📄 Pension Deduction Slips Sent from October

❓ What's happening?

The Japan Pension Service has published the mailing schedule for the 2026 (Reiwa 8) Social Insurance Premium (National Pension) Deduction Certificate, sent to everyone who paid National Pension premiums during the calendar year 2026. The full amount of National Pension premiums qualifies as a social insurance premium deduction, so attaching this certificate to your year-end adjustment (nenmatsu chosei) or tax return (kakutei shinkoku) lets you subtract every yen paid from your taxable income. Attaching the certificate or receipts is mandatory when claiming the deduction — without it, the deduction cannot be granted. Delivery is split into two waves by payment timing. If you paid between 1 January and 30 September 2026, the digital file arrives from mid to late October 2026 and the paper version from late October to early November. If your first payment falls between 1 October and 31 December 2026, the digital file arrives from late January 2027 and the paper version in early February 2027. The second key point is the digital route. Those covered by the Myna Portal electronic delivery service will not receive a paper copy by mail, and the digital file can be imported directly into the National Tax Agency's e-Tax system. That removes the wait-for-paper step — but if you are registered for electronic delivery and keep waiting for an envelope, you may miss your employer's year-end adjustment deadline.

👥 Who is affected?

• ●Anyone who paid National Pension premiums at least once during 2026 (Category 1 insured — students, self-employed, freelancers)
• ●Company employees and public servants who also paid National Pension premiums during 2026 (e.g. the months before joining a company)
• ●People who paid National Pension premiums on behalf of a spouse or other relative — the deduction belongs to the person who paid
• ●Users registered for Myna Portal electronic delivery (no paper copy will be mailed)
• ●Not covered: those whose 2026 premiums were only Employees' Pension or a mutual aid association (the employer calculates and files the deduction)

🌏 Impact on foreign residents

Among foreign residents in Japan, international students, self-employed people, freelancers, and anyone with a gap between jobs pay National Pension premiums themselves as Category 1 insured persons — so this certificate is addressed directly to you. The full amount you paid can be subtracted from your income, cutting both income tax and resident tax. Throw the certificate away and you lose a deduction you already paid for. Company employees are the easy miss. Employees' Pension premiums are handled by the employer, so no certificate is issued for them — but if you paid National Pension premiums even once during 2026 (for example in the months before you joined the company), a certificate for that portion will arrive, and you can submit it at your employer's year-end adjustment. If you paid the premiums of a dependent spouse or a child aged 20 or over, the deduction belongs to you, the payer. Note, however, that the certificate is addressed to the insured person themselves, so you need to keep the envelope that arrives for your family member. Paper copies come by post, so check that your registered address is up to date.