Cabinet Order 141 Amending in Part the Special Tax Measures Law

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Cabinet Order No. 141
The Cabinet Order Amending in Part the Special Tax Measures Law
[UNOFFICIAL TRANSLATION]

In conjunction with the enactment of th e Law Amending in Part the Special Tax
Measures Law, etc. (Law No. 7 of 2001), the Cabinet shall institute this Cabinet Order to
enforce the said Law on the basis of the supplementary provisions of the Law and the
stipulations of the Special Tax Measures Law (Law No. 26 of 1957). Special Cases of
Tax Write-off for Donations to Approved SpeciÞed NonproÞt Corporations

1. The requirements speciÞed by Cabinet Order as stated in Article 39.22.2 and
Article 66.11.2.(b) of the Law shall be as follows:
i. That the amount described in (b) shall make up more than one-third of the
amount described in (a) during “the preceding two Þscal years, etc.”
a. Amount remaining after subsidie s from the national or local
governments, extra income, and other gains speciÞed by ordinance
of the Ministry of Finance have been deducted from the total
amount of income.
b. Amount remaining after the amount that exceeds the standard limit
per donor (which means the amount of one donor’s total donations
exceeding two (2) percent of the total amount of donations
received) and the tota l amount of donations speciÞed by ordinance
of the Ministry of Finance have been deducted from the total
amount of donations received.
ii. That the percentage under one of the following items in the preceding two
Þscal years, etc. is less than eighty (80) percent.
a. The percentage in the total amount of donations received of the
total donations from individuals re siding or maintaining an ofÞce,
place of business, or other premises (hereafter “ofÞce, etc.” in this
Sub-section ii and in Section 2) in the same city, township, or
village (ward in Tokyo, or ward in any of the cities specially
designated under Article 252.19.(a) of the Local Government Law;
the same applies in this Sub-secti on and in Section 2) as well as
from corporations that have an “ofÞce, etc.” in the same city,
township, or village.
b. The percentage, as speciÞed by ordinance of the Ministry of
Finance, of the said corporat ion’s speciÞed nonproÞt activities
(those activities speciÞed in Articl e 2.(a) of the Law to Promote
SpeciÞed NonproÞt Activities [Law No. 7 of 1998]; the same
applies in this Sub-section and in Section 5) in the same city,

township, or village in the speciÞed nonproÞt activities conducted
by the corporation.
c. The percentage of individuals resi ding or maintaining an “ofÞce,
etc.” in the same city, township, or village, and corporations that
have an “ofÞce, etc.” in the same city, township, or village in the
total number of individuals and or ganizations directly from which
the said corporation has received the transfer or loan of their assets
or the provision of their services (referred to as “transfer of assets,
etc.” in Sub-section ii i and Sub-section vi, fo llowing) pertaining to
its speciÞed nonproÞt activities.
iii. That activities under each of the following items, as speciÞed by ordinance
of the Ministry of Finance, make up under Þfty (50) percent of activities
over the preceding two Þscal years, etc.
a. Activities consisting of transfer of assets, etc. (excluding what has
been provided in exchange for nothing, and what is speciÞed by
ordinance of the Ministry of Fina nce) targeted at member(s) or
such others speciÞed by ordinance of the Ministry of Finance
(referred to as “members, etc.” in this Sub-section), as well as
intercourse among members, etc ., communications, exchange of
views, and other activities ta rgeted at members, etc.
b. Activities (excluding transfer of asse ts, etc. to members, etc.) that
beneÞt speciÞc persons, including members, etc. of the said
corporation, members of speciÞc organizations, people engaged in
speciÞc occupations, and people w ho live or maintain an ofÞce,
etc. in places specially designated by ordinance of the Ministry of
Finance.
c. Promotional, advertising, research, information-providing, and
other activities concerning speci Þc publications or persons.
d. Activities that call on speciÞc person s against their will to do, or
not to do, something.
iv. With regard to administrative orga nization and accounting, the following
requirements shall be fulÞlled.
a. Persons such as those described below make up less than one third
of the number of ofÞcers and the number of employees.
o (i) Relatives and those with special ties speciÞed by
ordinance of the Ministry of Finance (referred to as
“relatives, etc.” in (ii) below).
o (ii) OfÞcers or employees of the said corporation and those
of a speciÞc corporation (i ncluding a corporation whose
stocks or investment funds held directly or indirectly make
up more than Þfty (50) percent of the total number of
stocks issued by the corporation or the total investment in
the corporation, and other cor porations with special ties
speciÞed by ordinance of the Ministry of Finance), and
their relatives, etc.

