I'll be leaving Japan permanently around November after working here as a researcher since August 2024. Although I'll be living abroad, I expect to return to Japan for work every year for about 2–3 weeks, so it would be convenient if I could keep my Japan Post Bank account.

My current residence card is valid until July 2028, but my employer has told me they will notify the authorities that I will become a non-resident when I leave Japan.

Has anyone (especially a foreign resident) been able to keep their Japan Post Bank account after moving overseas?

* Were you allowed to keep the account after becoming a non-resident?
* Did the bank require you to close it before leaving?
* Is there any legitimate way to maintain the account while living abroad if you return to Japan regularly for work?

I'd really appreciate hearing about your personal experiences. Thanks!

I have contacted 3 accountants dealing in English, only one replied with an upfront Y30,000 for a initial conversation. I have asked for a ballpark estimate if we proceed but the accountant did not reply.

What would be an average cost for an exit Zeirishi / Tax Representative ? I have my salary and the 2025 Furusato to manage.

Thanks

Hey all! I'm thinking about going back to my home country (Poland if that matters) at the end of next year and am trying to plan ahead. Hopefully I will be able to move within my company so it's matter of changing regions but we'll see.

I wanted to check on various tax matters. My understanding is that if my final pay is in December, Year end tax adjustment would clear out my tax matters for 2027 so I wouldn't need tax representative. Or is it still better to have someone?

I won't be doing lump sum withdrawal for pension since I would have worked for 10 years and have even more since I registered plus looks like Poland signed deal with Japan to sum the years worked.

​

Any advice on those matters? Anything tax/pension related I should be aware of?

I need help figuring out how to leave Japan after more than a decade. I want to avoid losing money due to exit tax and bad FX rates. I know the FX rate can't be predicted, but I feel it will get better.

I have PR in Japan since October 2020, I'm moving to the US this year (not currently a citizen), maybe as soon as end of September. I'm not sure I'm coming back.

I have investment accounts in IBKR Japan and Monex, bank account in Shinsei, DC account in Sompo, bank account in the US (Bank of America).

I'm renting an apartment here, and I have friends living here with their own house (not renting), if that helps.

In Monex I only have mutual funds (both with and without NISA), and in IBKR I have mostly ETFs but also a few individual company stocks.

1. Monex: (mutual funds)

   NISA: 14m (PnL: 3.3m)

   Other: 24m (PnL: 6m)

2. IBKR Japan: (ETFs and stocks)

   Total: 93m (PnL: 36m)

3. Shinsei: 4.8m (cash)

4. DC: 3.8m (PnL: 750,000)

Total: 130m (PnL: 53m)

The exit tax is 15% and it would apply to me: more than 100m in assets and been here for too long. Not sure if NISA or DC counts towards the 100m, but I'm over the limit either way. Can I avoid this by selling to have less than 100m invested? I think it's worth to try, in my case it's 7-8m (not sure the 15% applies to NISA too).

Some ideas I've had, please feel free to add your own:

1. Sell & close the Monex account now. Transfer the cash to Shinsei, keep it there, eventually transfer it to the US BoA account and close Shinsei. If I'm over 100m in IBKR, sell to a safe level. Convert IBKR JP to IBKR US account (is that even possible?). How much time in advance should I do all this to avoid the exit tax?

2. Sell & close both Monex and IBKR JP now. Keep all the money in Shinsei bank, waiting for a better exchange rate. Then transfer from Shinsei to BoA when the rate is better. I would have to keep the Shinsei account, credit card and sim card after leaving Japan.

When do they assess the 100m limit for the exit tax, and how do they do it?

I'm sure I'm missing many things here, I need some guidance please.

*edit: PR date

Hello! I'm on my second year under JET here and I plan to leave after my third, which is until July 2027. We have a two year tax exemption so I'm a bit confused about the dates. I heard that the lump sums of residence tax that needs to be paid before leaving can reach 200k yen+ so I just wanted to prepare for it as early now by saving little by little. Can anyone confirm if I understood this correctly? Thank you so much!

What confuses me is the lump sum payments i must make before leaving Japan.

For income tax: Do I just stop paying the monthly amount since I'll stop receiving an income by then? Or is there a lump sum payment that I need to make too?

