Educational information only, not tax advice. Rules and figures change — confirm your situation with a qualified Japan tax professional before filing.
Osaka, Japan · Japan · Short-term rental taxes
Short-Term Rental Taxes in Osaka, Japan
Short term rental taxes in Osaka: income tax on minpaku profit (usually miscellaneous income), Osaka Prefecture's ¥200–¥500 per-guest accommodation tax, and the 180-night cap now that special-zone minpaku is closed to newcomers.
The 30-Second Answer
- Short term rental taxes in Osaka come in two layers: national income tax (5%–45% plus the 2.1% reconstruction surtax) and roughly 10% inhabitant tax on your minpaku profit, filed on the Kakutei Shinkoku between 16 February and 15 March 2027 for tax year 2026.
- The National Tax Agency says minpaku income run from a home is in principle miscellaneous income (雑所得) — losses cannot be offset against salary — unless the activity is clearly a business (事業所得), which unlocks the blue return and a deduction of up to ¥650,000.
- Osaka Prefecture's accommodation tax (宿泊税) has applied since 1 September 2025 at ¥200 / ¥400 / ¥500 per guest per night for room charges of ¥5,000+, ¥15,000+ and ¥20,000+. You, as operator, collect it and file a return by the end of the following month.
- New hosts in Osaka City now have essentially one home-sharing route: a Private Lodging Business Act (住宅宿泊事業) notification capped at 180 nights a year. The city stopped accepting new special-zone minpaku (特区民泊) applications on 29 May 2026; facilities certified by then may keep operating.
Deductions
What Osaka Minpaku Hosts Can Deduct
The NTA lists costs such as the intermediary commission, utilities, cleaning and depreciation as necessary expenses of a minpaku. Only the share that relates to guest use counts.
If you live in the home you rent out, apportion shared costs (utilities, depreciation, insurance) by floor area or nights. Accommodation tax you collect from guests belongs to Osaka Prefecture — keep it out of both income and expenses.
Filing Calendar
Key Dates & Filing Calendar
Osaka hosts juggle a monthly prefectural accommodation-tax cycle, a bi-monthly minpaku report to the city, and the national income-tax season each spring.
Late accommodation-tax returns attract additional charges and late-payment interest on top of the tax. Osaka Prefecture expects a return every month even if nobody stayed.
Osaka Prefecture — 宿泊税 (pref.osaka.lg.jp); Osaka City — 住宅宿泊事業 (city.osaka.lg.jp); NTA — 青色申告承認申請 No.2090
Income Tax Classification
Miscellaneous Income or Business Income?
Japan has no flat-rate STR regime. The real choice for an Osaka host is how the profit is classified — and that decides whether losses count and whether the blue-return deduction is open to you.
Miscellaneous Income (雑所得)
The NTA's default for a minpaku run from a home
- The NTA's 2018 guidance treats income from a home-based minpaku as miscellaneous income in principle.
- Necessary expenses and depreciation are still deductible; file a simple white return with an income-and-expense statement.
- A loss cannot be offset against salary or other income, and there is no blue-return deduction.
- Fits the 180-night cap: part-time hosting alongside a job is exactly the profile the guidance describes.
No income ceiling — classification follows the facts, not a threshold
Business Income (事業所得) + Blue Return
When minpaku is clearly your livelihood
- The NTA treats it as business income where it is clear you run minpaku as a business — for example, you make your living from it.
- With an approved blue return, double-entry books and e-Tax filing, you can take a special deduction of up to ¥650,000 (¥550,000 on paper, ¥100,000 simplified).
- Business losses can be offset against other income and carried forward.
- Typical of multi-unit operators, including special-zone facilities certified before the 29 May 2026 cut-off.
