This is an update of my post from last year: hope the mods won’t mind.
As those of you who have a NISA know, the yearly allowance is divided into two parts: the Growth NISA, which functions like a tax-sheltered general brokerage account with a 2.4 million yen yearly limit, and a Tsumitate NISA with a limit of 1.2 million yen.
You can make purchases in the Growth NISA at any time without limit, so it is relatively easy to fill.
However the Tsumitate NISA requires you to set up monthly debits with a maximum monthly figure of 100,000 yen, so if you have a large portion unfilled, it may seem like you have left it too late for 2025.
Help is at hand though: in fact the Tsumitate NISA comes with a massive loophole which renders the difference between it and the Growth NISA almost irrelevant (especially if you are just purchasing index funds like Emaxis).
(The guide below is for Rakuten users: it may or may not work for other brokerages).
The loophole: Tsumitate settings can be modified at any time, and any month/day can be set as a "bonus month", up to twice a year, with an unlimited additional payment. If you are using Rakuten Securities via a connected bank account (Money Bridge), you only need to set it up one business day in advance.
As an example: suppose you haven't used any of the Tsumitate NISA for 2025 yet. You can set up a new tsumitate for say December 15th for 100 yen (the minimum allowed), and add a "bonus amount" for December for 1,198,800 (the full amount minus 100 yen for each notional month of 2025). And hey presto – you just filled the whole Tsumitate NISA allowance for 2025, minus 1100 yen.
The only thing to bear in mind is that delivery of the index funds has to happen before the end of December, so the purchase deadline will be somewhere around the 23rd-25th for most funds.
I am pretty sure this is not the way that the government intended Tsumitate NISA to work. (In fact, I heard that some online brokerages changed their rules as it is against the “spirit” of the system). However there is no harm in taking advantage of the loophole as long as it exists.
by Bob_the_blacksmith
6 comments
Quick question. I have used 1.1m out of the 1.2. But as long as I keep the tsumitate going, I should be able to fill up to 6m over the next 5-6 years as long as I don’t reach the total limit right. I don’t “have to” use the yearly limit every year to reach the max overall NISA limit?
Is there any advantage to using Tsumitate NISA over Growth NISA? I’m only using purchasing Index Funds using my Growth NISA at the moment.
Just checked my NISA account , and rakuten securities is helping to fill tsumitai nisa via a banner hint
It’s a good tip!
While on this topic – how do people feel about selling tokutei account securities and rebuying in growth Nisa to fill up the quota for the year? Had a good rally so would be realizing some good amount of taxes…
How is the bonus setting a ‘loophole’? It’s designed for people to be able to add more when they recieve their bi-annual bonuses… Hence it is called the “Bonus” setting and can be used twice per year. It works exactly as intended.
The bonus “hack” is as old as NISA, but this year it’s much simpler, they just have an option to fill up your NISA with the last payment.
At least Rakuten.
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