# forgot about spouse tax deduction, too late?



## helloworld232

I been working here for over a year now, with my spouse with no income.

I recently I just found out about "spouse income tax deduction" .

If we to apply now, do I still get refund for the extra taxes I been paying for the last year?


they should have records that I have a spouse with no income... so technically they should able trace it back.. no?


----------



## larabell

If "for the last year" means from 1 Jan 2015 until now, you should be OK still but what you need to do would depend on your situation.

For many salaried employees, their employer does a year-end adjustment in December based on their actual income and deductions and they don't have to file an individual tax return. If that applies to you, talk to your HR or Finance representative and tell them you need to add your spouse as an exemption. It's also possible that your employer already knows about your spouse and has taken that into consideration when computing your tax.

If your employer doesn't do your year-end adjustment or if there are other reasons why you have to file your own tax return, you should be able to simply include your spouse on your return as an exemption without any trouble. You can file your own return even if your employer does do a year-end deduction... if, for example, something happened near the end of the year to change your tax liability. You have until the 15th of March to file a personal return. Mark that date in your calendar because there are no extensions to file in Japan.

If you're wondering about tax on income earned prior to 1 Jan 2015, you can still file for a refund. There is a special form for modifying prior year's tax returns that you would have to file. You'll need to talk to someone at your local tax office, though, because I've never had occasion to use that particular form (and it's not likely anyone else on the forum has, either).


----------

