Furusato Nozei: Worth It?

[sutebayashi]

For better or worse, I think the benefits are higher the higher one's income is.

I think it's definitely worth it, depending on how you approach it.

Late last year in December, I did a single furusato nozei / donation - maxed up to the estimated limit for my income (websites have calculators for this).

I am now writing this comment on the laptop computer I received in return, a few weeks later in January.

I do kakutei shinkoku pretty much every year anyway (due to some other income), and so deal with the tax matters then. I think I typically get my tax return back in mid-April.

So yes I did essentially pay tax upfront, but got a useful computer in return which I otherwise would not have, worth about 30% of the furusato nozei / donation. And I did not waste much time in dealing with this, since I went for a single big donation, rather than lots of smaller ones (I did that in prior years, which made it more of a hassle).
Conversely I doubt I would be able to reliably produce such a return by investing the money instead over the same period of time.

(This year, I'm scratching my head as to whether there is anything I actually need to donate in order to receive though.. for computer buffs you might prefer to buy a better spec computer than what you can get for your donation - it depends on your income though.)

[TokyoWart]

This thread is motivating me to finally try furusato nozei. Does anyone have any advice about doing it through Rakuten? I now have a Rakuten bank and securities account along with a debit card but I am confused about the best way to maximize points (buy with debit? just link to Rakuten bank? etc.). Any advice?

[Kanto]

This thread is motivating me to finally try furusato nozei. Does anyone have any advice about doing it through Rakuten? I now have a Rakuten bank and securities account along with a debit card but I am confused about the best way to maximize points (buy with debit? just link to Rakuten bank? etc.). Any advice?

I am also interested. I think having the Rakuten Credit card might help.

I have the "GOLD" version (More bronze really and I think there is a point multiplying effect.

[adamu]

I didn't use Rakuten, but as far as I can see it's just re-purposing Rakuten Ichiba, their standard shopping site, so the points work the same as always. Basically you get a higher point multiplier the more Rakuten services you use. I'd be careful about being brainwashed though - there's a tradeoff to how much mental effort you spend being a slave to Rakuten vs the few thousand yen rewards. Although considering the reward amounts involved here could get into the man-yen level, it's probably one of the few cases where it could be worth putting extra effort in. It almost feels like it's too good to be true actually, I'll be surprised if the same rates are still available next year.

Personally I actually prefer Furusato Choice as a company over Rakuten. Their website is better, they have more choice, and they seem like a nicer company (from first impressions using them this year). They are also specifically for Furusato Nozei, so probably much better when things go wrong. But money talks and this time next year I'll definitely be checking out how Rakuten compares to see if the points are worth it.

[Yokohama]

Yes, as Adamu mentioned Rakuten is basically serving Furusato Nozei items on Rakuten Ichiba, Rakuten's standard shopping site. Just include ふるさと納税 in your search query and you'll be able to find the find the Furusato Nozei item's available on Rakuten. If you register for a Shopping Marathon (買い物マラソン) you get 1% extra for each purchase made at a different shop (city in the case of Furusato Nozei) regardless of whether you buy a regular product or a Furusato Nozei item. So if you buy 3 items you get an additional 1% for the first item, 2% for the second item, 3% for the third item, etc. There is currently a Marathon ongoing until Wednesday 2AM, see https://event.rakuten.co.jp/campaign/po ... iak/guide/. Be careful, you need to register for the Marathon (just clicking the button on the Marathon campaign page) and the maximum number of points per Marathon is limited to 10,000 yen.

Tip 1: during a marathon, buy different items in order of smallest price to highest in order to apply the highest percentage you will receive in points to the most expensive items.
Tip 2: For advanced users, you can even buy cheap items (needs to be over 1000 yen) to increase the point percentage during a marathon and then buy the more expensive Furusato Nozei items thereafter applying the highest percentage points. For example, buy an item over 1000 yen during a marathon, locking in an extra 1% increase in additional points, and then buying e.g. a 10,000 yen Furusato Nozei item which will result in an additional 1000 yen, because of the previously bought 1000+ yen item, basically getting the 1000 yen item for free. Just remember the items need to be bought at different stores and there is an upper limit of only getting 10,000 yen as a result of the Marathon.
Tip 3: You can get other boosts in points (increases in percentages) if you use your Rakuten credit card, and/or use other Rakuten services, e.g. Rakuten Mobile, Rakuten Securities, pay your Rakuten credit card from your Rakuten bank account, etc. Usually an additional 1% per used service is applied to all your purchases, again including Furusato Nozei item's.

I now have a Rakuten bank and securities account along with a debit card but I am confused about the best way to maximize points (buy with debit? just link to Rakuten bank? etc.). Any advice?

Buy with your Rakuten credit card. If you install and purchase through the Rakuten shopping app, you also get an additional 0.5% in points. The app also shows your other point multipliers for using other Rakuten services or how to get those additional points on it's home screen:


I just realized Adamu provided a similar link in his post to see how much Rakuten points you get for using the various services: https://event.rakuten.co.jp/campaign/po ... day/point/

[TokyoWart]

Thank you both for this very helpful advice!

[seb]

Tip 1: during a marathon, buy different items in order of smallest price to highest in order to apply the highest percentage you will receive in points to the most expensive items.

My understanding of the Rakuten Marathon is that the points are calculated at the end, therefore the order of purchase doesn't matter. The points written in red on description pages correspond to the predicted value.

Tip 2 still stands though. I bought a nice PC screen for work (about 24,000¥), and bought stuff like a USB stick I kinda needed to save more money.

In the end though, I only saved ~500¥ on that PC screen compared to buying it on Amazon... So it is indeed a lot of headache just to get more points sometimes.

[Yokohama]

Tip 1: during a marathon, buy different items in order of smallest price to highest in order to apply the highest percentage you will receive in points to the most expensive items.

My understanding of the Rakuten Marathon is that the points are calculated at the end, therefore the order of purchase doesn't matter. The points written in red on description pages correspond to the predicted value.

You are right, that was a misunderstanding from my side. The Marathon event page mentions ※買いまわりの順番は問いません。, the order of purchases doesn't matter.

I think Rakuten is not strong in electronically items, often Amazon has better deals. For getting points of your Furusato Nozei items, I think it is still great

[N00bster]

For example, buy an item over 1000 yen during a marathon, locking in an extra 1% increase in additional points, and then buying e.g. a 10,000 yen Furusato Nozei item which will result in an additional 1000 yen, because of the previously bought 1000+ yen item, basically getting the 1000 yen item for free.

I may be missing something, but doesn't 1% of 10,000Y make 100Y, not 1,000Y?

[Yokohama]

Sorry, you are absolutely right! Thank you form pointing out my mistake.

I'm usually batch my Furusato Nozei purchases in batches of 100,000 yen during marathons throughout the year. Then buying cheap items of 1000+ yen to increase the points work out in a way that you get those items almost for free (1% of 100,000 yen). I was thinking about my own approach, but then incorrectly wrote about 1% of a single Furusato Nozei item of 10,000 yen in my example.