---
title: "日本 社会福祉法人 — social welfare corporation governance, supervision, and tax treatment"
aliases:
  - "non-profit/japan-shakai-fukushi-houjin"
  - "japan-shakai-fukushi-houjin"
  - "社会福祉法人"
  - "しゃかいふくしほうじん"
  - "shakai fukushi houjin"
  - "japan social welfare corporation"
  - "社会福祉法 social welfare act"
domain: non-profit
slug: japan-shakai-fukushi-houjin
created: 2026-06-05
last_updated: 2026-07-30
last_tended: 2026-07-30
review_by: 2027-06-05
confidence: likely
tags: [non-profit, japan, social-welfare, shakai-fukushi-houjin, tax-deductible]
status: active
sources:
  - "https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/326AC1000000045"
  - "https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/seisakunitsuite/bunya/0000077928.html"
  - "https://www.nta.go.jp/taxes/shiraberu/taxanswer/hojin/5275.htm"
  - "https://www.wam.go.jp/"
---

# 日本 社会福祉法人 — social welfare corporation governance, supervision, and tax treatment

## Wiki route

This entry sits under [[non-profit/INDEX|non-profit INDEX]] as the **social-welfare-specific** legal form, governed by its own statute outside the 一般法人法 family tabulated in [[non-profit/japan-koeki-vs-general-zaidan-comparison|公益財団 vs 一般財団 vs 一般社団 vs NPO法人 comparison]]. It is the welfare-sector peer to the civic-activity form in [[non-profit/japan-npo-houjin-overview|Japan NPO法人 overview]], and its donor-deductibility and corporation-tax treatment follow the same 公益法人等 logic as the foundations, supervised in the financial-institution context by [[financial-regulators/fsa|the FSA]] only where a welfare corporation also runs a regulated business. For the broader supervisory map see [[financial-regulators/INDEX|financial-regulators INDEX]].

## TL;DR

A **社会福祉法人 (Social Welfare Corporation)** is a special public-interest legal person created under the **社会福祉法 (Social Welfare Act)** to run **第一種・第二種社会福祉事業** — the licensed welfare businesses such as nursing homes, children's homes, and disability-support facilities. It is supervised by the **所轄庁 (Prefectural Governor, designated-city/core-city Mayor, or MHLW)**, enjoys broad corporation-tax exemption, and offers donors the same 所得控除 / 税額控除 deduction as a 公益財団 — but it is the **only form legally permitted to operate 第一種 (Type-1) social welfare businesses** as a private body.

## What it is for — 第一種 / 第二種 社会福祉事業

The defining feature is the **business categories** it may run:

| Category | Examples | Who may operate |
|---|---|---|
| **第一種社会福祉事業 (Type-1)** | 特別養護老人ホーム (special nursing homes), 児童養護施設 (children's homes), 救護施設 | Generally **only the national/local government or a 社会福祉法人** |
| **第二種社会福祉事業 (Type-2)** | 訪問介護, 保育所 (nurseries), デイサービス, 障害福祉サービス | Open to wider operators (companies, NPOs) on notification |

Because **第一種** businesses are largely reserved to public bodies and 社会福祉法人, the form is effectively the *gatekeeper vehicle* for residential welfare. This is the structural reason a welfare operator cannot simply use the cheaper [[non-profit/japan-npo-houjin-overview|NPO法人]] form for a 特養 — it is statutorily ineligible.

## Establishment and asset requirement

The following table is scoped to public primary sources (laws.e-gov.go.jp, mhlw.go.jp, nta.go.jp). It restates licence / structure / product boundaries from those materials and does not invent market share, ranking, or unstated numerical claims. ^[source:laws.e-gov.go.jp; mhlw.go.jp; nta.go.jp; wam.go.jp]

| Requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| Authorising act | 社会福祉法 (Act No. 45 of 1951) |
| Establishment | **認可 (authorisation) by the 所轄庁**, then 設立登記 — heavier than NPO 認証 or 一般法人 registration |
| Basic property (基本財産) | Must hold property sufficient to run the intended business; **for facility-operating corporations, ownership of the facility land/building is generally required** (a significant capital barrier) |
| Governing organs | **評議員会 (council)**, **理事会 (board of directors, 理事 6+)**, **監事 2+**; large corporations require an 会計監査人 (external accounting auditor) |
| Reform baseline | The **2016 社会福祉法 reform** mandated the 評議員会 as a decision organ, tightened governance, and introduced the **社会福祉充実残額** rule below |

The required 評議員会 + 理事会 + 監事 architecture mirrors the **independence design** of the foundation forms in [[non-profit/japan-general-foundation-establishment-requirements|Japan 一般財団法人 establishment requirements]], but with a higher minimum body count and a near-mandatory facility-ownership hurdle.

