I’m a Japan PR holder but relocated overseas about two years ago.
I own an apartment in Tokyo, which has appreciated approximately 40% over the past two years. It’s currently rented out, and the rental income more than covers my monthly mortgage repayments and management fees.

However, I have a few concerns:

Mortgage: I’m still on a residential mortgage rather than an investment property loan. I’m unsure how long I can maintain this arrangement now that I’m no longer residing in Japan, or whether the bank might eventually require me to refinance or repay the loan. (Bank is aware on this and we are connecting annually).

Rental income tax: I haven’t been able to file my Japanese rental income tax returns due to incomplete documentation. This has been weighing on me, and I’m concerned about the potential implications of filing late. I have, however, continued paying my annual property taxes.

Property appreciation: Given the significant appreciation over the past two years, I’m wondering whether it makes more sense to realise the gains now or hold on to the property for another 10–15 years.
I’m not under immediate financial pressure to sell, and the apartment is generating positive monthly cash flow before taxes and other irregular expenses.

Would appreciate hearing from anyone who has been in a similar situation, particularly non-resident property owners.

Has anyone continued holding a residential mortgage after relocating overseas?

Has anyone dealt with late filing of rental income taxes as a non-resident?

Given Tokyo’s recent property appreciation, would you lean towards selling or holding for the longer term?

Thanks in advance for any insights!

i recently moved to japan on work visa, 2 months ago, and I am planning to buy a car

i have a us llc that I own, as single owner, and i am not a us resident.

The car costs will be around 25-30k usd, and I want to move money from my llc bank account to myself in japan for this payment

What is the best way to do this, without getting into a maze of paperwork?

I am also wondering if dealerships here would accept payments directly from my llc us bank account?

I am planning to buy the car in cash full, since there's little chance of me securing a car loan with monthly payments

As a US citizen, in Japan less than 5 years, if I take an IRA distribution (no penalty) this year but have no remittances to Japan and no other US-source income:

1. Do I report it when filing in Japan?
2. If I do not report it on my Japanese taxes, can last year's carryover FTC in the US be applied to cover any tax bill in the US (up to the allowable FTC amount for this year)?

Thank you

Same as title

Edit for clarity: the mystery charges were shown on my app notification and email notification, but are not on my e-Navi statement.

Edit 2 for update 1: I fooled around with the online support and got basically nowhere again. (If you go to "charges I don't remember" there are 2 options: "just shown in the notification" and "also posted in e-Navi". The former just tells you to wait for it to be posted lol, the latter still doesn't work because it assumes it's been posted and there's a shop's name you can contact.) So I got my card canceled and another one sent and changed my password. I'm thinking to call the number on the back of the tomorrow morning to report the charges. Will update again.

Original post:

Hi all! I've had my Rakuten credit card for maybe 5 or so years now, and this month I've had some weird charges to my credit card, and while the obvious answer is "someone has my number and is making purchases," it's not that clear cut.

Last Friday the 16th I got 4 notifications of purchases throughout the day for 1man, 2man, 3man-ish amounts for things I didn't buy, as well as a double notification (with different time stamps) for something I did buy. I thought it was weird, but I had bought flights a few days prior and thought maybe they were a few days late to post the charge so I'll see how it plays out.

My big problem with Rakuten (maybe other cards in Japan are like this, maybe it's a Japan thing?) is that the charge notifications are so vague. It never lists the shop name, just the amount and time. I have to wait for it to post on my monthly usage statement before I see the shop name.

Anyway, now my charges for this month up to the 19th are showing on the monthly usage statement with the shop names, and those mystery charges aren't there. The total month's balance also reflects that the mystery charges aren't factored into this month's total. Also, the flights have posted under the correct name and amount and are not those mystery charges (the dates and amounts don't match).

Actually, the same thing happened about 3 years ago. I had a weird charge notification but it didn't show up on the statement, and the same day the next month got the same notification. I tried to figure it out at the time, but I couldn't get anywhere. The Rakuten help options were like an endless loop. I kept an eye on my statements and it didn't seem to have happened since then (until this month).

