Where to seek professional advice on taxes

[Worrywart]

Hi,
Have been clueless about taxes till recently when I have to deal with my parents' properties under my name back in my home country. I now realize that even though I have treated those properties as essentially my parents', I may be reliable for taxes here in Japan such as rental income that basically went to my parents, and perhaps gift tax when they use my name to buy those properties years ago. As I combed through various places including this forum for information, I believe I may need to ask the tax office or seek professional help. Would asking the tax office bring undue attention to my situation? Where can I find reliable, inexpensive help. I am not a US citizen. Any kind of advice is much appreciated. Thanks.

[RetireJapan]

Interesting question. Lots of variables I believe:

1. are you a permanent resident of Japan for tax purposes (been here for over five years)?
2. were you one when the properties were bought?
3. is there a statute of limitations for taxes owed?

You can probably go and talk to the tax office hypothetically: 'I have a friend who' but I can't guarantee that won't trigger something

Anyone else?

[Worrywart]

Thanks Ben for your quick response.
Question1: yes
Question2: not sure what you mean
Question3: is there? I mean I am talking about 20 plus years of these properties under my name

[Worrywart]

Sorry, I understood question 2 after rereading it. Was I a PR then? Yes.

[goodandbadjapan]

I might be mistaken but I think if you are a UK citizen and got rental income for properties in your name in the UK you are supposed to report that income in the UK. Rental income is one of the few forms of income that you are liable for in the UK even when you live abroad. https://www.gov.uk/tax-uk-income-live-abroad/rent Now, you likely wouldn't have to pay any tax unless the rent was quite a lot, as you have your personal allowance of, I think, about 11k before anything is due. But you are supposed to report. Also, I assume that if you did pay tax there that there is some kind of system to ensure you don't pay tax twice. However, if you are not paying tax there the income would be taxable here. I don't know what sort of exemptions you might be able to get if you can show you didn't actually receive that income, though.

You haven't mentioned where you are from, though, so all that may well be irrelevant. If so, sorry!

If you aren't paying tax in your home country I think you will probably have been supposed to pay on it here.

[Worrywart]

Yes, things may get a little complicated and thus I would really like some recommendations on a reliable tax accountant. Are accountants also bound by client confidentiality?

[JapaneseMike]

Realistically you potentially have 2 tax liabilities, Japan and your home country. Ideally you want a Japanese accountant who knows about your country or (more likely) an accountant from your country who speaks Japanese and understands Japanese system.

You've said you're not liable for US tax so assume you're not US citizen and you've skillfully avoided the UK question in previous post. So really difficult to give non generic answers here...