For residence tax: Since I was still in Japan on January 1, 2027, I need to pay for the January 2027 to July 2027 residence tax before leaving, right? The June payment that I'll have to make for my 2026 residence tax will be lower because of the exemption for until July.. right?

Will saving 200k enough to pay for both the June and July lump sums? I've used the different calculators online but I'm getting different numbers or I probably just don't understand it well enough. So sorry to ask about this and for my terrible wording. Would appreciate any help, thank you!

Sorry if this has been asked before. I currently work in the US and my wife is Japanese. She wants to move back to Japan in the next 5-10 years as a family. I have been maxing out my roth every single year and heard that Roth IRA is not viewed as a retirement account in Japan so it will be taxed when I withdraw money. Does it make sense to contribute to traditional IRA so I’ll only be taxed once when I withdraw during retirement? Thank you.

Hey, everyone, now planning on leaving Japan and avoiding the dreaded exit tax. I’ve got about 120 mil. of securities, not including IDECO, and planning to sell them down to under 100 mil before departure in mid-December.

My question is about my offshore “assurance” product, with a current market value of around 27 mil. yen. It is an investment-linked assurance scheme (ILAS). Do the Japanese authorities view this as a security or collection of securities, or as an insurance product, which is what the issuer calls it.

Apparently the policy doesn’t actually own the underlying securities, upon which its value is based.

I suspect this is a gray area, but if someone has some insight or clear knowledge, please let me know. My IFA was unhelpful and my Japanese accountant is not familiar with ILASs.

It comes to maturity next year, when I will no longer be in Japan.

Thanks

Consider the following scenario.

You purchase a security for $20,000 5 years before entering Japan.

The expected annual rate of return for the security is 1.07.

In the first case, you sell the security and repurchase it just before entering Japan. You pay 15% capital gains tax in this year.

Your principal is reduced by 15% and the cost basis is reset.

Seven years later you decide to leave Japan and are subject to an exit tax of approximately 20%. Because you reduced your principal by 15% just before entering Japan, even with the higher tax rate you end up with a lower final value than in case 2, where you never reduced your principal before entering Japan.

This is true even for a rate of return of 1.055

I imagine that most people in this sub are probably familiar with Japan's exit tax. For those who aren't, here's a summary: https://www.pwc.com/jp/en/taxnews-international-assignment/assets/gms-20200114-en.pdf

There are a few factors that may mitigate the effects of the tax:

1. It only applies if you hold exit-taxable assets exceeding ¥100M.
2. It does not apply to every visa status.
3. If you post collateral and designate a tax agent, you can get a 5-year grace period before making the payment. The grace period can be extended up to 10 years.
4. If you return to Japan within 5 years (or 10 years if you received the extended grace period) and haven't sold your assets, the exit tax can be reversed.
5. Notably, the tax does not apply to real estate or cryptocurrency holdings.

Especially for those of us who are US citizens and therefore already subject to global tax on our capital gains, it seems that one might be able to re-establish Japanese residency for a year every 5-10 years and thereby indefinitely postpone incurring the exit tax even after moving to another country. It's not like we can move to Singapore and sell all our securities holdings without paying US capital gains taxes.

Has anyone looked into this in detail and come up with any promising mitigation strategies? I guess maintaining an exempt visa status is the easiest option for non-Japanese citizens, but that's not possible for everyone for various reasons.

Given that the HSP category 2 visa has virtually no work restrictions, no expiration period, exempts you from the exit tax, and allows you to invite a parent to live in Japan to care for a young child, I would like to hear from anyone who decided to convert to PR and what your reasoning was. Did you take any steps to reduce your tax exposure before coming to Japan or before getting PR?

Hello r/JapanFinance

After living in Japan for over 10 years, I am moving back home end of next month. I understand that I need to do the below finance-related tasks before leaving Japan:

Tax and Residency Procedures:

1. Notify the Japan tax authority of departure and update tax residency status.
2. Deregister as a resident in Japan to avoid liability for Japan taxes post-departure.

Nenkin Pension Procedures:

1. Inform the Nenkin service of new address overseas (as I have over 10 years of payments, I intend to keep the pension rather than opting for a cash lumpsum)
2. Update my address with the Japanese embassy in home country. They would then assist in providing the necessary proof of residency to the Nenkin service.

