Furusato Nozei Donations Hit 3rd Year Record High

Jiji Press

10:30 JST, August 2, 2023

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — The amount of money collected under Japan’s furusato nozei hometown donation system reached a record high for the third straight year in fiscal 2022, which ended last March, the internal affairs ministry said Tuesday.

The total grew about 1.2-fold from the previous year to ¥965,406 million, with all of the country’s 47 prefectures except for Hyogo logging increases.

The furusato nozei system remained popular after people stepped up donations to get return gifts while staying home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The city of Miyakonojo in Miyazaki Prefecture gathered the largest amount of donations, at ¥19,593 million, followed by the cities of Monbetsu and Nemuro in Hokkaido, at ¥19,433 million and ¥17,613 million, respectively.

Under the furusato nozei system, the amount of the donation minus ¥2,000 is deducted from the donor’s residential and other taxes the following year. The total sum of residential tax deductions to be given in fiscal 2023 grew about 1.2-fold from the year before to ¥679,824 million.

Yokohama posted the largest deductions, at ¥27,242 million. Nagoya came in second, at ¥15,926 million, followed by Osaka City, at ¥14,853 million.

Municipalities collecting donations under the system are prohibited from spending more than 50% of donations on related expenses such as costs for procuring and shipping return gifts.