Any need to notify about foreign bank a/c?

[Tokyo35]

Hello and thanks in advance for replies ...

Background to the question:
I have been living in Japan for 35 years (since aged 22). I have a bank account in my home country (Ireland) and keep a few thousand euros in it to pay for occasional spending with a credit card from that bank. The account uses the address of the house in which I grew up and where family members still live. I have never sent money from Japan to Ireland but did send money to Japan about 20 years ago. The money in the account there comes from small (3,000 euro per annum) gifts from my mother. That amount is enough for my needs. It only contains about 1,000 euro at the moment.

Question:
Am I supposed to have told my Japanese bank (or tax authorities) about the existence of that Irish bank account?
If yes, what rule does it come under? And what kind of trouble might I be in for not having told them so far? I never remember receiving a request to mention a foreign account.
If no, will transferring up to 100,000 euro to that account later this month (which I intend to then gift to two siblings) trigger a query about the account?
Would I be better off telling my bank here (SMBC) about the Irish account before starting the money transfer process?

Regards, M.

[RetireJapan]

I don't think so. You have to declare the existence of foreing assets abroad once they go over 50m yen. Gift tax for residents of Japan starts once you go over 1.1m yen a year, so yearly 3,000 EUR gifts should be okay.

Sending your own money abroad is fine, and any gift implications would be solely on the receiving end...

Anyone else?

[Beaglehound]

I agree with Ben that there is no need to notify any authority here about the existence of a bank account in Ireland.

Only possible problem is that technically you should be declaring any interest from that account to the tax authorities here as it is overseas source income and you are a permanent resident for tax purposes.

[Tokyo35]

I agree with Ben that there is no need to notify any authority here about the existence of a bank account in Ireland.

Only possible problem is that technically you should be declaring any interest from that account to the tax authorities here as it is overseas source income and you are a permanent resident for tax purposes.

Good point about interest. Even in these days of 0.001% interest.

[RetireJapan]

Good point about interest. Even in these days of 0.001% interest.

That is a good point, but at the same time I have a bank account in the UK that might generate a few pennies a year in interest. I haven't bothered to declare that so far and don't plan to in the future. I can't see the tax office here caring about that even if they do find out about it.

Given some responses I've had in the past from tax officials, I can only imagine a sigh and a 'don't bother me with that' hand signal.

Or would it matter?

[TBS]

Question:
Am I supposed to have told my Japanese bank (or tax authorities) about the existence of that Irish bank account?
If yes, what rule does it come under?

Echo what everyone else has said, but will add that Ireland is part of the Common Reporting Standard (CRS). So the way this currently works is you don't tell the Japanese bank or tax authorities about the existence of your Irish account, but the Irish bank may request your My Number if they suspect you are a Japan tax resident. Currently it sounds like they have no reason to suspect this, but after a large transfer arrives from a Japanese account in your name, they may twig and come asking about your tax residence.

The could create an issue if the Irish bank does not allow non-residents to hold accounts. Maybe check their policy on this beforehand...

Another small point is that your usage of the Irish account so far you may technically have created some FX liabilities to the Japanese tax authority. But in line with what RetireJapan said, the sums involved are small and would not likely be of any interest to them.

[Tokyo35]

Question:
Am I supposed to have told my Japanese bank (or tax authorities) about the existence of that Irish bank account?
If yes, what rule does it come under?

Echo what everyone else has said, but will add that Ireland is part of the Common Reporting Standard (CRS). So the way this currently works is you don't tell the Japanese bank or tax authorities about the existence of your Irish account, but the Irish bank may request your My Number if they suspect you are a Japan tax resident. Currently it sounds like they have no reason to suspect this, but after a large transfer arrives from a Japanese account in your name, they may twig and come asking about your tax residence.

The could create an issue if the Irish bank does not allow non-residents to hold accounts. Maybe check their policy on this beforehand...

Another small point is that your usage of the Irish account so far you may technically have created some FX liabilities to the Japanese tax authority. But in line with what RetireJapan said, the sums involved are small and would not likely be of any interest to them.

Thanks to Retire Japan for your comments and also to TBS. It was the CRS that TBS mentioned that was at the back of my mind when I posted my question initially. I heard about it a few years ago but did not react to it.

I will do some investigating. Thanks again.

[Wales4rugbyWC23]

If you have kept your address in Ireland as you registered address with the bank, you do not need to worry about anything. If you tell them your Japanese address expect some questions about your 'My number' I do the same as you and with internet banking it is easy to operate your bank account from Japan.

[RetireJapan]

My UK accounts have my Japanese address on them and have been notified of my My Number

[Tokyo35]

If you have kept your address in Ireland as you registered address with the bank, you do not need to worry about anything. If you tell them your Japanese address expect some questions about your 'My number' I do the same as you and with internet banking it is easy to operate your bank account from Japan.

Hello Wales4rugby,

But as others have said, transferring a lot of money to my account in Ireland might trigger some questions. I wonder if I would avoid waking sleeping dogs by transferring money to both siblings directly from Japan?

M