Claiming Family Members in Ukraine as Dependents in Japan: Proof of Kinship, Remittance Records, and the 380,000-Yen Condition

Someone who works in Japan and pays income tax, and who sends living expenses to parents, children, or siblings in Ukraine, can sometimes claim those family members as “dependent relatives” (扶養親族) and receive the income tax dependent deduction (扶養控除). For family members who live outside Japan (in the National Tax Agency’s terms, “relatives living abroad,” 国外居住親族), however, you must submit to your employer or the tax office both documents showing the family relationship and documents showing that you sent money, and since 2023 a new condition has applied to family members aged 30 to under 70.

The following is based on the text of the Income Tax Act, the Order for Enforcement of the Income Tax Act, and the Regulations for Enforcement of the Income Tax Act (e-Gov Japanese Law Search), and on the National Tax Agency’s “Q&A on the Dependent Deduction and Other Matters for Relatives Living Abroad (Withholding Income Tax)” (revised August 2026) and other materials, as confirmed in October 2026. Whether a family member qualifies for the dependent deduction, and which documents are sufficient, are decided by your employer (the person in charge of year-end adjustment) and the tax office; this article does not make that judgment.

The Basics of the Dependent Deduction: Who Qualifies, and How Much Is Deducted

The Income Tax Act defines a “dependent relative” as a relative of the taxpayer (other than the spouse) who shares the taxpayer’s livelihood and whose total income is at or below a set amount (Article 2, paragraph 1, item 34). According to the National Tax Agency, “relative” here means blood relatives within the sixth degree and relatives by marriage within the third degree, and this is the same for relatives who live outside Japan. “Sharing the same livelihood” does not necessarily require living together; the National Tax Agency explains that it also covers a relative who lives separately but is continually sent living expenses and the like.

Among dependent relatives, those aged 16 or older on December 31 of that year are “qualifying dependent relatives” (控除対象扶養親族), and these are the people for whom the deduction can be claimed. A child under 16 is a dependent relative but does not qualify for the income tax dependent deduction. The deduction amounts are as follows (Article 84, paragraph 1).

Category (age as of December 31 of that year)	Deduction amount
General qualifying dependent relative (aged 16 or older, other than the two below)	380,000 yen
Specified dependent relative (aged 19 to under 23)	630,000 yen
Elderly dependent relative (aged 70 or older)	480,000 yen

The Income Condition Was Raised Two Years in a Row

The income ceiling for a dependent relative (total income) was raised for both the 2025 and 2026 income tax years. The minimum amount of the employment income deduction (the floor on the amount subtracted from salary income) was also raised by the same laws.

Income tax year	Ceiling on a dependent relative’s total income	Minimum employment income deduction	Amending law
2020 to 2024 tax years	480,000 yen or less	550,000 yen	Act No. 7 of Heisei 30 (effective January 1, 2020)
2025 tax year	580,000 yen or less	650,000 yen	Act No. 13 of Reiwa 7 (effective December 1, 2025, applied from the 2025 tax year)
From the 2026 tax year	620,000 yen or less	740,000 yen (2026 and 2027 tax years)	Act No. 12 of Reiwa 8 (effective December 1, 2026, applied from the 2026 tax year). The 740,000 yen is a special provision under Article 29-4 of the Act on Special Measures Concerning Taxation; the basic rule in Article 28, paragraph 3 of the Income Tax Act is 690,000 yen

The 2026 increase takes effect on December 1, 2026. The National Tax Agency advises that when you list on the dependent deduction application a family member who newly meets the conditions because of this amendment, you should write something like “令和８年12月１日 改正” (“Reiwa 8, December 1, amendment”) in the “date and reason for change” field (異動月日及び事由).

From the 2025 tax year, a family member aged 19 to under 23 whose income exceeds the ceiling may qualify for the “special deduction for specified relatives” (特定親族特別控除; Article 84-2; total income of 1,230,000 yen or less). The two documents below are also required when you claim it for a family member who lives outside Japan (Article 262, paragraph 4 of the Order for Enforcement of the Income Tax Act).

For Family Living Outside Japan, the Conditions Depend on Age

Under an amendment that took effect on January 1, 2023 (Act No. 8 of Reiwa 2), the definition of a qualifying dependent relative was split between people who live in Japan (residents) and people who live outside Japan (non-residents) (Article 2, paragraph 1, item 34-2). According to the National Tax Agency, it has applied to income tax for the 2023 tax year onward.

Age of the family member living outside Japan (as of December 31)	Through the 2022 tax year	From the 2023 tax year
Under 16	Not eligible for the deduction	Not eligible for the deduction
16 to under 30	May be eligible	May be eligible
30 to under 70	May be eligible	Only a person who falls under one of the following: (1) a person who no longer has a domicile or residence in Japan because of studying abroad; (2) a person with a disability; (3) a person who received from the taxpayer, in that year, payments of 380,000 yen or more to cover living or education expenses
70 or older	May be eligible	May be eligible

Each of (1) to (3) in the table has detailed conditions.

