Why do you need My Number to send money abroad from Japan, and what is reported above 1 million yen?

Article 3 of the Overseas Remittance Reporting Act (国外送金等調書法; the full Japanese name is 内国税の適正な課税の確保を図るための国外送金等に係る調書の提出等に関する法律) requires a person who sends money abroad to submit a notification form at the time of the transfer. The form shows the name, address and Individual Number (My Number), and the content of the transaction that is the reason for the transfer. The provider that receives the form has to check what is written against documents such as a copy of the certificate of residence (住民票の写し).

In this law, "financial institutions" include banks and also funds transfer service providers registered under the Payment Services Act (資金決済法) (Article 2 of the Enforcement Order of the Act). Many remittance apps are funds transfer service providers, so they are in the same position as banks and have to check My Number.

Then why do many apps collect My Number only once, at sign-up? Article 5, paragraph 2 of the Enforcement Order says that if the provider has checked the person's name, address and My Number and keeps them in its books, the number does not have to be written again for each transfer. Checking everything at sign-up is thought to follow this rule (the companies themselves do not name this article as the reason). If you try to send with a name or address that is different from the one in the books, this treatment cannot be used. That is why you are asked to update your registered details after you move or change your family name.

At a bank, a notification form is not needed for each transfer when the money is sent by transfer from an account in your own name (called a "specified remittance" (特定送金) in the law). But this treatment assumes that the bank where the account was opened has already checked your name, address and My Number (people who do not have a My Number, for example, are checked by name and address).

The documents that can be used to check the notification form are set by a Ministry of Finance order (Article 4 of the Enforcement Regulation). For a person with an address in Japan, they are a My Number Card that is valid on that day, or a copy of the certificate of residence that shows My Number and was issued within the last 6 months, combined with a document that confirms the address. The list of documents that confirm the address also includes the residence card (在留カード) and the special permanent resident certificate (特別永住者証明書).

However, each company narrows down what it accepts in practice. For example, the law allows a copy of the certificate of residence issued within 6 months, but SBI Remit asks for an original issued within 3 months. Some companies accept the paper Notification Card (通知カード) only when what is written on it matches the certificate of residence. The procedure for changing the details on a Notification Card ended on May 25, 2020, so the card of a person who moved after that date often cannot be used.

Article 4 of the Overseas Remittance Reporting Act says that when a financial institution handles a customer's overseas transfer, it files a Report of Overseas Remittances with the tax office for transfers above a certain amount. Article 8 of the Enforcement Order sets that amount at ¥1,000,000. The text says "excluding those of ¥1,000,000 or less", so a transfer of exactly ¥1,000,000 is not covered. A transfer over ¥1,000,000 is covered.

A report is made for each single transfer and is filed, by the end of the month after the month of the transfer, with the tax office that has jurisdiction over the office that handled it. It shows the sender's name, address and My Number, the amount and date of the transfer, the reason for the transfer written on the notification form, the recipient's name, the destination and other items. For a transfer in a foreign currency, the amount is converted into yen at the exchange rate set by the Minister of Finance to judge whether it is over ¥1,000,000.

The provider files the report, and the law does not require any notice to the sender. On the remittance providers' guidance pages that we checked this time, we also did not find any place that explains to users that transfers over ¥1,000,000 are reported to the tax office. This is why some people are surprised to learn later that their transfer was reported.

Article 1 of the Overseas Remittance Reporting Act states the purpose of the law as helping the national tax authorities understand taxpayers' foreign exchange and other cross-border transactions (「納税義務者の外国為替その他の対外取引…の国税当局による把握に資するため」). The report is positioned as a document that lets the tax office see how money moves between Japan and overseas.

The National Tax Agency (NTA) also explains in its National Tax Agency Report 2025 that it uses materials such as Reports of Overseas Remittances to examine the real state of overseas transactions. It gives an example in which a report led to finding unreported affiliate income from abroad. The problem in that example was income that had not been declared, not the transfer itself.

In other words, whether tax is charged depends on the income that the money came from and on the situation of the person who receives it. On the NTA pages we checked this time, we did not find any explanation that a new tax arises just because a report was filed. Whether tax applies to money sent to family depends on each person's situation, so if you are concerned, check with the tax office or a tax accountant.

Overseas transfers have several amount lines that are easy to mix up. Each one has a different purpose and a different person who does the procedure.

Once you have decided to return to your home country or move abroad, you need to check whether you can still use your current services before you think about My Number. Each company gives the following guidance.

• Wise: cannot offer a Japan account to a person who moves out of Japan. If the place you move to is one that Wise supports, it is likely that you can use the service after you update your address and verify your identity again.
• Rakuten Bank: if you return to your home country after opening the account, or if your address becomes one outside Japan, you need to close the account.
• MUFG Bank: people who have registered an overseas address, and people who plan to leave Japan for abroad, cannot apply for overseas remittance online.
• Smiles: if you move abroad you no longer meet the conditions of use, so you need to settle and withdraw your balance before you move. For a temporary departure, you can apply for a suspension of up to 90 days from the date you leave Japan.

If you plan to send your last money home in one transfer before you leave, it helps to check, before your departure date, the deadline until which you can send with the service you use.

1. Do your registered name and address match your My Number Card and residence card? (Check especially after moving or renewing your residence card.)
2. Does the company you use accept the My Number document you have? (For example, a Notification Card, or the issue date of a certificate of residence.)
3. Do you plan to send more than ¥1,000,000? If so, assume that a report will be filed with the tax office, and be ready to explain the reason for the transfer.
4. Do you plan to leave Japan soon? If so, first check the deadline until which you can use the service.

When your documents are ready, compare each provider's total cost (the fee plus the markup on the exchange rate) for the amount you will actually send before you choose where to send from. This shows the difference in the amount received. In the remittance cost comparison table, you can choose a destination and an amount and see the providers side by side.