No ceiling; consumption tax becomes relevant once base-period sales exceed ¥10 million
Depreciation
Depreciation for Osaka STR Property
Buildings (never land) and furnishings are written off over the NTA's statutory useful lives; buildings use the straight-line method.
| Asset | Typical write-off period | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Reinforced-concrete condo (住宅用) | 47 years | The typical Osaka City mansion flat. Only the building portion of the price is depreciable. |
| Wooden house / nagaya (住宅用) | 22 years | Older wooden townhouses bought second-hand can use a shorter simplified life. |
| Electrical & lighting installations | 15 years | Building attachments such as rewiring and lighting added for guest use. |
| Air conditioners, fridges, washers | 6 years | Items under ¥100,000 each can generally be expensed in the year bought. |
| Beds & non-metal furniture | 8 years | Metal furniture is 15 years; TVs and audio equipment 5 years. |
For a part-home minpaku, depreciate only the guest-use share. Keep the purchase contract and a split between land and building for your depreciation schedule (減価償却明細).
Japan has no separate recapture tax: depreciation taken lowers your acquisition cost, so the gain on sale is larger. Land and buildings held more than 5 years at 1 January of the year of sale are taxed at 15% income tax + 5% inhabitant tax (+ 2.1% surtax on the income tax).
Accommodation Tax (宿泊税)
Osaka Prefecture Accommodation Tax
Osaka's lodging tax is a prefectural tax charged per guest per night. It covers hotels, ryokan, special-zone minpaku and Private Lodging Business Act homes alike.
Rates below apply to stays from 1 September 2025. The room charge per person per night includes compulsory cleaning fees and service charges, but excludes consumption tax, meals and the accommodation tax itself. Stays under ¥5,000 per person per night are not taxed.
¥200–¥500 per guest per night; none below ¥5,000
Osaka Prefecture — 宿泊税 and 宿泊税制度が変わりました (pref.osaka.lg.jp, updated March 2026)
| Booking type | Who collects & remits | What it means for your books |
|---|---|---|
| Airbnb, Booking.com or Vrbo booking | You. Japan is not on Airbnb's list of places where it collects and remits the occupancy tax, so the operator is the special collection agent | Build the tax into the listing or collect it at check-in; record it as a liability to the prefecture, not as revenue |
| Direct booking | You collect it with the room charge and file with the Naniwa-kita Prefectural Tax Office | Invoice it separately from the vacation rental price so your income-tax figures stay clean |
| Stay under ¥5,000 per person per night, or a school trip | No lodging tax due | Keep the booking record that shows the per-person rate or the exemption paperwork |
Before your first guest you must register as a special collection agent (特別徴収義務者) for each facility, unless none of your rates can reach ¥5,000 per person per night. Osaka Prefecture's figures apply across the prefecture, including Osaka City.
Platforms
Airbnb Tax in Osaka: What Platforms Do and Don't Do
The Airbnb tax Osaka hosts ask about most is the accommodation tax. Platforms show your registration number and pay you out, but the tax filings stay with you.
| Platform | Reports your income | Collects the local lodging tax | Annual earnings summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airbnb | No automatic income report to you or the NTA — declare everything on your Kakutei Shinkoku | No — Japan is not on Airbnb's collect-and-remit list; the operator collects the Osaka lodging tax | Download the earnings/transaction history CSV from the host dashboard |
| Booking.com | Host self-reports; commission appears on monthly invoices | No automatic remittance to Osaka Prefecture — operator's responsibility | Monthly invoices and payout statements in the extranet |
| Vrbo | Host self-reports all Japanese income | Not confirmed for Osaka — treat it as yours to collect unless Vrbo shows it on the invoice | Payout reports in the owner dashboard |
| Direct / Japanese OTAs | No third-party report — your ledger is the record | Host collects and files the accommodation tax | Keep your own booking log that matches the minpaku periodic report |
Listing on Several Platforms?
The 180-night cap and the accommodation tax apply to the property, not each platform. Combine Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo and direct stays in one calendar so you do not overshoot 180 nights, and total everything for the income-tax return.
DAC7 Does Not Apply in Japan
DAC7 is an EU directive and has no effect on an Osaka listing. The check that matters is domestic: the nights you report to Osaka City every two months, the accommodation tax you declare to the prefecture and the income on your Kakutei Shinkoku should all tell the same story.