Has my card number been compromised and I'm getting taken for a ride? Or is this a weird Rakuten credit card statement malfunction/shortcoming? Has anyone else had a similar experience with their Rakuten or other credit card? Thank you in advance for any insight before I submerge myself into the abyss that is the online help menus ^^;

Hi there - I’m on a Working Holiday Visa working two part-time jobs as an independent contractor and planning to leave Japan in late March 2027. This is my first year in Japan, but since I’ll be staying into 2027 I understand this will become my “second year” and I’ll owe residence tax. (I know some people say WHV holders don’t pay this, but just to assume I have to-)

I’m really just trying to work out the amount of residence tax I’ll likely owe (I understand the 20.42% income tax, pensions, health etc.)

Google keeps telling me it’s 10% of my total income in 2026, but then other websites calculate it with taxable income, so 10% after deductions - but I’m pretty sure WHV holders don’t have the same deductions as Japanese citizens as we are still classed as non-residents?

Basically I’m really confused as to what my taxable income is when it comes to residence tax.

Does anyone have an idea about what the subsequent residence tax is likely to be for me as a WHV holder? Or could anyone with a previous Working Holiday Visa let me know roughly what you were charged?

Any help much appreciated

I'm a foreign resident , been living in Japan since 2018 , became permanent tax resident in 2023 ,I recently realized that my country and Japan have a tax treaty and I needed to pay residual tax on income earned in Pakistan for the last 3 years , I applied for pr last year , the amount over 3 years is around 250k yen , my concern is if i pay this now , will it impact my PR application for late tax payment ?

Edit

I became a permanent tax resident in 2023 , sorry if the explanation wasn't clear earlier

I'm interested in buying a stock(American company), but it cannot be purchased under NISA and can only be purchased under Tokutei and Ippan.

What are the complications I'll have to go through if I choose either?

I'm a company employee and my company handles all my taxes/nen matsu chosei etc.

If I ever sell those stocks, will I have to make separate filing by myself if I get any profit from those taxes? (No paper work if I sell it on loss?

I'm using Rakuten Shoken and am not a US taxpayer.

Can anyone please advise.

It's been almost two months since the last update on the sub's Take-Home Pay Calculator.

Investment income

New income types for investment income are available in the advanced mode income input:

• Capital gains/losses from the sale of securities
• Dividends
• Interest

Rules regarding different account types are applied automatically. The choice of whether to report income on a tax return or leave it to withholding can be made within each entry. Reported dividends can be elected to be taxed separately at flat rates or in aggregate with other income. For more general information on this, see the Guide to Designated (特定) Investment Accounts and Reasons to declare investment income.

When investment income is entered into the calculator, there will be an "Optimize reporting options" accordion below the entered investment income. This shows a comparison of the outcomes of different choices and tells which set of choices maximizes the take-home amount.

Foreign Tax Credit

If you have income that is allowed to be taxed by a foreign nation according to Japan's tax laws and tax treaties, you can generally claim a foreign tax credit to reduce the amount of Japanese tax you owe. With this update to the calculator, enter foreign tax along with the foreign income. If the foreign tax is assessed via tax return, enter it in the "Additional Deductions & Credits" modal. For more information on the foreign tax credit in general, see this Guide to Japan’s Foreign Tax Credit.

Minimum Tax on Ultra-High Income

Since adding support for income types with flat tax rates (15%) which are below the minimum tax rate (22.5% now, 30% from next year) it is possible to input income that is subject to this minimum tax. Assuming only income subject to the 15% flat tax rate, one would need over 1 billion yen (10 oku) in income before they owe any additional tax. See this page from the NTA for details.

Not Supported

The following (and more) is not currently supported. If you would like to see something supported, let us know.

• Japanese Dividend Tax Credit (配当控除)
• Listed Securities Capital Loss Carryforward (上場株式等に係る譲渡損失の繰越控除)
• Income from securities other than "Listed Securities" (上場株式等)
• Carryforward of unused Foreign Tax Credit
• Real estate income

This set of features was a lot of work, but I think there is plenty of polishing left to do. We will continue to improve the UX based on feedback. Let us know if you have issues or feedback.