b. Accounts are audited by a certiÞed public accountant or an
approved auditing Þrm, or the said corporation records its accounts
in ledgers and other documents as speciÞed by ordinance of the
Ministry of Finance and maintain s said ledgers and documents.
c. No expenditures of unclear purpos e or other inappropriate accounts
as speciÞed by ordinance of the Mi nistry of Finance are made.
v. With regard to the said corporation’s activities, the following requirements
shall be fulÞlled.
a. The following activities, as speciÞed in Article 2.(b).(2) of the Law
to Promote SpeciÞed NonproÞt Activities, are not conducted.
o (i) Activities for the purpose of propagating religious
teachings, performing ceremonies, or educating or
cultivating believers.
o (ii) Activities for the purpose of promoting, supporting, or
opposing a political principle.
o (iii) Activities for the purpose of recommending,
supporting, or opposing a ca ndidate (including a
prospective candidate) for a speciÞc public ofÞce (public
ofÞce as speciÞed in Articl e 3 of the Public OfÞces
Election Law [Law No. 100 of 1950]; the same applies
elsewhere in this Sub-section), or those in public positions,
or political parties.
b. Activities do not yield special be neÞts to the said corporation’s
ofÞcers, employees, or other work ers, or to the donors, or their
relatives, or to those with special relations with these people, as
speciÞed by ordinance of the Ministry of Finance. The
requirements that no special rela tions are formed with other
speciÞc persons, as speciÞed by ordinance of the Ministry of
Finance, shall be met.
c. Operating expenses related to speciÞed nonproÞt activities make
up more than eighty (80) percen t of total operating expenses.
d. More than seventy (70) percent of the total amount of donations
received are allotted for sp eciÞed nonproÞt activities.
e. When the said corporation provides grants or subsidies, it submits
beforehand, to the director general of the National Tax
Administration Agency by way of the superintendent of the tax
ofÞce with jurisdiction over the place of its tax payment or the
location of its main ofÞce, docum ents describing the methods of
inviting and selecting applicants a nd the content of the grants or
subsidies, and, after the providi ng of grants or subsidies,
documents describing the results, without delay.
f. When the said corporation remits or transfers money overseas, it
submits beforehand, to the direct or general of the National Tax
Administration Agency by way of the superintendent of the tax
ofÞce with jurisdiction over the place of its tax payment or the
location of its main ofÞce, doc uments describing the amount of

money, the purpose for which it is to be spent, and the planned
date of provision. (When it is difÞcult to submit such documents
beforehand because of emergency, as in the case of aid extended to
a disaster-hit area, documents de scribing the amount of money, the
purpose of use, and the date of its provision shall be submitted
without delay.)
vi. When a request is made for perusal of the following documents, perusal
shall be granted unless there is good reason for refusal of the request.
a. The “report of activities, etc.,” “list of ofÞcers, etc.,” and “articles
of incorporation, etc.,” as speciÞe d in Article 28.(b) of the Law to
Promote SpeciÞed NonproÞt Activities.
b. Stipulations concerning the paym ent of ofÞcers’ or employees’
salaries.
c. Copies of the documents submitted in accordance with the
stipulations of items (e) and (f) of the preceding Sub-section.
d. Documents explaining the details of income and other fund-related
items, the items concerning the transfer of assets, etc. and
donations, and other items speciÞed by ordinance of the Ministry
of Finance.
e. Documents described in Sub- section iv, Section 4.
vii. No facts show that the corporation ha s ever violated the law, obtained or
attempted to obtain gains through fra ud or any other illegal activity, or
engaged in any activity detrimental to the public interest.
viii. On the starting date of the Þscal year of the said corporation including the
date of its submission for the written application as speciÞed in Section 3
(if the Þscal year is not Þxed, the star ting date shall be January 1st of the
year that includes the date of its subm ission of the application), more than
one year shall have passed since the date of its founding. (If the said
corporation is a corporation approve d under Article 66.11-2.(b) of the Law
[the Law Amending in Part the Spec ial Tax Measures Law and Others],
more than two years shall have passed either since the starting date of the
Þscal year that follows the Þnal year of the preceding two Þscal years, etc.
pertaining to the said appr oval, or since the date of January 1st of the year
that follows the Þnal year.)
ix. By the time it applies for approval un der Article 66.11-2.(b) of the Law,
the said corporation shall have rece ived a certiÞcate from the competent
agency speciÞed in Article 9 of the Law to Promote SpeciÞed NonproÞt
Activities that testiÞes that there is not a good reason to suspect the said
corporation’s violation of law, administrative punishment based on law, or
violation of the article s of incorporation.
x. The requirements stated in Sub-section iv, (a), (b), (c), and (d) of Sub-
section v, Sub-section vi, and Sub-section vii (excluding the requirements
in Sub-section vi if approval speciÞ ed in Article 66.11-2.(b) of the Law
pertaining to the said corporation is the Þrst approval obtained) shall be
fulÞlled over the preceding two Þscal years, etc.

