Thank-you for this in depth response and it clarifies that everything is quite unsure I'll of course be asking are various ward offices etc to see what the proper route is, but as is often the case in Japan I'm not sure if I will be able to get a clear answer. As long as I can keep my pension and pick up where I have left off when I return I will be happy.ClearAsMud wrote: ↑Sun Mar 20, 2022 10:42 pm Unfortunately, it's unlikely that many of us here share the experience of being an active company owner working outside of Japan as a full-time employee while periodically returning to the country -- on the employer's dime -- to pick up some side income. Intuition says that defining the extent of the tax obligations of such a "resident" is complicated, to say the least -- issues involving tax residence, double taxation, application of tax treaties, corporate tax regulations, possible differences in treatment between income tax and residence tax, etc., etc. I suspect that you may face a challenge in finding a qualified tax advisor (I have no suggestions to offer), but I would say that one is clearly necessary.
Whether or not you are registered/classified as a resident determines your tax liability and various social-insurance obligations. As for your regular income-tax return, residents are expected to enter their officially registered address on the return, which is submitted to the tax office with jurisdiction over that address (this is how it gets routed to the correct municipality). For someone with PR status, retaining residence means retaining your "resident other than non-permanent resident" tax status, which in principle causes your worldwide income, regardless of source, to be treated as taxable (it's not a simple case of "what goes on in Australia stays in Australia"). Tax credits and deductions can be used to avoid double taxation. I frankly have no idea how the NTA would look at a return from a "resident" who appears to be employed full-time by a foreign entity in a foreign country. Would the NTA simply accept your reporting of employment income and tax withholding as if you were working in Japan? How are you going to treat expat benefits (free flights back to Japan)? Do you plan to claim a foreign tax credit in Japan for taxes paid in Thailand? Would you or someone else be around to deal with possible inquiries from the tax office regarding your overseas employment? What are Thailand's tax laws regarding their residents with non-Thai income? These are only some of the questions that need to be addressed.
The basic situation regarding residence tax has been described well in previous posts: you are assessed the tax annually based on the location of your registered address on January 1. If you do not have a registered address on that date -- meaning in practice that before January 1, you have notified your municipal authority of your intent to reside overseas for over a year and have actually left the country -- you are not assessed residence tax for the previous calendar year. Other consequences also ensue from submitting official notification: 1) coverage under the various national social-insurance programs is lost (the National Pension account remains valid, and the period spent overseas is counted toward pension eligibility, but payments may not be made except in the case of Japanese citizens, who, as noted elsewhere, can continue to pay on a voluntary basis; Japanese company employees sent abroad may also be able to continue enrollment in some programs); 2) some banks may ask you to close your account (if you tell them); 3) new credit cards cannot be applied for; 4) new life-insurance and health-insurance policies cannot be taken out; 5) your My Number card will be invalidated (not the number, the card itself).
If you do not submit official notification of your intention to reside overseas for more than a year, 1) you remain liable in principle for income tax and residence tax tax on all your income, Japan-sourced and foreign-sourced, regardless of your physical presence on January 1; 2) you are obligated to continue payments for both the National Pension and National Health Insurance, and also for kaigo hoken if you are over 40 years old; 3) you will in principle be unable to receive official certification of residence overseas (needed for remote pension and inheritance procedures, registering real estate, selling vehicles, and school transfers and entrance-exam applications; it's the equivalent of an overseas jūminhyō and would be used by a Japanese citizen hoping to make voluntary pension payments). Of course, if you have family and/or trusted friends in Japan, or if you can return to the country on short notice, these drawbacks may not present major obstacles or, in the case of pension payments, may not even be viewed as liabilities. And there's nothing to stop you from submitting notification from overseas by mail (short-termers no doubt become long-termers pretty often). Since you are currently a full-time employee in Japan, your employer will likely arrange a change back to the national social-insurance programs. Your remaining residence tax from 2021 (payable from June 2022 to May 2023) can either be taken from your final salary/taishokukin or will be billed to you in Japan (although the tax from your retirement month is likely to be withheld by your employer in either case).
More could be added, but it can be seen that an individual's intentions are involved and that a one-year absence is used as a rule of thumb for whether or not notification should be submitted. It should also be remembered that municipalities themselves may implement different policies regarding notification. Indeed, since notification typically results in a loss of tax revenue, some municipalities apparently even recommend NOT submitting notification, at least for Japanese citizens who may be returning at some time in the not-too-distant future. So despite the nominal legal requirement to submit notification of moving overseas (some online sites refer to a possible fine of 50,000 yen for failing to do so), no adverse consequences are likely to result from continuing to perform the normal duties of a taxpaying resident while overseas for two years, at least with respect to residence tax and social insurance.
I think the paucity of responses to your last post is an indication of the complexity involved and further suggests the need for professional consultation before leaving the country. Information provided on a forum like this -- including the information in this post -- can only be regarded as a rough general guide.
Much appreciated