Japan tax guides for foreign residents and overseas owners
Plain-English guides written from Japanese tax rules. Each one tells you what you can do yourself and where you need a professional.
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Who has to file, and how your tax status works.
Do Foreigners Need to File a Tax Return in Japan?
Who must file a Japanese tax return, who does not, and what changes if you live abroad.
Non-Permanent Resident or Non-Resident? Japan Tax Status
The three tax statuses, the two five-year counts, and what the remittance rule really covers.
Japan Taxes and Your Visa: The 2026 Immigration Guidelines
What the 2026 immigration guidelines say about taxes, when each one applies, and how to fix a missed return.
How to Hire a Japanese Tax Accountant for Foreign Income
The steps to hire a Japanese tax accountant by email, from your tax status to documents, yen conversion and tax agents.
Property
Japanese property owned from overseas, and overseas property owned from Japan.
Non-Resident Selling Japanese Property: 10.21% Withholding
How the 10.21% withholding works when you sell property in Japan from abroad, and how your tax return settles it.
Non-Resident Landlords in Japan: 20.42% Rent Withholding
When a tenant withholds 20.42% from your rent, and how non-resident landlords settle it on a Japanese tax return.
Do You Need a Tax Agent (Nozei Kanrinin) in Japan?
What a tax agent does, when you need one, how to notify the tax office, and why a refund goes to the agent's account.
Selling Overseas Property While Living in Japan: Tax Guide
How a resident of Japan reports an overseas property sale: yen conversion, the gain in yen, and the foreign tax credit limit.
Stock compensation and overseas accounts
RSUs, stock options, foreign brokers and overseas assets.
RSU and Stock Option Tax in Japan: When You Are Taxed
How to check your withholding slip, when RSUs and stock options are taxed, and why your share cost is not zero.
Do You Need a Tax Accountant for RSUs in Japan?
When you can handle RSUs yourself, what sales, foreign accounts and job changes add, and what the English service costs.
Why Your Broker Statement Does Not Match Your Japan Return
How yen conversion, average cost, RSU salary and non-permanent resident rules change the number on your broker statement.
December 31 Checklist for Overseas Accounts in Japan
Who must file Japan's Report of Foreign Assets, which assets count, and what to record on December 31.
Leaving Japan
What to do before and after you move abroad.
Japan Tax Return When You Move Abroad: Deadlines, Tax Agents
When a year-end adjustment is enough, how a tax agent changes your deadline, and what to do about resident tax when you leave Japan.
Japan's Exit Tax on Securities: ¥100 Million Test, Deferral
Who the exit tax covers, why its 5-year count differs from non-permanent resident status, what you pay, and how deferral works.
Freelance work and side income
Self-employment, side jobs and more than one employer.
Two Employers in Japan: Do You Need to File a Tax Return?
How the ¥200,000 and ¥1.5 million tests work when you have two employers, and why filing can still get tax back.
Your First Tax Return as a Foreign Freelancer in Japan
Who must file, the two forms to send early, blue or white returns, and how to work out your income in yen.
Side Income in Japan: The ¥200,000 Rule for Employees
When employees can skip a tax return, why the test uses income and not sales, and why resident tax still applies.
Refunds and deductions
Deductions you can claim and how to fix a past return.
Need a return prepared?
We prepare and file Japanese tax returns for individuals. We work by email, in written English.