Getting Municipal Certificates by Post in Japan: Costs, Documents, and Deadlines

You can request some municipal certificates in Japan by sending an application, the required supporting documents, an accepted fee payment, and a return envelope to the responsible office. Check the instructions for the exact certificate before mailing anything: the issuing municipality, payment method, and return-address rules can differ.

This is especially useful for foreign residents who have moved away from the municipality holding their tax records, or who cannot visit during office hours. A postal request can save a trip, but it needs time for delivery in both directions and office processing.

This guide explains:

• How to identify the correct certificate and issuing office.
• What to put in the envelope and how to pay.
• Why a ¥300 certificate can cost ¥720 by post.
• What changes when you have moved, request a family member’s document, or face a deadline.

Information checked on October 8, 2026. The examples below are local procedures, not a single nationwide application system.

First, confirm which certificate you actually need

The document’s Japanese name and required year matter more than a general request for “proof of income.”

Before paying, ask the organization receiving the certificate to confirm its exact requirements. Useful labels include:

• 課税証明書 — kazei shōmeisho: taxation certificate.
• 非課税証明書 — hikazei shōmeisho: tax-exemption certificate.
• 納税証明書 — nōzei shōmeisho: tax-payment certificate.
• 住民票の写し — jūminhyō no utsushi: an official copy of the resident record.

A taxation certificate and a tax-payment certificate serve different purposes. The former records the tax assessment and related income information; the latter records tax due and payment information. One does not automatically replace the other. Yokohama’s English explanation of tax certificates helps distinguish them.

Ask the receiving organization these questions:

• Which certificate, fiscal year, and number of copies are required?
• How recently must it have been issued?
• Are particular details required or excluded?
• Is an original necessary, and is a translation required?

For an immigration-related submission, follow the official requirements for your particular application. The municipal office issues the certificate; the receiving authority decides whether it meets the submission requirements.

Send the request to the office holding the record

Your current city is not necessarily the city that can issue an older tax certificate.

Tax certificates after a move

Osaka explains that taxation certificates are issued by the municipality where you lived on January 1 of the relevant year. They record income from the preceding calendar year. Osaka’s taxation-certificate guidance

For example, suppose you lived in Osaka on January 1, 2026, then moved elsewhere in April. For a fiscal-year 2026 taxation certificate, Osaka is the starting point; that certificate concerns income earned during 2025. Moving does not transfer that year’s issuing responsibility to your new municipality.

If you arrived in Japan after January 1, ask the office whether it holds the records needed for the requested year. Do not assume that a complete postal application guarantees a certificate exists.

Check the department, not just the city name

Different certificates can go to different addresses within the same municipality. Yokohama’s postal certificate center handles resident-record and family-register documents, but explicitly does not handle tax certificates. Yokohama’s postal-center guidance

Search the official municipal website using the document name plus 郵送請求 — yūsō seikyū, meaning “request by post.” Confirm the department and mailing address on that certificate’s page.

Prepare the envelope using the local checklist

Use the issuing office’s postal application instructions rather than copying another city’s requirements.

A practical preparation checklist is:

1. Download the form marked for postal requests, if available.
2. Enter the certificate type, year, quantity, and requested details.
3. Add a daytime telephone number so the office can resolve questions.
4. Include the identification or address evidence the office requires.
5. Include any authorization needed for a representative.
6. Enclose the accepted fee payment.
7. Add a return envelope with the permitted address and sufficient postage.

These items appear in official postal procedures, but the identification requirements are not identical. For example, Yokohama’s resident-record procedure requires a copy of identification showing an address and accepts documents including a residence card. Its instructions also specify signing the application, or using a seal when there is no signature. Yokohama’s resident-record postal instructions

Keep a copy of your completed request and a note of the posting date. Follow the local instructions about which sides or portions of identification to copy; avoid sending extra personal information merely because it is available.

Budget for the certificate, payment service, and two envelopes

The municipal fee is only part of the total cost of a postal request.

How postal money orders work

A common payment method is 定額小為替 — teigaku kogawase, a fixed-amount postal money order purchased through a Japan Post Bank or post-office savings counter.

The issuance fee is ¥200 per money-order certificate, separate from its face value. A ¥300 money order therefore costs ¥500 to purchase. Available denominations include ¥300, ¥400, ¥500, ¥750, and ¥1,000, among others. Choosing one suitable denomination can avoid paying multiple issuance fees. Japan Post Bank’s product information

Follow the municipality’s instructions about completing the money order. Yokohama’s resident-record procedure, for example, tells applicants to leave the designated-recipient field blank and send the exact fee amount.

