Who Must Pay Stamp Tax (Stamp Tax Act, Article 3)

Plain-language explanation

This article establishes the basic rule for who is legally responsible for paying Japan's stamp tax. If a document falls into the "taxable document" category listed in Appended Table 1 (and isn't specifically exempted under Article 5), then whoever created that document is liable to pay the stamp tax on it. The key point is that liability attaches to the act of creating the document — things like contracts, receipts, and certain financial instruments — not to the underlying transaction itself.

Paragraph 2 addresses a common business situation: when two or more parties jointly create a single taxable document (for example, both parties sign and each keep a copy of a contract). In that case, all the joint creators are held "jointly and severally liable" for the stamp tax. This means the tax authority can pursue any one of the co-creators for the full amount, though in practice, contracting parties often agree among themselves — via a clause in the contract — on who will actually bear the cost of the stamp.

For business owners, the practical takeaway is this: if you sign a duplicate contract where both sides retain an original, both companies are technically "creators" of their respective originals and are each independently liable for stamping their own copy. Joint liability under paragraph 2 typically comes into play when a single physical document is created and signed by multiple parties together (rather than duplicate originals), making it important to clarify stamp-duty cost-sharing arrangements in advance to avoid disputes if the tax office later reviews the documents.

日本語での解説

Common scenarios

• ▸売買契約書や請負契約書を双方当事者が署名・押印して各自原本を保管する場合の印紙税負担
• ▸複数企業が共同で一つの契約書を作成する共同事業契約における連帯納税義務の発生
• ▸領収書を発行する際、発行者（作成者）としての印紙税納付義務の確認
• ▸M&Aや不動産取引で高額な契約書を作成する際の印紙税額とその負担者の事前取り決め
• ▸税務調査で印紙税の未納・過小納付が指摘された際、誰が納税義務者として責任を負うかの確認