The salary withholding slip, or gensen choshuhyo, belongs in your departure records even if you do not yet know whether you will file a Japanese tax return. Requesting it while you can still reach payroll is simpler than trying to recover it after a company account has been closed. Start by specifying the tax year and the employer that paid the salary.
Request the salary document explicitly
Ask for the salary withholding slip for the relevant year, and ask whether it will reflect a completed payroll tax adjustment. A monthly payslip, employment certificate and retirement-income withholding slip are different documents. If you received a separate retirement allowance, keep that paperwork in its own section.
In your request, include your name as recorded by payroll, employee number if available, employment dates and an email or postal address that remains usable after departure. Ask how the document will be delivered and when. If it will appear only in an employee portal, download it before your access ends.
Know the issuance deadline
The National Tax Agency’s withholding-slip non-issuance procedure states the delivery deadlines: within one month after a midyear resignation, and January 31 of the following year in other cases. The same page provides a reporting route when the deadline has passed without issuance. It is not the procedure for replacing a slip that was already issued.
Record the applicable deadline alongside payroll’s expected delivery date. If you are flying before the deadline, arrange delivery rather than assuming that the document must be ready before your flight. Save your original request and any reply so a later follow-up has a clear history.
Check identity, year and coverage first
When the slip arrives, check your name, the employer and the year before focusing on the numbers. If you changed jobs during the year, identify whether you have a slip from each relevant payer and ask payroll how earlier employment was treated in any adjustment.
Use your payslips as a reconciliation aid, not as a substitute document you create yourself. If a total surprises you, ask what it includes. A payment made near a job change or a later bonus can make a quick comparison with months worked misleading.
Separate a missing slip from a lost copy
If the employer has not issued the slip after the deadline, follow the NTA’s instructions above. It asks for available payslip copies and evidence that you requested issuance. Download the current form from the official page rather than reusing an old attachment from someone else’s case.
If you previously received the slip but lost it, ask the payer for reissuance. Keep the distinction clear in your message: "Please reissue my copy" describes a different situation from "The slip has never been issued."
Make the handover useful
For a tax consultation, put the slip beside a brief note explaining employment changes, the departure date, whether payroll confirmed an adjustment and any other income requiring review. Do not assume that possessing the slip proves all filing obligations are finished.
Keep a private backup with a descriptive filename containing the year and employer. Share it only with the office or professional handling the relevant task. Our tax-representative selection guide can help you define that scope. Keep salary documents separate from the pension claim described in the pension withdrawal guide, so neither process is mistaken for the other.