• United States IRS tax returns August 28 - 5:49 am

There is a page on preparing Japanese tax returns (which are due every year on about 15 March) at:

http://www.tokyowithkids.com/fyi/taxes.html

US citizens are required to prepare US tax returns (in this case in addition to their Japanese tax returns) regardless of where they reside. Are there any other countries that require their citizens to do this?

Canadians are not required to file an income tax return as long as they have declared themselves nonresidents (meaning no home/dependents etc. in Canada).

Yesterday I went to the Shibuya Tax office at:
101 Udagawa-cho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
03-3463-9181

The place was dead (they aren't offically open for assistance until March 1st. Hours from March 1st to March 15th are Monday to Friday 9-noon and 1-4pm).

It was great. An advisor sat
down and went through everything with me. He helped me claim my National Health insurance premiums and a variety of other stuff, including my childbith clinic costs AND transportation to the doctor.

I was able to get my income pretty low which, I realize after a few years here that it is REALLY important to do. Your health insurance premiums, tax refund and resident tax (as well as lots of other potential stuff) all ride on this so it's very important to work hard on it.

To sum - if you want good advisor help, now's the time to go!

By the way, I live in Arakawa-ku but the guy was happy to help anyway. He did fill out a reception form noting that I had been there and he mentioned that the form would be sent to Arakawa-ku, showing that I had received help.

Another foreign tax office to visit is:

Azabu Tax Office
3-3-5 Nishi-Azabu. Minato-ku, Tokyo
03-3403-0591

Lastly,
Yokohama-Naka Tax Office
37-9 Yamashita-cho, Naka-ku, Yokohama-shi
045-651-1321

If you have any general questions on Japanese national tax, you can call the Tax Councel Office of the Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau in English Mon-Fri from 9-noon and 1-5 at 03-3821-9070. Just a warning though that I called an advisor here the other day and nearly keeled over in frustration! I'd recommend going in person, despite the hassle.

PS Tax office in Japanese is "Zeimusho".
Good luck!! Karen

By Karen on Friday, February 15, 2002 - 03:19 pm:
I should add that the advisors that I spoke to in Shibuya spoke great English.

hi! Can anyone pls. advise me with taxation in Japan. I have been here for 2 yrs. and my employer always filed my taxes. Do I still have to file my own?

Thank you very much for your assistance.

There is a relevant comment on your question at:
http://www.tokyowithkids.com/fyi/taxes.html

Dear Betty, I think Phillipines is the one other country in the whole world that requires even it's overseas citizens to file tax returns.

Here is a helpful link discussing Japanese taxes for foreign workers living in Japan. http://www2.gol.com/users/jpc/Japan/taxes.htm

For those of you in need: 2005 Income Tax Guide for Foreigners
http://www.nta.go.jp/category/english/itg/05.pdf

Hey, anyone out there can answer this for me? What's the white slip called in Japanese that shows how much you were paid and how much was deducted for the previous year (that you are supposed to get at the end of January from all the places you worked for)? This would be the closest Japanese equivalent to a U.S.A. W-2 form I guess.

The Japanese word is gen sen cho shu hyo.
If you need the kanji, I'm not sure about it.

Most companies just call it "gensen cho" for short and here are the kanji:
���򒥎��[
Glad this season is nearly done!

I got yet another variation on what it is called from someone at work:
Gensenshosaishomeisho ����ڍ׏ؖ���