2. If the said corporation’s main ofÞce is located on a solitary island (except for the
case in which the said island has two or more villages, townships, or cities) and if
the corporation has no ofÞce, etc. in the ci ties, townships, or villages other than
the said island (or in the districts outside the island that are under the jurisdiction
of the city, township, or village in which the main ofÞce is located), the
stipulation in the beginning of the precedi ng Section 1 that “The requirements . . .
shall be as follows” should be “The re quirements (excluding the requirements
stated in Sub-section ii) shall be as fo llows” when the stipulations in Article
66.11-2.(b) of the Law are applied here.
3. A corporation which seeks to obtain appr oval speciÞed in Article 66.11-2.(b) of
the Law shall submit a written application describing the following items to the
director general of the National Tax Administration Agency by way of the
superintendent of the tax ofÞce with juri sdiction over the place of its tax payment
or the location of its main ofÞce.
i. The applicant’s name, the location of its main ofÞce, and the place of tax
payment
ii. The name of its representative
iii. The date of its founding
iv. Overview of activities/progr ams currently conducted
v. Other items for reference
4. To the written application in Section 3, the following documents shall be
attached:
i. Activity reports, etc. speciÞed in Article 28.(a) of the Law to Promote
SpeciÞed NonproÞt Activities for the preceding two Þscal years, etc.
ii. “List of ofÞcers, etc.,” a nd “articles of incorporati on, etc.,” as speciÞed in
Article 28.(a) of the Law to Prom ote SpeciÞed NonproÞt Activities.
iii. Document explaining that the requirements speciÞed by the Cabinet Order
as stated in Article 66.11-2.( b) of the Law are met.
iv. Document enumerating the details of programs to which donations will be
allotted.
v. The certiÞcate issued by the competent agency, as speciÞed in Sub-section
ix of Section 1.
5. The preceding two Þscal years, etc. as speciÞed in Sections 1 and 4 means the
Þscal years that ended within two year s from the starting date of the said
corporation’s Þscal year that includes the date of the submission of the application
described in Section 3.
6. The requirements speciÞed by the Cabinet Or der as stated in Article 66.11-2.(d)
are those spelled out in Sub-sections iv to vii of Section 1 in case it may later be
found that the corporation that received approval under Article 66.11-2.(b) had
not fulÞlled the requirements speciÞed by the Cabinet Order as stated in Article
66.11-2.(b) at the time of the said approval, and in case false information has been
given in the application submitted in accord ance with the stipulations of Section 3
(including the attached documents as stated in Section 4), in the documents
submitted in accordance with the stipulati ons of Section 8, or in the documents
mentioned from (a) to (e) in Sub-section vi, Section 1.

7. The corporation whose approval was cancelled on the basis of the stipulations of
Article 66.11-2.(b) of the Law shall not be able to submit an application stated in
Section 3 unless after the passage of two years from the next day of the date of the
said cancellation.
8. A corporation that has received approva l under Article 66.11-2.(b) of the Law
shall submit, within three months from the day following the Þnal date of each
Þscal year (each calendar year if the Þscal year is not Þxed; and this should be the
Þscal year, or the calendar y ear, that includes a date with in the valid period of the
said approval), to the director general of the National Tax Administration Agency
by way of the superintendent of the tax ofÞce with jurisdiction over the place of
its tax payment or the locati on of its main ofÞce, the corporation’s activity report
of the said Þscal year, and documentation concerning the amount of donations
received, as well as other documents sp eciÞed by ordinance of the Ministry of
Finance.
9. When a request is made for perusal of the written application under Section 3
(including the attached documents under S ection 4), or the documents speciÞed
under (e) and (f) of v, Secti on 1, or the documents speciÞed by ordinance of the
Ministry of Finance as mentioned in th e preceding Section, which were submitted
by a corporation that received approval under Article 66.11-2.(b) of the Law, the
director general of the National Tax Ad ministration Agency shall have them
perused in accordance with stipulations by ordinance of the Ministry of Finance.
10. When changes are made concerning the items announced as speciÞed in Article
66.11-2.(g) of the Law or in other cases where something occurs that falls under
the provisions of ordinan ce of the Ministry of Fina nce, the speciÞed nonproÞt
corporation approved under Article 66.11-2.(b) of the Law shall report such
changes or occurrences to the director general of the National Tax Administration
Agency by way of the superintendent of the tax ofÞce with jurisdiction over the
place of its tax payment or the location of its main ofÞce.
11. In addition to the stipulations in each of the Sections above, items as necessary
shall be stipulated by ordinance of th e Ministry of Finance concerning the
application of the stipulations in Ar ticle 66.11-2 of the Law as well as the
application of the stipulations in Sec tion 1 when the said corporation is a
corporation founded through merger and one ye ar has not passed since the date of
its founding as of the starting date of its Þscal y ear under which it submits a
written application under Section 3.
Supplementary Provisions
(Date of enforcement)
Article 1 This Cabinet Order shall come into force on April 1, 2001.