Doing furusato nozei on Amazon

Since December 2024 you can also do furusato nozei (ふるさと納税) on Amazon. Search for "ふるさと納税" to get in, and some regular product pages also show an extra return gift (返礼品) option. Foreigners who pay resident tax and income tax in Japan can use it just the same. You pay ¥2,000 yourself and the rest is deducted from your taxes, but the deduction has a cap that depends on your income and family situation, so check your cap before deciding how much to give. Donating to the municipality you live in gets you no return gift.

You can only pay with a credit or debit card in your own name. Since October 2025 the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has banned portal sites from giving points on furusato nozei, so on Amazon now, Prime or not, paying with the Amazon Mastercard only gets you 1% back, and the platforms can no longer compete on points. This October the rules were tightened again: some return gifts will be pulled, and the same amount may get you a smaller portion.

Salaried workers who donate to no more than five municipalities a year and wouldn't otherwise have to file a tax return (確定申告) can use the one-stop exception (ワンストップ特例). Amazon doesn't handle the online application for you: once you've donated, fill in the form, then apply online through Jichitai My Page (自治体マイページ) or Furumado (ふるまど), or wait for the municipality to mail you the application and send it back so it arrives by January 10 of the following year. If you go over five, or file a tax return anyway, declare the donations together when you file.