The tax return system is a procedure for the collection of income tax, and the tax applied to your income (money earned or received via pensions, etc.)is as a rule collected based on your income and tax amount as calculated by you.
This is called a self-assessment tax system.
- It is calculated and reported based on your income from January 1st to December 31st of a given year.
The period for tax returns is usually one month, from February 16th to March 15th. - DLsite collects withholding tax,so depending on the difference between the amount of tax specified on your tax return and the amount of withholding tax,the amount of tax paid may be insufficient, in which case it will need to be collected.If the amount paid is too much, it will be returned.
(If you have earnings outside of DLsite, they will also factor into the calculation,so we are unable to say whether tax needs to be paid or returned) - For salaried employees, the end of year adjustment carried out by your employerwill calculate your final tax amount, so filing a tax return is not necessary,but if you have over 200,000 JPY in additional income, it is necessary to complete a tax return to calculate the correct amount of tax.
Even if you are not required to complete a tax return, if the withholding tax collectedor estimated tax prepaymentexceeds the tax amount calculated from income for the year,completing a tax return will allow you to claim the excess tax back. This is called a "return for refund".
The period you can file a return for refund is within five years from January 1st of the year following the year in question,so it is possible you could claim tax back from several years before.
For further details, please check the National Tax Agency's websiteor consult your local tax office.