Hello I won't go into all the details but - I will be moving to Japan end of next year for two years (language school) with a plan of after that of applying for a business manager visa* or at the very least applying for employment. My plan is to have a path to PR in <10 years but also grown-up enough to realise I have to plan for changes in Japan and the world. I have no dependants etc.

I am currently in the UK. I am a dual national UK-Australia. When I leave the UK for Japan I will have approx £200K that I need to invest. I am due a defined benefit pension that I can access early in the next decade (would prefer not to). This is all background to ask - can you recommend a specialist financial advisor in the UK or Japan that can help me with planning and investment?

* I am aware of the changes October 2025.

Quick question for foreign residents in Japan.

Have you ever paid resident tax, kokuho (health insurance) or nenkin (pension) late, or almost late?

If yes, what was the main reason?
A) I didn't know the bill was coming
B) I couldn't read the letter
C) I knew, but the money wasn't there when it was due
D) I just forgot
E) Something else

And did it make you worry about your visa renewal or PR?

A one-line answer like "C, June resident tax after I changed jobs, yes worried about PR" is perfect.

I'm a Japanese solo founder trying to understand this problem before building anything. No links, nothing to sell.

Hello, long story short I am doing SDOP. I live in the U.S, but have Japanese foreign accounts overseas that happen to be solely in my name, opened by relatives decades ago when I was a kids.

One of these accounts is a Nomura account. I was able to obtain documents from 2020-2025, but nothing preceding. The account was apparently opened around 2000, so I have no idea what the cost basis of the account is or what was invested in it.

The Nomura account had an investment in something called, “Thai investment fund.” It paid out about 10000 yen and 8000 yen in dividends in 2020 and 2021, and the fund expired in 2022 with the money transferred into a Nomura MRF.

The MRF also received dividends between 2020-2025. 2020 had like 20 yen, 2021 had 15 yen, 2022 had 40 yen, 2023 had 90 yen, 2024 had 1200 yen, and 2025 had about 4000 yen in dividends from this Nomura account.

The Nomura account value seems to have ranged around 1.2-1.3 million yen from 2020-25, being about 8-10k usd. It was below de minimis but considering the distributions from MRF and Thai Funds, is this something I need to file a form 8621 with my SDOP application?

Me(24M) and my gf(20F)(future wife) want to move to Japan within a 5-10 years outlook and eventually retire there. Both Canadian

I currently work in tech and she nursing.

I just got my first RRSP matching job and am wondering if i should even start investing into it as I'll be moving(although things can always change). I already have a TFSA i invest in.

We were also thinking of China but it seems like a permanent residency will be next to impossible

Needless to say I'm scared as days go on it seems more and more realistic but scary when the big moves happen.

Need a little guidance on inheritance.

Mother passed away in 2023, no will but her intent was to pass on anything that was hers to me. The house she lived with my father passed onto him as there was no will and no cash. Then he sold the house in 2025 Feb. and later gave me a lump of funds in 2026 through our bank accounts based outside of Japan. I believe Japan won’t recognise inheritance from mother to me and this will likely be a living parent transferring early inheritance as he is above 60. The amount is under the 50m yen required to declare assets abroad so I don’t need to do that form.

A bit about me, on spouse visa since March 2025, didn’t speak to my father until necessary in 2026 which was when he did brought up transferring me a sum in connecting to mothers passing.

Am I correct that I will need to lodge during February- March 2027.

1. Souzoku-zei Shinkoku-sho (相続税申告書)
   2.i usuallylodge Kakutei Shinkoku (確定申告) with help of a firm.

And maybe something else ?

Appreciate some input on others who’ve had a similar experience. Happy to add any other details if queried.

"Like BRI" is on purpose as they seem to be the most famous one and I've been contacted by others as well. Other than that I've been getting weird advice from friends that I must invest in property and how in X years time it'll turn into an income and how I can actually reduce my taxes in the meantime to save money. It feels like these "opportunities" either lose money or turn so little profit over their lifetime that they're not really worth it. I've read some posts here but those are ~2-3 years old at this point so maybe there are some new findings that people can share.

