Vehicle Tax Calculator (Japan)
Enter your engine displacement (for regular cars) or vehicle type (for kei cars) along with the first registration date to estimate Japan's annual automobile tax or light vehicle tax, including whether the aged-vehicle surcharge applies.
Tips
- Enter the exact displacement (cc) shown on your vehicle inspection certificate (shaken-sho). The tax rate changes in steps at thresholds such as 1,000cc and 1,500cc.
- The first registration date is also printed on your vehicle inspection certificate. For a used car, enter the date it was first registered by its original owner, not your purchase date.
- Regular and compact car tax rates changed on October 1, 2019. Cars registered before that date use the old rate; cars registered on or after that date use the new (generally lower) rate.
- Kei car tax is a flat amount regardless of displacement, but it also has an old rate (7,200 yen) for cars registered before April 1, 2015, and a new rate (10,800 yen) for cars registered on or after that date.
- The aged-vehicle surcharge is an extra amount added once a car passes a certain age. Electric vehicles (EVs) are excluded from this surcharge because of their environmental performance.
Frequently asked questions
Side Note — Why older cars are taxed more
The aged-vehicle surcharge was introduced as part of Japan's "green taxation" policies promoted by the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. By making older, less efficient cars more expensive to keep, the system aims to encourage owners to switch to newer vehicles with better emissions and fuel efficiency — reducing CO2 and air pollutant output nationwide. The flip side is that owners who carefully maintain the same car for many years end up paying more purely due to its age, regardless of how well it runs, which has made the policy a subject of ongoing debate.
Kei car tax is a flat amount regardless of displacement, so unlike regular cars there is no step-based rate table. However, since the April 2015 rate change introduced a higher rate (10,800 yen) alongside the older rate (7,200 yen) that still applies to cars registered earlier, two kei cars of the same age and specification can end up paying different amounts simply based on when they were first registered — a quirk that often surprises owners comparing notes with each other.
Electric vehicles (EVs) are excluded from the aged-vehicle surcharge because they produce no tailpipe CO2 emissions, a distinction the tax system rewards directly. EVs also benefit from a separate incentive at the time of purchase (the environmental performance levy discount), so Japan layers multiple tax incentives — both at acquisition and throughout ownership — to encourage EV adoption.