Japanese Individual Tax Return for Non-permanent Resident (Part 1)

Molly
2020.01.09
1,058 views

What is Individual Tax Return for Non-permanent Resident?

If you are a foreign employee working in a Japanese company, your employer should make your year-end adjustment thus a final income tax return is not required. You would receive an official document from your employer so keep it safe.

If you are a foreign employee who are receiving salaries and bonuses in Japan and abroad, they shall file a final income tax return. However, only the portion of your income which paid in Japan is taxable.

Finally, if you are a foreigner who runs a own business in Japan, you defiantly need to file your final income tax return.

Japanese tax year and when to file your final income tax return

Japanese tax year starts from 1^st of January and it ends on 31^st of Dec! It is very simple! You are obligated to file your return from 16^th of February to 15^th of March every year.

Where should you go to file your final income tax return?

You can file your final income tax return at council offices under “tax counter” or one of the branches of National Tax Agency. (www.nta.go.jp) Moreover, if you have any questions about filing your final income tax return, you can visit those government offices any time. During the filing season every year, some of those offices offer additional officers for people who would need help to file their returns so its better to ask professional help if you need one! They would be happy to double check your filled form before your submission. They also have PCs to do the return electrically.

Two different reasons for your final income tax return

1 return + refund= final income tax return: people who are not be able to do year-end adjustment including people who are earning more than 2,000,000 yen a year.

2 refund only for fixed tax payers : people who would need to adjust excess in their tax payment including people who might be able to claim back expensive hospital treatment fees over 100,000 yen, the first home purchasing and paying tax outside of your local residence. (this is not mandatory)

Are there any penalties ?

Of course, taxmen are there to catch people who are not submitting the right paper work. If you do not file your tax return on time even thought if you are obligated to so do, your penalty fee would be added to your tax account automatically. The percentage of penalty is depending on how much is your tax amount. On top of that, there is a late fee which would go up day by day! So It is very important to remember to file your final income tax return on time!! You have a month to do so, remember that every year!

In the next article, you can ready about little bit more about how you file your final income tax return. But if you have any specific questions about tax or how to save your tax, it is highly recommended to get a legit tax adviser.