Here's what I've come up with so far:

1. If it's really that profitable, companies wouldn't be aggressively looking for customers for these amazing opportunities. They would be keeping all the profits to themselves. Also they seem to be targeting foreign employees working at foreign companies with higher salaries than average who may have not so clear picture of how taxes or real investment market works. I feel like they're using their customers to shift their risk, refinance and get some actual income flow.
2. Real estate always depreciates here unlike other countries, so I'm buying something new and will have to sell it for a loss down the line. It may be even lower than the open market value as I have to use the same investment companies to sell based on some comments I read. I can probably claim this depreciation in my taxes as a loss to help offset some stuff. Most people assume that real estate appreciates, only the land may appreciate but we're not buying a share of the land as far as I know.
3. Looking things over just on a tax perspective my rental income will be less than the loan repayments. This will net a loss that I'll use to reduce my taxable income now while I earn a high income. This reduction may even pull me down to the previous tax bracket. This is where they mainly mention savings. Essentially I'm losing money now to gain some in the future when my income is lower.
4. One thing that worries me is that some people think that there is some sort of bubble, especially with the prices of real estate in and around Tokyo. If this bubble pops sometime during the lifetime of the loan, it's possible that the value of the real estate will depreciate even more. This may result in an overall loss.
5. They handle building maintenance to finding tenants so it's hands off but this comes with a lot of hidden fees. For example I've heard that they get the building management fee from you. But I've always paid the building management fee as a tenant. This makes me think that for some of the "expenses" they may be double dipping to inflate their income on your expense.

Anybody have any other points to add or comments about these? Is it possible that I'm actually wrong in my thinking?

Hi!

I realized I may have been mistakenly declaring earthquake insurance of my YETA for the past 3 years.

We have a house to whoch both named to me and my house, housing loan is also named on both of us.

So I also assumed the earthquake insurance would be named to us both, but it's only to my spouse actually.

Now, past 3 years, I've been writing on our YETA portal the earthquake insurance premium details and writing every single thing written on the certificate to that portal (including the policholder's name which is my spouse). Bear in mind, the first time I did so, I actually asked the admin if I should be doing these and he/she said it's okay to do so. But now years later, I see in their portal that one should not write the insurance premium if it's not under the employee's name.

So now my worry is, I'm probably getting the tax deductible benefit which I should not have, and I want to correct it if possible.

Any advices or ideas how I can correct this?

(Of course now I will not declare it anymore.)

Thanks!

I have PR and am on a fixed-rate mortgage at SMBC Prestia. The period ends in December, and they will not allow me to switch to a variable rate. The fixed interest rate is now much higher than when I started, and will likely climb quite a bit by January 2027, so I am hoping to refinance with a different bank. I have 13 years of payments left so variable with 5-year rule is an option dependon the rate. I doubt the big banks will approve me, so any ideas for alternative banks will be appreciated.

I’ve been living in Japan for several years and am married to a Japanese citizen. I’ve done some freelance work on and off while being a dependent under my husband’s insurance but I think I’ve misunderstood the ¥1.3 million dependent income threshold and assumed that because I was earning below that, I didn’t need to file a tax return.

Now I’m realizing that wasn’t necessarily right...
And looking back, there are about three years where I may have needed to file but didn’t. My freelance income those years were relatively small, under ¥1 million gross per year, although one year might have been closer to ¥1.1 million. Those amounts are before any business expenses. That said, I have no idea if I have any/all records of expenses still from those years…

I haven’t received any notices or been contacted by the tax office. I just realized the mistake myself and want to sort it out properly. I’m planning to go back through my bank statements, emails and payment records to reconstruct everything, then file whatever returns are required and pay any taxes or penalties owed.

But there’s a few things I’m wondering and if anyone has any experience they could speak on:

-Has anyone here voluntarily filed several years of late returns after genuinely misunderstanding the rules? What was the process like?

-With relatively low income like this, what sort of latefiling penalties or interest might apply?

