GuiTsu wrote: ↑Wed Feb 14, 2024 1:16 pm
ahah I am too lazy so I found that.
https://www.nta.go.jp/taxes/shiraberu/k ... 107_02.pdf
"(*4) Persons whose jurisdiction of residence is Japan are required to indicate their jurisdiction of residence as "Japan."
In that case, "My
Number (Personal Identity Number)" is not required."
The cited document only appears to be relevant to self-certification for accounts located in Japan; it does not cover accounts located in other countries. (Also note that the US is not a CRS participant -- it relies on FATCA -- so the IRS page you cite in the other post isn't directly connected to CRS reporting.)
As noted by Deep Blue, the CRS involves the automatic exchange of account information between OECD members, and for Japan tax residents, a My Number is the means by which that is accomplished. The OECD identification of a My Number with the taxpayer identification number (TIN) used for the CRS can be found in
this document.
The document notes that "a Reporting Financial Institution, that is located in a jurisdiction which has not become a party to the Multilateral Convention on the Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters or with which Japan has not concluded a bilateral tax treaty, is not required to collect information on individual numbers of residents of Japan for the purpose of automatic exchange of information based on the CRS." However, according to
this OECD page 147 jurisdictions currently participate in the convention, including all OECD members, all BRICS, and all G20 countries, which means that providing your My Number will normally be required for Japan tax residents who open or maintain an account overseas (Japanese nationals who are tax resident in another jurisdiction would presumably not be required to provide the number, since they are likely no longer tax resident in Japan).
Legally speaking, then, Japan tax residents aren't required to provide their My Number to
Japanese financial institutions for the purpose of self-certification under the CRS (Japan is moving toward mandatory linking of My Numbers with accounts at Japanese financial institutions, but it isn't there yet). Thus, the current
Mizuho CRS self-certification form -- like those at other Japanese banks -- does not collect a My Number from Japan tax residents, although account holders must still report their Japan-tax-resident status. Once My Numbers are legally required to be linked to bank accounts, I suspect that this exceptional treatment will change.
This policy, however, is irrelevant to the information Japan tax residents must report to financial institutions located abroad. You have to check the local requirements to be sure -- exceptions do apparently exist -- but if you are a Japan tax resident with an account at an overseas financial institution in a CRS country, the odds are that you will be required to report your My Number as the equivalent of the CRS TIN. (
Here, for example is the CRS self-certification form required by Barclays Bank, which mandates all account holders to declare their tax residency AND provide a TIN unless one is unavailable.) Banks are also within their rights to request documentary verification of the declared tax residency.
