RetireJapan

Many thanks for the discouraging news that U.S. citizens can't take advantage of the new NISA accounts for passive investing. And thanks too for the link to Interactive Brokers Japan.

Yikes! Just my luck. Will take your advice and abandon ship without delay. Do you know of any steady (eMaxis-type) passive world stock funds U.S. citizens can purchase through SBI without getting stressed out by the IRS or milked by tax filing services? And, can you point me in the direction of inte...

What is this Awful PFIC rule? I'm an American who just opened a new nisa account with SBI (took forever). I purchased a bunch of the UFJ eMaxis series, but just noticed this thread about Americans being required to file lenghty and complicated PFIC tax forms. Is this something an online tax service ...

Many thanks. I'll give it a shot. It's totally outrageous that the IRS makes is so complicated and expensive just to file a tax return.

Would you happen to know if U.S. citizens are required to report capital gains or dividends that accrue within a NISA account?

Retired U.S. citizen, permanent resident in Japan. Been using an online tax service to file U.S. taxes for years. Prices go up occasionally, but this year they hiked the price an additional $300 to file form 8588 (Foreign Disregarded Entity). In 2023 my wife gave a zoom talk for a university in the ...

Yes,thanks. I haven't tried to open a new Japan bank account in a while so was surprised by recent requirement. Apparently SSN still not required for bank accounts already opened before new rules took effect. Again, many thanks for the information and ideas.

Yeah, seems totally weird to require so much time and money for minor paperwork. I went to a different, bigger bank and was told that if I already have a will they could take care of everything easily, but they require my U.S. Social Security number to open a new account. I file my FATCA information...

Many thanks. I'll check out that Lawyer's site. The bank person who told me this said it's because my wife and I have American citizenship which requires the bank to obtain an additional U.S. death certificate and to confirm whether or not I have a different U.S. will at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo. T...

I’m a longtime resident of Japan but was recently astonished when my bank told me it would take at least a year and cost about ¥1,200,000 for my wife to access my bank accounts after I die. I had had a will leaving my assets to my wife drawn up and had it notarized by the Japanese Notary Office, but...