Please be informed I don’t have much knowledge when it comes to taxes, filing taxes, etc… I earn salary and that’s it. I just need someone to explain to me why after completing the final tax return process using the government’s tax preparation corner ([https://www.keisan.nta.go.jp/kyoutu/ky/sm/top#bsctrl](https://www.keisan.nta.go.jp/kyoutu/ky/sm/top#bsctrl)), I have to pay **17,400yen** after all the deductions I inputted.
For context and my own understanding:
\- bought a house last year; eligible for housing loan deduction
\- did some furusato donation; maxed out what I assume is my maximum donation
\- due to the house bought; I have earthquake insurance premium deduction as well
\- my spouse is not working so i get a tax break as well or spouse deduction
\- i have 2 kids under 16 so I assume that is also eligible for some tax break
With that, I’m having a brain fart moment right now as I post this right after finishing my 2 hour session on doing the whole tax return online but I have several questions about this:
1. Why do I still owe tax? Did I just get paid more last year even though all this tax deductions should technically make me get more take home salary?
2. I assume with all this recent tax breaks/deduction I added ; I should have gotten a refund because prior last year I haven’t declared all of this yet because the house was just bought recently. Also its my first time doing furusato which I assumed should impact my taxes
3. Moving forward (succeeding years) is my assumption correct. Since I started declaring this deductions and continue to do so for this year 2024; I should feel the impact of all this deductions and basically get more take home salary?
Again apologies in advance as I’m new to this. Appreciate the answers.
\[UPDATE\]
Thank you so much @ [**starkimpossibility**](https://www.reddit.com/user/starkimpossibility/) for your comment. Your wonderful breakdown helped me go back and check everything in the Calculation Result screen.
Mistake I made:
\- on my withholding slip I missed the part to input the social premium deduction. I got confused with the sample image and which part of the slip it should be. Originally I put zero
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by stellarmdans