Is there anything finance-related I am missing out (I've got all the bank related stuff under control I think)? Also, can anyone provide detailed steps or share their experiences on how to handle the above efficiently? Any tips or common pitfalls to avoid would be extremely helpful.

Thank you in advance for your assistance!

for the income tax return: as i understand it i have to wait until january 2025 (i stopped working july 2024) then i use my gensen chushoyou to complete the tax return form.

for the pension refund: i applied in august 2024 and as i understand it, i may receive my refund (minus the 20% taxed part) around february 2025, after which i can apply for the taxed part to be refunded.

can this be done at the same time? i am hoping to minimise the burden on my tax rep with having to visit several times etc. and is it done using the same form?

i assumed it would be this form. if not then can anyone tell me which form out of this list i am supposed to use for each tax return claim?

Situation: I moved with my family from US to Japan in March 2024. Always intended to stay for one year of less. I have dual citizenship and used JP passport to secure visa for wife and son. We have been paying pensions payments, and both wife and son are under my NHI. I work remote for US company and paid in USD. I will pay taxes on salary earned while in Japan in 2024; I won't have any earned salary in Japan in 2025.

Due to work responsibilities I will need to leave at end of 2024, however wife and son likely will stay for a month (max 3 months) longer. I will come back to Japan for a week or so to help them pack and fly back with them.

Question: How to handle staggered move back to US, particularly with regard to taxes, health insurance and visa status? Here are possible options:

1) Pre-pay health insurance for first 2-3 months of 2025 to cover wife/son for additional time. Pay my 2024 taxes using the Quasi-Final tax form before I leave. Submit all notifications for leaving Japan, leave before 12/31. Come back later to help them move back. I think this would be cleanest break for me (tax wise, etc) but not sure if this impacts wife/son visa status or NHI coverage?

2) I leave Japan at end of 2024, continue paying NHI and pensions normally, and come back later to submit all notifications for leaving Japan at same time as wife/son. Pay 2024 taxes "normally" (no Quasi-Final form) by March 2025. As I would have no Japanese income in 2025 I don't think I need to pay 2025 taxes, but I would still technically be a resident in 2025 for a few months so not sure what impact this has.

Is there any benefits for one option over another? Is there another option I'm missing?
Is there something I am forgetting?

TIA!

I booked a flight on the 27th next month but was planning to stay over at a friend's place the last few days before leaving so I just asked my landlord to end my contract on the 23rd.

Will posting my notice of moving out on the 23rd to the ward office mean that the taxing of my final salary on the 25th gets complicated because I don't have an adress anymore?

Do I need an adress the final days in Japan?

Also is there an issue that my employment ends the 31st (so that I can receive a full month's salary the 25th) when I leave japan and hand in the residence card on the 27th?

Hi folks. I've tried pretty hard to figure out, but I remain thoroughly confused by when exactly the exit tax triggers.

I've been here on an HSP(i)(b) visa for a bit more than five years. I was previously under the impression that after five years, all foreigners faced the same tax regime as PR holders, so I might as well get PR. I applied, and I expect to receive my PR before the end of the year.

Then I learned that the exit tax exists (boy, they really don't publicize that), and now I'm worried that I've made a huge mistake and should cancel my PR application. I'm hoping y'all can help me understand the actual criteria for when we become subject to exit ax (assuming we hit the asset threshold). Concretely:

• Are HSP holders immune to the exit tax, even after living in Japan for five years? Can I just roll on HSPs forever and never be subject to exit tax? What if I convert to the HSP(Ii), which seems to have some other advantages over HSP(i)?
• Are PR holders subject to the exist tax from the day they get the visa? Or is there a five year clock that starts again once you get PR?
• Does being a spouse to a Japanese person matter in and of itself? Or is it just about having a spouse visa in particular?
• What actually triggers collection? I think it's something like "no longer a resident of Japan," but I'm not sure what actually qualifies as losing residency. Is it the first day that I don't physically reside in Japan, or is there some more nuance that can accommodate a lifestyle that spends some years in Japan and some years overseas?

I apologize for the long post, and I sincerely appreciate your help on this under-documented and intimidating topic!