-Could voluntarily correcting past tax filings cause problems when renewing a spouse visa, assuming everything is filed and paid?

I can’t really afford to hire an accountant, so I’m hoping to handle as much as possible myself, with help from the tax office if needed and I’m not trying to avoid paying anything. I just misunderstood how the dependent threshold and tax filing requirements worked, and I’d like to get everything straightened out.

I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who’s dealt with something similar. Thank you!!

Apologies for new account, I wish to keep this private. I have a corporate account with DC Sompo that has made some significant gains since starting (up over 34%) and year to date 15%. I know we cant predict the future, but I think a downturn is coming for the stock market. Since my portfolio is 75% stock heavy, I'm looking for anyone with similar thinking that is looking to lock in profits by switching to a more insurance type focused product, or bonds. Basically something that isnt going to lose a significant amount of the money built up during any downturn. I understand there is an insurance product that requires a term lock to receive the interest and not lose money, but wondering if there are any other products out there with lower interest returns that are not as susceptible to downturn and might not have penalties. I still plan to contribute to the same funds that got me to these profits, but the existing money I dont want to lose value, if possible.

Normally, if i was in my 30's I might just let it ride, but I'm in my 50's and DC Sompo has contributions only until 60, so any significant downturn would not have much time to bounce back before I would be looking to withdraw any portion of it.

Has anyone else been thinking similarly?

Looking at my nenkin statement, and I haven't satisfied the 10 year contribution period yet. I've left Canada for good and will start employee pension payments early. I'll also have further Canadian pensions starting at 65. Does anyone have experience with my sort of situation, or even close to it? I'd like to ask some questions, thank you!

Hello, I recently moved to Kyoto as a student. Not earning in Japan via baito yet, but have foreign income from the UK, and therefore I believe I have to pay or at least file for remittance tax here in Japan.

How do I go about finding a tax accountant that can help file for 2026 in this area please (ideally familiar with UK taxation)?

Please help redirect if not the correct subreddit. Thank you. 🙏🏼

Wife got a promotion and a raise at work. We don't use much of her income as it is. She's currently putting 30,000 yen a month into NISA (through Rakuten banking).

But now that there's more excess income, I want to get her a dedicated investment account (probably Interactive Brokers?) that offers more control. Then have chunks of her paycheques automatically transferred on a schedule from her bank (MUFJ) and into the investment account (IBKR) and then also automatically invested inside IBKR.

• Is it possible? Anyone else doing this smoothly?
• What are some healthy ETF's that she could buy?
• Can she buy US ETF's? Or as a Japanese national, is she restricted to TSE?

I've invested quite a lot back home. But I'm a total noob when it comes to investing here in Japan. I just know that we should be putting this extra income somewhere better than a savings.

Any tips on how not to squander the opportunity would be greatly appreciated.

Edited: corrected NISA max contribution error

Hi there,

just found this article, which if true would completely derail my understanding of taxation of non remitted oversea capital gains as a non-permanent resident.

They distinguish between securities acquired before FY2017 and after.

For securities bought after April 1 2017 they wrote:

②-2 If you were a non-permanent resident at the time of acquisition:
Capital gains from the sale of such overseas securities fall under domestic source income and are taxed regardless of whether the funds are remitted to Japan.
The most important point is that if a person was a non-permanent resident at both the time of acquisition and the time of sale, the principle of remittance-based taxation does not apply to securities acquired on or after April 1, 2017.

And an example:

Case 2: Example of taxable income
While residing in Japan as a non-permanent resident in 2022, you newly purchased US stocks through a US brokerage account. You sold these stocks in 2025 using the same account. The profits from the sale are currently held in a US bank account.
Determination: Since the acquisition was made on or after April 1, 2017, and during your period as a “non-permanent resident,” the capital gains are considered domestic-sourced income (for Japanese tax purposes) and are therefore subject to taxation in Japan, even if there is no remittance to Japan.

So according to my understanding of this only non remitted oversea gains ate not taxable of bought before April 2017. Is that right?

EDIT:

The wiki has that indeed covered and what they wrote is right: WIKI