## 社会福祉充実残額 — the "surplus must be reinvested" rule

The 2016 reform attacked the perception that welfare corporations accumulated public-subsidy surpluses. The mechanism:

- Each year the corporation computes its **社会福祉充実残額** — net assets in excess of what is needed to continue and re-provision its services.
- A positive residual obliges the corporation to draw up a **社会福祉充実計画** and **spend the surplus on expanded or new welfare services** (or, in order of priority, community/public-benefit activities).

This is a distinctive **anti-accumulation** constraint not imposed on 一般財団 / 公益財団, reflecting the form's heavy reliance on介護報酬 and public subsidy.

## Tax treatment

| Lever | Treatment |
|---|---|
| Corporation tax | **公益法人等 treatment** — non-taxable except on enumerated 収益事業 (collateral profit-making business) run at standard rate |
| Donor income tax | Donations are **所得控除 OR 税額控除** eligible (a 特定公益増進法人), like a 公益財団 |
| Corporate donor | Expanded 損金算入枠 (beyond the general donation cap) |
| Inheritance tax | Donations from an estate deductible |
| Consumption tax | 介護・福祉サービス are largely **non-taxable (非課税)** supplies under the consumption-tax law |

So on the donor side the 社会福祉法人 sits **alongside 公益財団 and 認定NPO法人** as a deduction-bearing vehicle — see the donor-deduction matrix in [[non-profit/japan-nintei-npo-houjin-tax-benefits|Japan 認定NPO法人 tax benefits]].

## How it differs from the other non-profit forms

- **vs NPO法人** — a 社会福祉法人 may run **第一種** residential welfare; an NPO generally cannot. But the NPO form is far cheaper and faster to establish (no facility-ownership requirement).
- **vs 公益財団 / 公益社団** — both reach donor-deductibility, but the 社会福祉法人 is supervised under MHLW welfare law (介護・福祉 regulation), not the 公益認定等委員会, and carries the 社会福祉充実残額 reinvestment duty.
- **vs 医療法人** — adjacent "regulated-service" non-profit forms; the welfare corporation runs 福祉 services and the 医療法人 runs medical services, each under sector-specific statutes rather than the general 一般法人法.

## Strategic reading

- The **facility-ownership requirement** plus **認可** discretion makes the 社会福祉法人 the highest-barrier of the common non-profit forms — but it is the **only private route into 第一種 residential welfare**, which is why the form persists despite its burdens.
- The **社会福祉充実残額** rule means a welfare corporation cannot run as an endowment-accumulator the way a 一般財団 can; surpluses are policy-directed back into service expansion.
- For a mixed welfare group, the common pattern is a 社会福祉法人 for 第一種 facilities **plus** a separate NPO or company for 第二種 / ancillary services — the form choice is service-category-driven, exactly the "which vehicle" question framed in [[non-profit/japan-koeki-vs-general-zaidan-comparison|the cross-form comparison]].

## Related

- [[non-profit/INDEX|non-profit INDEX]]
- [[non-profit/japan-koeki-vs-general-zaidan-comparison|公益財団 vs 一般財団 vs 一般社団 vs NPO法人 comparison]]
- [[non-profit/japan-npo-houjin-overview|Japan NPO法人 overview]]
- [[non-profit/japan-nintei-npo-houjin-tax-benefits|Japan 認定NPO法人 tax benefits]]
- [[financial-regulators/fsa|FSA]]
- [[INDEX|FinWiki index]]

## Sources

- e-Gov 法令検索 — 社会福祉法: https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/326AC1000000045
- 厚生労働省 — 社会福祉法人制度: https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/seisakunitsuite/bunya/0000077928.html
- 国税庁 No.5275 — 公益法人等課税: https://www.nta.go.jp/taxes/shiraberu/taxanswer/hojin/5275.htm
- 独立行政法人福祉医療機構 (WAM): https://www.wam.go.jp/

> [!info] 校核状態
> confidence: likely. The statute family (社会福祉法), the 第一種/第二種 business split, the 2016-reform 評議員会 / 社会福祉充実残額 mechanics, and the 公益法人等 tax posture are public and stable. Exact body-count minima and facility-ownership practice can vary by 所轄庁 guidance; treat thresholds as the typical baseline, not a substitute for the current MHLW notice.