According to the Immigration Services Agency’s website, “Regarding changes to the handling of copies of statutory form summary sheets,” “In the residence procedures for some residence statuses, such as “Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services” and “Specified Skilled Worker,” we are required to submit a statutory form summary sheet (copy with a reception stamp) such as the withholding slip for the employee’s salary income for the previous year as one of the documents to be submitted. However, as of January 2025, the reception stamp will no longer be affixed, so if you are applying or submitting after that month, it is acceptable to use a copy without a reception stamp.”
Implications of the statutory form summary sheet on residence applications
What is the statutory form summary sheet?
To be precise, it is a “Summary of Legal Forms, such as Withholding Tax Slips for Employment Income,” which companies etc. are required to prepare and submit to their local tax office by January 31st of the year following the year in which the payment amounts for salaries, retirement benefits, etc. are finalized.
Required for residence application
For employment-related status of residence such as “Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services,” the more category number the accepting company belongs to, the more documents are required and the screening process becomes more careful, as shown below.
| Category | Subject | Exempted documents |
| 1 | Listed companies, etc. | Everything except the application form, photo, and documents proving the category |
| 2 | Large companies with withholding tax of 10 million yen or more | Everything except the application form, photo, and documents proving the category |
| 3 | Companies with withholding tax of less than 10 million yen that have submitted a statutory report summary table | None |
| 4 | Companies with total withholding tax of less than 10 million yen and that have not submitted a statutory report summary table | None (In addition to category 3, a document showing the reason for not submitting the statuary form summary sheet is required) |
As mentioned above, in categories 2 and 3, the statuary form summary sheet is the most basic of all attached documents, proving that the document falls into one of the categories in question, and it was common knowledge that it should have a receipt stamp attached (if submitted electronically, a receipt notification email should be submitted).
Notification from the National Tax Agency regarding changes in handling
According to “Regarding the affixing of the date of receipt to copies of tax return forms, etc. from January 2025,” it states, “The utilization rate of e-Tax has been increasing, and it is expected that the use of e-Tax will continue to expand in the future. Taking into account the progress of DX efforts, as part of a review of national tax procedures, etc., it has been decided that from January 2025, the affixing of the date of receipt will no longer be stamped on copies of tax return forms, etc.”
This means that the receipt stamp will not be affixed to any tax returns related to national taxes, not just to the statuary form summary sheet.
Summary
What does “it’s okay even if there is no receipt stamp” mean? Does it mean we’re going to trust people based on the assumption that they are good (because we’re too busy to think about that), or does it mean that the country has become so digitalized that we can instantly check eTax information online by company name, etc. when the application is accepted?
Am I the only one who somehow feels it’s the former…?