• (1) Studying abroad: the National Tax Agency’s Q&A describes this as a relative who had a domicile or residence in Japan, went to study at a foreign university, high school, or the like, and no longer has a domicile or residence in Japan because they are abroad under a status equivalent to a study-abroad status of residence.
• (2) Disability: a person who falls under the definition of a person with a disability in Japan’s Income Tax Act. The National Tax Agency’s Q&A states that a disability certificate issued abroad does not count as a Japanese physical disability certificate.
• (3) 380,000 yen: the total of payments from the taxpayer to that one family member in that year. The 380,000-yen figure was not changed by the 2025 and 2026 amendments either (confirmed in the version in force from December 1, 2026).

A family member aged 30 to under 70 who falls under none of (1) to (3) does not qualify for the dependent deduction (National Tax Agency pamphlet).

Two Documents to Submit: Kinship Documents and Remittance Documents

A person claiming the dependent deduction for a family member living outside Japan must submit or present both “kinship documents” (親族関係書類), which show that the family member is their relative, and “remittance documents” (送金関係書類), which show that they share a livelihood (Article 194, paragraphs 5 to 7 and Article 120, paragraph 3 of the Income Tax Act). If you are claiming a family member aged 30 to under 70 under (3), the 380,000 yen condition, the remittance documents become the “380,000-yen remittance documents” (38万円送金書類), and in the case of (1), studying abroad, “study-abroad visa documents” (留学ビザ等書類) are added. If a document is written in a foreign language, a Japanese translation is also required (Regulations for Enforcement of the Income Tax Act, Article 47-2, paragraphs 7 and 8).

Kinship Documents: Showing That You Are Family

Article 47-2, paragraph 7 of the Regulations for Enforcement of the Income Tax Act defines kinship documents as either of the following.

• A document issued by the national or a local government of Japan (such as a copy of the household register annex, 戸籍の附票), together with a copy of the family member’s passport
• A document issued by a foreign national or local government that states the family member’s name, date of birth, and domicile or residence

The National Tax Agency’s Q&A gives as examples of foreign documents a document equivalent to a certified copy of a household register, a birth certificate, and a marriage certificate, and says that when one document does not show name, date of birth, and address together, or when a relationship of the second degree or more distant is to be shown, several documents may be combined. Identification such as a foreign driver’s license does not count, because it does not show the family relationship. Except for the copy of the passport, you must submit or present the original.

In principle, they are submitted or presented each time you submit the dependent deduction application, but the Q&A explains that if there is no change in the family relationship or address, you may show again the documents you showed in the previous year.

Remittance Documents: Showing That You Sent Money

Remittance documents are documents showing that, in that year, you made payments to cover the family member’s living or education expenses “as needed, to each person” (same Article, paragraph 8).

• A document from a financial institution, or a copy of it, showing that the taxpayer paid the family member by a funds transfer (according to the National Tax Agency, a funds transfer service provider is included in “financial institution” here)
• A document from a credit card company, or a copy of it, showing that the family member used a card to make purchases and the like, and the taxpayer paid the charges
• A document from an electronic payment instruments service provider, or a copy of it, showing that the taxpayer paid the family member by transferring an electronic payment instrument (from the 2024 tax year)

The specific treatment under the National Tax Agency’s pamphlet and Q&A is as follows.

• A copy of a foreign remittance request form, an online transfer usage statement, or a copy of a bankbook counts if it shows the sender’s name, the recipient’s name, the date of the transfer, and the amount
• For a credit card, the statement of a card that the taxpayer contracted for and was issued for the family member, with the taxpayer paying the charges (a so-called family card). It is treated as a document for the family member who is the cardholder, and counts for the year in which the card was used
• Documents are needed for each family member individually. For example, if living expenses for both parents are sent together to the mother, the documents count only for the mother. A transfer to a joint account abroad also does not count unless it is clear that money was sent to each person individually
• If you ask an acquaintance to hand cash over, there are no remittance documents, and you cannot receive the dependent deduction. A written statement that cash was handed over also does not count as a remittance document
• If you send money to the same family member three or more times a year, there is also a method of submitting a statement listing the required items together with the documents for the first and last remittance of the year, and keeping the rest yourself

How the “380,000 Yen” Is Counted

When you claim a family member aged 30 to under 70 under (3), the remittance documents must show that the total of payments to that one family member in that year is 380,000 yen or more (Regulations for Enforcement of the Income Tax Act, Article 47-2, paragraph 10). According to the National Tax Agency’s Q&A, for money sent through a financial institution, the payment is counted in the year of the day you sent it, not the day it entered the family member’s account. The remittance fee may be included if the amount is stated in the document; the Q&A gives the example that if you sent 370,000 yen and the fee was 10,000 yen, it is acceptable to treat it as a payment of 380,000 yen.