Airbnb Help Center — Areas where tax collection and remittance by Airbnb is available (airbnb.com/help/article/2509); Osaka Prefecture — 宿泊税
Illustrative P&L: One Osaka Minpaku Flat
Example: an Osaka City flat let for about 170 nights under the 180-night cap, grossing ¥3,000,000 (excluding accommodation tax). Illustration only — not tax advice.
Record-Keeping
Stay Audit-Ready in Osaka
Three different authorities can ask for your records: the NTA for income tax, Osaka Prefecture for the accommodation tax, and Osaka City for the minpaku rules.
| Keep | How long | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Guest register (宿泊者名簿) with passport copies for foreign guests | 3 years | Legally required for every minpaku; it also proves nights and guest counts |
| Accommodation tax returns and per-guest rate workings | 5 years or more (recommended) | Shows which band each stay fell in and that you remitted what you collected |
| Bi-monthly periodic reports to Osaka City | For as long as the notification is active | Proves you stayed within 180 nights per year |
| Platform payouts, invoices and expense receipts | 7 years (recommended) | Support gross income and every necessary expense on your Kakutei Shinkoku |
| Purchase contract, land/building split, depreciation schedule | Until 5+ years after you sell | Needed for depreciation each year and to compute the gain on sale |
If a management company or an agent runs the flat, you are still the operator named on the registration. Get monthly statements that split room revenue, cleaning fees and accommodation tax.
Estimator
Short-Term Rental Tax Estimator
Plug in your bookings and costs to see your likely taxable position.
Your Numbers
Total short-term-rental income, before costs.
Allowable running costs, mortgage interest, depreciation and platform fees.
Your top income-tax band, as a percentage.
Estimated tax owed
Income tax on your net rental profit at your marginal rate.
Illustrative estimate. A simplified model to orient you — it is not tax advice. Confirm your situation with a qualified local professional.
Sources & notes
Rates and rules were checked on official Osaka Prefecture, Osaka City and National Tax Agency pages in September 2026. The accommodation tax changed on 1 September 2025 and special-zone applications closed on 29 May 2026 — re-check both before relying on this page.
- Osaka Prefecture — 宿泊税 (accommodation tax: rates, collection agent, filing) — https://www.pref.osaka.lg.jp/o050040/zei/alacarte/shukuhaku.html
- Osaka Prefecture — 宿泊税制度が変わりました (1 September 2025 change) — https://www.pref.osaka.lg.jp/o050040/zei/alacarte/shukuhakuzei-kaisei.html
- Osaka City — End of new special-zone (tokku) minpaku applications — https://www.city.osaka.lg.jp/keizaisenryaku/page/0000664114.html
- Osaka City — 住宅宿泊事業 (180-night cap, periodic reports, zoning limits) — https://www.city.osaka.lg.jp/kenko/page/0000422269.html
- NTA — 住宅宿泊事業により生じる所得の課税関係等について (minpaku income classification) — https://www.nta.go.jp/law/joho-zeikaishaku/shotoku/shinkoku/0018005-115/0018005-115.pdf
- NTA — No.2072 青色申告特別控除 and No.2250 損益通算 — https://www.nta.go.jp/taxes/shiraberu/taxanswer/shotoku/2072.htm ; https://www.nta.go.jp/taxes/shiraberu/taxanswer/shotoku/2250.htm
- NTA — No.2260 所得税の税率 — https://www.nta.go.jp/taxes/shiraberu/taxanswer/shotoku/2260.htm
- NTA — 耐用年数表 (buildings and furnishings) — https://www.keisan.nta.go.jp/r5yokuaru/aoiroshinkoku/hitsuyokeihi/genkashokyakuhi/taiyonensutatemono.html
- Airbnb Help Center — Areas where Airbnb collects and remits tax — https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2509
Questions
Frequently Asked Questions — Osaka STR Taxes
Mr Props Team
Property & Short-Term Rental Tax specialists
Make Tax Season a Non-Event
Mr. Props tracks your STR income, expenses and remittances all year, so your Japan filing is ready to file instead of reconstructed in a panic.
Join Hosts Running Smarter Portfolios
Monthly tactics on STR tax, pricing and operations — written for operators, not accountants.
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.