Japan

Registering Property in

Japan

Listed below is a detailed summary of the steps, time and cost involved in registering property, assuming a standardized case of an entrepreneur who wants to purchase land and a building that is already registered and free of title dispute.

The information appearing on this page was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 183 economies. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2011.

  • Standard Property Transfer

  • Property Value: JPY 193,786,348.84
  • City: Tokyo

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
* 1 Obtain a corporate registry certificate

The parties (as companies) must obtain a corporate registry certificate that must be issued within 3 months before the registration application. It can be obtained from a relevant registry office of a corporate registry at which the party is registered. The cost is JPY 1,000 per copy.


Agency: Legal Affairs Bureau 		1 day (simultaneous with procedures 2, 3, and 4) JPY 1,000 each copy
* 2 Obtain a certificate of Seller's seal impression (inkan shomei)

Seller must obtain a certificate of its seal impression for the seal used for execution of the registration documents, which must be issued within 3 months before the registration application. It can be obtained from the Legal Affairs Bureau (homukyoku).

Agency: Legal Affairs Bureau 		1 day (simultaneous with procedures 1, 3, and 4) JPY 500 each copy
* 3 The seller obtains a certificate of evaluation for fixed asset tax of the real property at a local tax office

The seller must obtain a certificate of evaluation for fixed asset tax of the real property before the registration application. This should be obtained for the transaction because such certificate must show the most updated evaluation and will be used later to calculate taxes to be paid. It can be obtained from a relevant local tax office, which governs the relevant real estate. The cost of the issuance is JYP 400 for land and JPY 400 for building.



Agency: Local Tax Office 		1 day (simultaneous with procedures 1, 2, and 4) JPY 400 for land + JPY 400 for building
* 4 Obtain stamps for stamp duty at a post office

Stamps for stamp duty can be purchased at various places, such as post offices. Stamp is the sole official cost for execution of the sale agreement, if a written agreement is prepared. The preparation and execution of a written sale agreement is not necessary. Even an oral agreement is acceptable for transferring the title to the real estate, although usually a written agreement is prepared.

Agency: Post Office 		1 day (simultaneous with procedures 1, 2, and 3) JPY 80,000
5 File an application at the Legal Affairs Bureau

The parties file an application for registration at the Legal Affairs Bureau. The Legal Affairs Bureau will register the title under the name of the new owner.
A registration and license tax must be paid at the Legal Affairs Bureau at the amount of 2% of building value plus 1% of land value (in our study, 1.5% of the entire property value). The normal tax rate for registering transfer of land is 2%, but reduced rate of 1.5% is applicable until March 31, 2011.

As registration is a requirement for perfection vis-à-vis third parties, reviewing the certified copy of the real property registry is generally sufficient for identifying any existing perfected encumbrances over the real property. The parties may apply for registration by themselves. However, because of the complexity of filing, usually they retain a judicial scribe for registration.
There is a 5% consumption tax in Japan. Sales or leases of land are exempted. However, if the transaction includes the sale or lease of buildings, consumption tax applies only to the price of the building.

The documentation shall include:
• Executed original copy of the purchase and sale agreement (alternately a copy of registration application signed by the seller and the buyer)
• "Certificate of registration of seller's title of the real property (toukizumi kenri sho) or registration identification code (touki shikibetsu joho) (Already in his possesion)"
• Certificate of corporate registry of the parties (if any of them is a corporation) (obtained in Procedure 1)
• Certificate of the parties’ seal impression (obtained in Procedure 2)
• Certificate of evaluation for fixed asset tax of the real property (obtained in Procedure 3)
• Power of attorney of the seller (if a judicial scribe applies for the registration on behalf of any of the parties)


Agency: Legal Affairs Bureau 		7-10 days 1.5% (or 2% of building value + 1.3% land value) of entire property value evaluated for fixed asset tax (registration and license tax )
6 Payment of the real property acquisition tax

This is a post-closing matter, the purchaser will receive the notice of the real property acquisition tax from the local tax office a few months after the registration. The real property acquisition tax must be paid at the local tax office. Actually, 4% is the normal tax rate for land. The 3% reduced tax rate for personal use real property is applicable until March 31, 2012


Agency: Local Tax Office 		1 day 4% of property price evaluated for fixed asset tax
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.
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