According to the National Tax Agency’s Q&A, whether the amount is 380,000 yen or more is judged on the expected payments for the year when you submit the dependent deduction application, and checked against the amount actually paid at the time of year-end adjustment. If the total in the end did not reach 380,000 yen, you cannot receive the dependent deduction for that family member in year-end adjustment.

When and Where to Submit

A person who receives a salary from a company or the like submits the documents to their employer, and they reach the tax office through the employer (Article 194 of the Income Tax Act). The timing differs depending on the document.

Timing	What to submit	Basis
By the day before the day you receive your first salary of the year	The Application for Dependent Deduction, etc. for Salaried Workers (給与所得者の扶養控除等（異動）申告書), and the kinship documents (plus the study-abroad visa documents in the case of (1), studying abroad)	Income Tax Act, Article 194, paragraphs 1 and 5
At year-end adjustment (by the day before you receive your last salary of the year)	The dependent deduction application stating the total amount sent to the family member, and the remittance documents (the 380,000-yen remittance documents in the case of (3))	Income Tax Act, Article 194, paragraphs 6 and 7
When filing a tax return	Attach to the tax return, or present, the kinship documents, the remittance documents, and so on. Documents are not needed for a family member for whom you received the dependent deduction at year-end adjustment	Income Tax Act, Article 120, paragraph 3, and the National Tax Agency pamphlet

According to the National Tax Agency’s Q&A, a family member for whom the remittance documents were not submitted at year-end adjustment is left out of the dependent deduction in the calculation. If you submit them before the withholding slip (源泉徴収票) for that year is prepared, the calculation may be redone; once the withholding slip has been prepared, you will file a tax return (確定申告) yourself. The general flow of tax returns and year-end adjustment is covered in our article on income tax and resident tax.

The National Tax Agency publishes the foreign-language pamphlet “For Those Claiming the Dependent Deduction and Other Deductions for Relatives Who Are Non-Residents” (非居住者である親族について扶養控除等の適用を受ける方へ) in English, Chinese, Portuguese, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Filipino. There is no Ukrainian version (as of October 2026).

Siblings Cannot Both Claim the Same Parent

A person who qualifies as a dependent relative of two or more taxpayers is deemed to be a dependent relative of only one of those taxpayers (Income Tax Act, Article 85, paragraph 6). Which taxpayer’s dependent relative the person is decided first by what each taxpayer states in the application they submit, and the order of priority when that does not settle it is set out in Article 219 of the Order for Enforcement. The National Tax Agency explains that even if siblings send equal amounts, the same person cannot be claimed twice, and only one of them can claim that person.

Resident Tax and Health Insurance Work Under Separate Rules

Resident tax (municipal and prefectural tax, 住民税) also has a dependent system, but its provisions are separate from those for income tax. For example, a child under 16 does not qualify for the income tax dependent deduction, but when a municipality calculates the income standard below which the per capita levy of resident tax is not imposed, dependent relatives under 16 are also counted (Order for Enforcement of the Local Tax Act, Article 47-3, item 1). For dependent relatives under 16 who live outside Japan, the National Tax Agency’s Q&A states that kinship documents and remittance documents must in certain cases be submitted to the municipality, and directs readers to ask the municipality where they live about resident tax. The resident tax system is covered in our article on income tax and resident tax.

A “dependent” (被扶養者) under an employer’s health insurance is a separate system from the tax dependent. Article 3, paragraph 7 of the Health Insurance Act defines a dependent, in principle, as a person who has a domicile in Japan (with exceptions set by Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare ordinance, such as students studying abroad). A family member for whom the dependent deduction is claimed for tax purposes does not necessarily become a dependent under health insurance. Health insurance enrollment is summarized in our article on health insurance and pensions.

What to Check Together When Sending Money to Ukraine

The conditions for sending money to Ukraine, the fact that banks may ask about the recipient and the purpose, and the fact that remittances involving areas occupied by Russia may be subject to bank checks and transaction restrictions are covered in our article on sending mail, parcels, and money to Ukraine.

The dependent deduction is a deduction from Japanese income tax received by residents of Japan. The determination for people who may be residents of both Japan and Ukraine, and the new tax treaty in use since 2026, are covered in our article on the Japan-Ukraine tax treaty, and the procedure for receiving a Ukrainian pension from Japan is covered in our article on Ukrainian pensions.

Whether a family member qualifies for the dependent deduction, whether the documents you have are sufficient, and how to prepare the translations should first be confirmed with the person in charge of year-end adjustment at your workplace or, if you file a tax return, with the tax office for the area where you live.