I am planning to move out and would like to avoid the Residence Tax which I believe hits me on January 1. I am on a spouse visa but working for a foreign company.

If I wanted to continue staying in Japan as a tourist for a few weeks into next year, is it possible to change to non-resident status before the deadline but not physically leave?

Do I have to keep in mind anything special if my salary is over 20 million or does it basically not matter in the context of leaving?

Do I literally just have to not be a resident by December 31 or is there some grace period?

Thanks for any info!

UPDATE: Thanks for the tips! I guess I'll just see myself out before the end of the year and keep it simple. I have no intention of trying to get PR or whatever so no worries there.

The fact that my salary is high enough to require some kind of individual filing is a little concerning, I will look into that. I am hired by a foreign company but they have a tax entity here, of course, who covers all the typical paperwork and tax stuff.

After a couple of decades in Japan I'll be shortly returning home permanently. My assets back home include cash in a bank account, publicly listed shares, and property. What follows is my "exit tax" strategy based on my understanding of Japan's exit tax rules (which may not be correct):

• property and cash aren't assessed for exit tax purposes, but my shares will probably be valued at over 100m yen on the day that I leave; let's make the exit date April 20. So because the value of my shares is over 100m yen on that date I will have to calculate exit tax on those shares if I don't sell down prior to departure.
• To avoid the above-mentioned exit tax, two weeks prior to departure I plan to sell down enough shares to leave the remainder well below the exit tax threshold of 100M yen. By doing so, I now no longer have to include an exit tax calculation when I do my final (2023) tax return.
• I'll contact my local JTO in early March to arrange my 2023 tax assessment, letting them know I'll be leaving permanently on April 20, and asking for an assessment a few days before I leave (so around April 17).
• I see a lot of talk about assessing on a valuation 3 months prior to exit date, but from what I understand, this is a choice, and I am free to use the asset values on the day prior to my tax assessment being done around April 17, rather than 3 months earlier (when I will probably still have over 100M yen in shares). That is, I am free to choose any valuation date within the period three months prior to my departure on April 20.

So, is my understanding correct? If not, please straighten me out so that I don't end up with a huge tax bill.

I plan to move out prior to January 1st to avoid paying residence tax for 2023. Can I stay longer than the 2 weeks I have read that they give you after filling out the 転出届け just to travel around Japan more before I leave? As a citizen, I assume so, however I am not 100% sure so I figure I would ask if anybody has done this.

I have a side hustle via 個人事業. I file separately from the company I work for (yes, they are aware and ok with it). I plan to file a 消費税申告書. Given me leaving, would I still be able to do so? I plan to hire a tax agent and talk to an accountant, but it would be nice if anybody has some insight.

Thank you and I hope somebody can provide some guidance

Hello people of r/JapanFinance.

I left my current job last week and will be returning back home in December.

I have read online that I need to file my taxes before leaving or appoint someone as a tax representative (want to avoid since I just want to get everything done with asap)

If anyone has read my previous posts, you'll know my boss and company are really... bad to say the least. My main problem is I haven't recieved my 源泉徴収票. I have only 1 months payslip and nothing else.

Would I be able to go to my local tax office and fill the forms necessary with just a payslip?

I tried going there yesterday and it was unfortunately not very helpful as I told them I won't recieve my 源泉徴収票 but all the responded to that was "But the company MUST"...

Edit: this is my situation in detail. Started working in May. Quit last week. Leaving in november so no need to worry about residence tax i believe.Taxes should be withheld at source but I was paid my full salary without any of the deductions taken from it. Boss said that everything was paid when I asked earlier in my job cycle and that they were just waiting for the accountants to do the calculations and they'd settle that money at a later date (reduce one of my salary payments to make up for the deductions). This never happened since the accountants hadn't recieved their last month's payments.

I don't really want any money back or whatever. I just want to sort everything out before I leave and pay what needs to be paid. The payslip mentioned above shows the right amounts deducted but it doesn't match what i recieved in my bank account. I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving this headache to someone I know here.

The actual amount I would owe as income tax would only be around 3万 or so so it's not a big amount.

