源泉徴収票 Gensenchoushuuhyou Income statement

[ChapInTokyo]

Terrific to get all these responses - thanks Zero, William, and Chap. So, the 10.21% tax taken from a contractor's payment is nothing to do with the income tax the contractor has to pay. Is this correct?

The 10.21% tax withheld will be deductible from the total tax amount that you pay for the year.

So is the 10.21% automatically deducted every time you do a "gig" job, separate from your main employer?

I do a few side jobs. Company A quotes the fee for a job as what I will actually receive in my bank account. Company B deducts tax - let's call it 10% for convenience. Therefore, if the payment offered is 30k, I receive 30k from Company A, but 27k from Company B.

Could it be that the actual payment from Company A is actually 33k, from which 3k has been automatically deducted?

My overall concern is about being taxed again on income from which tax has already been deducted.

Yes the tax is withheld automatically. So if we assume the rate is 10% (as it was before the new tax for reconstruction was introduced subsequent to the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011), the company that paid you 30k would actually have paid that to you and 3333 yen to the NTA.

and post-3.11 earthquake and tsunami

[William]

I'd like to confirm that the 源泉徴収票 is issued for employees who receive a salary, with taxes and insurance premiums withheld at the source. In contrast, the 支払調書 is for contractors / freelancers. Legally, contractors don’t receive a "salary" but fees for their services. The 支払調書 typically states the total amount paid over the previous year across all submitted invoices, along with the taxes withheld on those payments.

Legally, contractors are required to submit invoices for their work. However, in practice, I guess many people involved in side gigs—especially those earning small amounts—may not be fully aware of these requirements. And similarly, smaller companies might lack the expertise or resources to handle these processes properly.

Well-equipped companies with robust HR or accounting departments usually prepare and distribute 支払調書 to contractors automatically. It's just a piece of paper. I guess nowadays a PDF could also do.
Smaller companies may "forget," "overlook," or simply not know how to handle this process correctly. That said, if a company has already withheld taxes on behalf of contractors, they should theoretically know how to prepare and issue the 支払調書.

[adamu]

There is a bit of info on page 48 here (section 16). It doesn't mention 支払調書.

https://www.nta.go.jp/english/taxes/ind ... 024/13.pdf

[Max]

I'd like to confirm that the 源泉徴収票 is issued for employees who receive a salary, with taxes and insurance premiums withheld at the source. In contrast, the 支払調書 is for contractors / freelancers. Legally, contractors don’t receive a "salary" but fees for their services. The 支払調書 typically states the total amount paid over the previous year across all submitted invoices, along with the taxes withheld on those payments.

Legally, contractors are required to submit invoices for their work. However, in practice, I guess many people involved in side gigs—especially those earning small amounts—may not be fully aware of these requirements. And similarly, smaller companies might lack the expertise or resources to handle these processes properly.

Well-equipped companies with robust HR or accounting departments usually prepare and distribute 支払調書 to contractors automatically. It's just a piece of paper. I guess nowadays a PDF could also do.
Smaller companies may "forget," "overlook," or simply not know how to handle this process correctly. That said, if a company has already withheld taxes on behalf of contractors, they should theoretically know how to prepare and issue the 支払調書.

I do indeed receive a 源泉徴収票 from my main employer, but, confusingly, some side gigs also refer describe the statement as 源泉徴収票. I guess they're just using the wrong term?

[TokyoWart]

I'd like to confirm that the 源泉徴収票 is issued for employees who receive a salary, with taxes and insurance premiums withheld at the source. In contrast, the 支払調書 is for contractors / freelancers. Legally, contractors don’t receive a "salary" but fees for their services. The 支払調書 typically states the total amount paid over the previous year across all submitted invoices, along with the taxes withheld on those payments.

Legally, contractors are required to submit invoices for their work. However, in practice, I guess many people involved in side gigs—especially those earning small amounts—may not be fully aware of these requirements. And similarly, smaller companies might lack the expertise or resources to handle these processes properly.

Well-equipped companies with robust HR or accounting departments usually prepare and distribute 支払調書 to contractors automatically. It's just a piece of paper. I guess nowadays a PDF could also do.
Smaller companies may "forget," "overlook," or simply not know how to handle this process correctly. That said, if a company has already withheld taxes on behalf of contractors, they should theoretically know how to prepare and issue the 支払調書.

I do indeed receive a 源泉徴収票 from my main employer, but, confusingly, some side gigs also refer describe the statement as 源泉徴収票. I guess they're just using the wrong term?

I get paid for some lectures at academic institutions. For some I am classified as the equivalent of an adjunct professor and get a "源泉徴収票" even though my work lasts just a few hours on one day a year, while others issue a form titled "報酬、料金、契約金及び賞金の支払調書".

[William]

I do indeed receive a 源泉徴収票 from my main employer, but, confusingly, some side gigs also refer describe the statement as 源泉徴収票. I guess they're just using the wrong term?

I want to be careful with what I write here because I'm no certified expert, but as far as my experience goes, I'd say that TokyoWart is correct and that "報酬、料金、契約金及び賞金の支払調書" is the correct term.