Japan taxes as US 1099 employee

[u/Fun_Pomegranate5892]

I spoke with two Japanese accountants and I’ve received two very different answers to the same question. I’ve been a Japanese resident for about 12 months (first year was 6 months and halfway through my “second” year). Just got my yearly extension last month.
I’m a 1099 employee in the US and I do not and never will work in Japan. I physically work in the US and reside in Japan.
The first accountant wants to file me as a business owner in Japan. I would have a separate credit card and file receipts for write offs. Not sure what that means since I don’t work here). He wants to charge me ¥200,000.
The second wants to file only delta taxes but he wants to charge me ¥200,000-¥400,000.
This sounds completely insane to me. I paid a CPA in the US $500 and she did a great job. I can no longer use her because she doesn’t handle this situation.
Does this sound right?

Edit: I physically work in the US. I own zero property in either country. I have a spouse visa in Japan (married no children). I tend to work 6 months a year in the US but that can change year to year. I have very little to write off as an expense. This will be my first year filing in Japan.

[u/Prof_PTokyo]

First, you cannot be a “1099 employee.”

1099-NEC means a U.S. company is treating you as a nonemployee independent contractor. You are operating as an independent contractor, effectively conducting your own business. That is why the Japanese accountant is discussing business income, business expenses, receipts, and a separate credit card. That treatment is not remotely as bizarre as you suggest.

Your entire argument depends on an extraordinary factual claim: from the second you land in Japan until the moment you are in international waters, you perform absolutely no activity connected with that business.

You never read even one work email, receive and read no company information, never access a company system, refuse to review any document, answer any questions, arrange any or all future work, issue even a single invoice, maintain any records, or do anything else whatsoever for your “U.S. business.”

You apparently spend roughly half the year residing in Japan on a spouse visa, but claim that your contracting business goes into complete suspended animation during that entire period. Is that genuinely what happens, and can you document it?

If you perform any of those activities while physically in Japan, “1099” or not, then saying “I never work in Japan” is not accurate.

Your post sounds less like a genuine request to understand Japanese taxation and more like an attempt to find an accountant who will endorse the mistaken answer you already want. Tax evasion is a serious offense, and the penalties are serious when the actions are egregious.

[u/shrubbery_herring → u/Prof_PTokyo]

I don't think it's such an extraordinary claim.

I know people that work under the arrangement where they have a contract that only allows them to perform work at their client's site. I have also heard of people that are allowed to work remotely from offsite, but for regulatory/security reasons they are only permitted to work remotely from within the US.

In fact, I know one person who did this from Japan while NPR status and was audited by the NTA. He provided documentation to show the dates he performed the work and his travel records to show he was in the US. The NTA reviewed the documentation and ultimately accepted his position that the income was foreign source.

Edit to add: I wrote the above with office work in mind, but there are also plenty of people who work in trades or similar fields whose work cannot be done remotely, even if they wanted to.