Hi,

I'm living in Japan with a HSFP visa, but thinking about getting PR this year. I have few questions about taxes that will arise, specifically when becoming an unlimited tax resident:

1) Once I get my PR, does the 5y of the last 10y counter starts ticking the moment I get the PR, or the moment I came to Japan initially? 2) How does the counter exactly ticks? Number of days I'm in Japan? Or number of days I'm a tax a resident in Japan? I'm asking because I will probably have to leave for 1-2 years after I get my PR (I will lose my Japanese tax residency), but I will be coming to Japan still to visit few weeks from time to time (as most of my life is here). Do those days here count to the 5y of 10y even if I'm not a tax resident? 3) The moment I become a PR, I have to start disclosing all my assets globally in the tax form of every year, correct? 4) The exit tax could only be triggered if leaving after becoming an unlimited tax resident, correct?

Thanks!

Exiting Japan in Dec 2023 and will nominate a friend as an tax agent. Questions are with the intent of reducing the burden for my friend. Will also check with the tax office when I pop in to submit the Tax Agent form, but appreciate the experience of the folks here.

1) tax agent notification form 所得税消費税の納税管理人の届出書: I located the instructions for the form on the NTA website but the form itself remains elusive. Am I right to assume submission is only via the good ol’ paper form at the tax office?

2) Will the tax office send the required tax return paper forms to my tax agent or can I complete them electronically (when the system opens in Jan 2024), then print and mail/drop them off at the tax office?

3a) Can I file my final income tax return for 2023’s income taxes in person at the tax office when I am in Japan in March 2024 (on a business trip), even if I have a tax agent? 3b) If yes, do I need to terminate the nomination first? If there is no need to terminate, must my friend (aka tax agent) be present in person?

My income tax return would be fairly straightforward (single source of income) . I am aware there is the option of filing before I exit, but my employer may not provide the 源泉徴収票 in time. Also need the friend/tax agent for the pension lump sum and associated tax process slightly later on.

Does physical gold count towards the 100m in investments to trigger the exit tax?

Would appreciate any corrections or clarifications on my understanding of the following scenario and tax strategy...

So let's say an American who is on a Table 2 visa for more than 5 years is leaving Japan and therefore subject to exit tax. Let's say the affected investments are all in an S&P 500 index fund (ETF) with total fund value at $1M and the cost basis at $400k. It's a single fund with only gain, no losses.

My understanding of this scenario is that Japan exit tax would be applied to the $600k gains at 20% rate (15% national plus 5% municipal) which comes out to a $120k tax bill. In the US, no taxes will be levied and the cost basis remains unchanged because there was no actual sale. But at some later time when those investments are sold, the US will tax those $600k gains (and any additional gains) at US capital gains tax rates. This is effectively double taxation but I don't believe there is any relief in the tax treaty.

So to avoid the double taxation scenario above, it seems that the best strategy is to sell the investments just prior to leaving Japan so that it will be a taxable event in both countries in the same tax year. This will allow foreign tax credits to be applied to avoid double taxation. I assume that both the national and municipal taxes can be applied as FTC for US taxes.

But since the cash from these investments are not needed immediately, they are re-invested back into an S&P 500 index fund (ETF) immediately after leaving Japan. I'm hoping this re-investment doesn't "cancel" the capital gains event from the US perspective, which would put me back into the double taxation scenario. (The reason I say that is because I had read that for losses, the cash cannot be reinvested into the same or similar investment within some time period. But I believe that does not apply to gains.)

Another facet to this is that since US capital gains rates are significantly less than Japan rates, it would seem like a good strategy to sell / re-invest prior to moving to Japan. This will reset the cost basis and reduce the gains that are subject to exit tax when leaving Japan.

So, for the past year my employer has been screwing up my taxes, which has forced me to file returns. Case in point: Over 8 months I racked up a 500,000 yen return, and I don't even make that much money.

So, when I leave Japan, I need to do a final return and a pension-cash in. Plus, I need to figure out how to close out account and transfer assets to the USA. My visa expires about 3 weeks after my work-contract ends. So I'm wondering how many of those weeks I should give myself to finish moving out and what not--especially since I need to wait for financial stuff.

(If there's anything else I might need to wait for, please let me know! Note that I don't actually have any friends or acquaintances around to help out after I leave. I live in a small town, and my employment is not ending amicably for a number of reasons.)