / 職務手当 — position / duty allowance
• 住宅手当 / 家族手当 — housing / family allowance
• 通勤手当 — commuting allowance
• 時間外手当 — overtime allowance
• インセンティブ / 歩合 — incentive / commission
• 立替精算 / 経費精算 — expense reimbursement

A payslip can show several totals that look similar. 支給合計 or 総支給額 usually means total earnings before deductions. 課税支給額 is the amount treated as taxable salary under the payroll system, while 非課税支給額 contains items not included in taxable salary for income-tax purposes.

These totals are not necessarily the bases used for every insurance calculation. Health insurance and employee pension use standard remuneration, while employment insurance is calculated from wages covered by that system.

When a total looks wrong, add the individual earnings lines and check whether a reimbursement or non-taxable allowance is included in one total but excluded from another.

• 支給合計 / 総支給額 — gross earnings total
• 課税支給額 — taxable earnings
• 非課税支給額 — non-taxable earnings
• Do not assume one total is the base for every deduction

The 控除 section can contain national income tax, resident tax, health insurance, employee pension, employment insurance, long-term care insurance when applicable, the child and childcare support contribution, and company-specific deductions.

For 2026, income-tax withholding uses revised National Tax Agency tables. The employee employment-insurance rate for a general business is 5 per 1,000 from April 1, 2026 through March 31, 2027. Under Japan Health Insurance Association coverage, the new child and childcare support contribution is 0.23% in total from the April 2026 insurance month, with the employer and employee sharing the contribution.

Health insurance and pension deductions can stay unchanged even when current overtime changes because they are usually based on standard monthly remuneration rather than this month's exact gross salary.

• 所得税 — national income tax
• 住民税 — resident tax
• 健康保険 — health insurance
• 厚生年金 — employee pension
• 雇用保険 — employment insurance
• 介護保険 — long-term care insurance
• 子ども・子育て支援金 — child and childcare support contribution

After reading earnings and deductions, check the final payment section. 控除合計 is total deductions. 差引支給額 is generally gross earnings minus deductions, subject to how the company displays reimbursements and other non-payroll transfers.

振込支給額 or 銀行振込額 is the amount scheduled for bank transfer. Some companies split pay across two bank accounts or separate cash and bank payments, so the one visible transfer line can differ from the headline net amount.

Compare the stated transfer total with the actual deposit after payday. A bank deposit that differs from the payslip should be checked immediately, but first verify whether there are multiple transfer destinations or a separate expense reimbursement.

• 控除合計 — total deductions
• 差引支給額 — take-home pay
• 振込支給額 / 銀行振込額 — bank-transfer amount
• 現金支給額 — cash payment, if used
• Reconcile the payslip with the actual deposit

Some payslips show cumulative values or social-insurance reference fields. These are useful when a deduction does not seem to match the current cash salary.

健康保険標準報酬月額 and 厚生年金標準報酬月額 are standard remuneration figures used for insurance calculations. Under the annual determination process, employers report remuneration paid in April, May and June, and the newly determined standard remuneration generally applies from September through the following August.

Other reference fields can include year-to-date taxable earnings, cumulative social insurance, cumulative income tax and remaining paid leave.

• 課税累計 — year-to-date taxable earnings
• 所得税累計 — year-to-date income tax
• 社会保険累計 — cumulative social insurance
• 標準報酬月額 — standard monthly remuneration
• 有休残 — remaining paid leave

A bonus is not simply a normal salary month with a larger gross amount. Bonus income-tax withholding follows separate rules, and health insurance and employee pension use a standard bonus amount.

Near year end, 年末調整還付 can appear as a tax refund and 年末調整追徴 as an additional collection. A negative deduction can therefore increase take-home pay rather than reduce it.

When comparing December with November, identify whether the difference came from normal monthly pay, a bonus statement, year-end tax adjustment, or all three.

• 賞与明細 — bonus statement
• 年末調整還付 — year-end adjustment refund
• 年末調整追徴 — year-end adjustment additional collection
• Do not compare bonus deductions with ordinary monthly percentages

The National Tax Agency allows salary payment statements to be provided electronically when the statutory electronic-delivery requirements are met. The system must support display and printing, and the required consent or deemed-consent procedure must be followed.

Even when electronic delivery is used, the National Tax Agency states that if the recipient requests paper, the document must be provided in writing under the applicable rules.

If a salary payment statement is not provided at all, the National Tax Agency has a formal 給与支払明細書不交付の届出 procedure. This is different from asking an employer to reissue a statement that was previously provided.

• Electronic payslips can be valid
• Electronic-delivery requirements apply
• Paper can be requested under the NTA rules
• NTA provides a non-issuance reporting procedure

A consistent monthly check is faster than trying to reconstruct payroll months later. Save the statement and compare it with your own attendance record while both are still easy to retrieve.

If something is wrong, ask payroll about one line at a time. Give the payslip month, Japanese line label, your expected amount or hours, and the evidence you are comparing it with.

The most useful payroll question is: 'What period, calculation base, rate and record produced this line, and when will any correction be paid?'

• 1. Confirm pay date and attendance period
• 2. Match attendance and overtime to your records
• 3. Add the earnings lines and identify taxable/non-taxable totals
• 4. Identify every deduction
• 5. Reconcile take-home pay with the bank deposit
• 6. Save the payslip and written correction explanation