Property Inheritance Tax

[sytyue]

Hi all,

My partner and I have bought our own house together and we had put her name on the house because she was able to secure a better loan rate. However, recently, I have been wondering about the rules regarding property inheritance tax. If it was stated in her will that the house be given to me, how would the tax be calculated? Would it be cheaper or more expensive to switch the name of the house to me earlier?

Thanks in advance

[RetireJapan]

I am not a lawyer or tax accountant and you should talk to one if you want an accurate answer

However, inheritance tax here is not too onerous: https://www.retirejapan.com/blog/japane ... nce-taxes/

Tax on the property is levied on the assessed value, not the market value.
As a spouse, you get an extra 160m inheritance tax allowance.

Unless the estate is likely to be worth over 200m yen you probably won't owe any inheritance tax if you outlive your spouse. If it is, then you should pay for real advice from a professional

[captainspoke]

We bought our place before I had PR, and tho the bank was "kind enough" to consider my salary (they were rude about it, made her cry), the loan and house went into my wife's name (it still is). At the time we went to a notary (公証人役場) and drew up a couple pages noting our respective contributions to the downpayment. That, and I think I still have records of payments I made towards the loan.

We have two kids, grown and on their own. According to normal inheritance here, if she precedes me, I'd get half ownership and the kids would each get a quarter. I'm not sure how it would work out, but I think the records I have reflect partial ownership already, and I might claim that depending on the situation then (it's not worth all that much). OTOH, I've told her that if I die first, just ignore that history--she's simply the owner and it would not be part of my estate.