Example: one ¥300 certificate

Assume the office charges ¥300, accepts one ¥300 money order, and both envelopes qualify for ordinary standard-size domestic postage:

• Certificate fee: ¥300.
• Money-order issuance fee: ¥200.
• Outgoing postage: ¥110.
• Return postage: ¥110.
• Total: ¥720, excluding envelopes, printing, and copying.

Japan Post currently charges ¥110 for standard-size letters weighing up to 50 grams. Standard-size limits include a thickness of no more than 1 centimeter; a larger or heavier envelope needs different postage. Japan Post’s domestic letter rates

The ¥720 figure is a worked example, not a nationwide certificate price. Osaka charges ¥300 per copy per fiscal year for a taxation certificate. Other documents can use different charging units, so calculate the fee from the actual request.

Ask about any applicable fee exemption before purchasing payment. Do not substitute stamps or another payment method without confirmation.

Moving or requesting for family can change the paperwork

A family relationship or a preferred delivery address does not automatically satisfy the office’s authorization rules.

When your address has changed

Osaka’s tax-certificate procedure normally sends documents to the taxpayer’s address known to the city. In that case, it does not require an identification copy. Requests to another address need supporting identification; people who have moved again after leaving Osaka need evidence of their current address. Osaka’s postal tax-certificate procedure

Before posting, compare the old address in the municipal record, your current identification, and the proposed return address. If they do not match, ask which documents will connect them.

When a spouse or representative applies

委任状 — ininjō means a letter of authorization or power of attorney. Check whether one is required for the specific certificate and applicant.

Yokohama’s resident-record procedure allows requests by members of the same registered household. People living at the same address but registered in separate households need authorization. Tax-certificate procedures have their own rules; do not carry a resident-record exception over to a tax request.

Also check the permitted recipient of the returned document. Writing an employer’s or relative’s address on the envelope does not by itself authorize delivery there.

Allow for processing, not just postal travel

Express delivery can shorten transport time, but it does not necessarily move your application ahead of others.

Osaka’s tax-certificate postal center states that dispatch generally takes one week after acceptance, with another two or three days possible at the beginning of the fiscal year. It processes requests in order and does not promise a requested return date. Yokohama advises allowing about two weeks from posting to receipt for resident-record requests.

These estimates measure different things: Osaka describes processing before dispatch; Yokohama describes the overall journey. Neither is a guaranteed arrival date.

If a deadline is close, ask the office about:

• Current processing time and whether your record is ready.
• Counter collection or an eligible representative.
• Any online application option available for that document.
• Accepted express or tracked return services.

Missing tax information can cause a separate delay. Osaka says applicants whose income reporting is incomplete may need to submit a resident-tax declaration, and processing that declaration adds time. A student or worker with no earnings should therefore ask about the record before assuming a tax-exemption certificate can be issued immediately.

Avoid mistakes that require another round of post

The most preventable delays come from the wrong office, missing payment, or an unsupported return address.

Before sealing the envelope, check:

• Certificate and year: use the receiving organization’s exact request.
• Destination: use the certificate department’s address, not a general city-hall address.
• Payment: confirm the amount, method, and money-order validity.
• Return delivery: check the address, envelope size, weight, and service.
• Contact details: provide a number you can answer during the day.

Delivery-service restrictions also matter. Yokohama says resident-record and family-register certificates cannot be returned using services such as Click Post, Yu-Packet, Yu-Mail, or Yu-Pack because these documents are correspondence subject to mailing restrictions. Confirm a suitable return service rather than choosing solely by price.

What to check before your next request

Current instructions for the exact document should determine your next step.

Osaka’s tax-certificate pages were updated on June 15, 2026. Yokohama’s resident-record postal page was updated on April 21, 2026. Old downloaded forms or saved postage amounts may no longer match those instructions.

If you are applying from overseas, contact the issuing department first about payment and international return arrangements. The domestic ¥720 example does not cover that situation.

For help, start with the certificate office listed on the official page. Osaka’s tax-certificate postal center can be reached at 06-4797-2712. Yokohama’s resident-record postal center is 045-222-4900. Describe the document, year, old and current addresses, and deadline so staff can identify the relevant procedure.

Before buying a money order, confirm three things: which office holds the record, exactly what it charges, and where it will send the certificate. Those checks are easier to resolve before the envelope leaves your hands.

参照リンク

• Yokohama: Taxation certificates—English explanation
• Osaka: Taxation and income certificates
• Yokohama: Postal certificate center
• Yokohama: Requesting resident-record certificates by post
• Japan Post Bank: Fixed-amount postal money-order product information
• Japan Post: Domestic letter postage and size limits
• Osaka: Requesting tax certificates by post