Did the dependent tax exemption rules change this year?

There was a major change in the rules last year, requiring documents to prove that at least 380,000 yen was remitted – to be able to add that person as a dependent.

But, that rule only applied to dependents aged 30-70. I added my brother who’s 21 as my dependent, and there was no issue.

But suddenly this year my company’s HR is saying that I need to send 380k regardless of age. Although I can’t seem to find any documents backing that up. The current NTA website still has last year’s rules up (updated on October 2022, applicable from January 1st 2023).

Is the HR correct? I’m confused because I couldn’t find anything. Also he’s new to the company, last year it was a different person doing the taxes.

Update: well me and my colleague convinced him to just submit our papers regardless of his “new” rules. Hope it goes well.