Skip to content
Toritekihou Tools
Site language: English

Payment methods under the Toritekihou

What the Act and the JFTC operating standard allow and do not allow in paying the price, with the basis for each point. It applies to orders placed on or after 1 January 2026.

Promissory notes are banned

  • Handing over a promissory note as payment is prohibited (Act Art. 5(1)(ii)). The operating standard treats any note as a breach.
  • If a note was used anyway, delay interest runs to the note's maturity date, whether or not it was discounted (JFTC Q&A Q83).
  • When switching from notes to cash, setting the switch date at the old note's maturity date is a delay in payment (operating standard 2-10).

Electronically recorded claims, 一括決済 and factoring

  • 一括決済 (assignment of receivables as security, factoring, or concurrent assumption of debt) and 電子記録債権 (electronically recorded monetary claims) are prohibited where it is difficult to exchange them for cash equal to the full price by the payment date (Act Art. 5(1)(ii)).
  • Not allowed: maturity or settlement after the payment date, so that the supplier must discount or borrow to get cash on time. Even if the buyer pays the discount this is normally a breach (JFTC Q&A Q80).
  • Not allowed: the supplier bearing fees. This is a breach whether or not the supplier agreed (JFTC Q&A Q81).
  • Allowed: maturity or settlement on or before the payment date. If the receivable is not paid, the buyer must still pay by the payment date.
  • If the supplier pays a fee temporarily, it must be agreed in writing beforehand and refunded by the payment date (JFTC Q&A Q82). The safeguard that gives full cash on the payment date goes into the Article 7 records (Q71).
  • If you use 一括決済 or 電子記録債権, the Article 4 terms must include its details (the institution's name, the amount, the first day it can be drawn, the 電子記録債権 payment date and so on). The order form page lets you enter them.

Bank transfer fees cannot be deducted

  • Deducting the bank transfer fee from the price is an unlawful price cut, even if the supplier agreed (operating standard part 4, 3(1)(カ); JFTC Q&A Q99).
  • Pay the price in full, without the transfer fee deducted.

Rounding

  • Dropping only fractions of a yen (rounding half up or truncating) is fine. Truncating ¥1 or more, for example down to the nearest ¥100, is a price cut (JFTC Q&A Q98).

Orders placed up to 31 December 2025

  • Articles 4, 5, 6(2) and 10 apply to orders placed on or after 1 January 2026. Earlier orders stay under the old Subcontract Act rules (Supplementary Provisions Art. 2(2)).

Write the Article 4 order form

Read on 9 November 2026: the Act, the cabinet order, the JFTC rule on Article 4 terms, the rule setting the rates under Art. 6(1) and (2), and the rule on Article 7 records, on e-Gov 法令検索; the JFTC operating standard, Q&A, textbook (November 2025) and diagnosis tools; and the Cabinet Office list of national holidays.

This tool works from the text of the Act and JFTC documents. It is information, not legal advice. For your own case ask the JFTC or a lawyer.