RetireJapan

eyeswideshut wrote: ↑Wed Mar 29, 2023 2:48 am

I bought the flat in December 2020 which I think just qualifies me. Also, all property taxes are deductible. Stamp duty for buy to lets in the UK has become quite expensive over the last few years.

Definitely correct on the property taxes and basically all other fees and taxes related to the purchase, maintenance and management of the property. Those can all be used to create a loss that can be applied to your total income. But my understanding is that you cannot use depreciation expense on overseas properties from 2021 regardless of when they were purchased. In other words, 2020 was the last year this loophole could be used. So if you have been deducting depreciation for your flat in your 2022 and 2023 tax filings you may want to consult a professional just to confirm that this was done correctly.

I bought a place overseas in 2019 (wood-frame, 20+ years, accelerated depreciation over 4 years) and could only use the depreciation amount for the remaining months of 2019 and the full 12 months of 2020. I asked my accountant if there was any grandfathering exception and he said no. It was a hard closure on the loophole.

Tkydon wrote: ↑Tue Mar 28, 2023 2:34 pm I promised a 101 doc, so here it is. I'm sure others will offer opinions, suggestions, or corrections... Gratefully received...

I used Ken Corp before when I bought our house in Tokyo, I wonder if they can help out with this sort of thing.

TokyoWart wrote: ↑Mon Apr 10, 2023 8:57 am

I used Ken Corp before when I bought our house in Tokyo, I wonder if they can help out with this sort of thing.

I would recommend caution in using Ken Corp. A few years back I was considering a move and had a few real estate firms give me an estimate on the value of our home which is located in the kind of neighborhood in Tokyo that Ken Corporation tends to work in. The estimate from Ken Corp was about 60 million yen less than the other firms and they were the least easy to work with. It might have been an unlucky experience with one bad agent but I would not trust Ken Corp for anything after that experience.

I had a great experience with them, they were professional, easy to work with and even buying the property as a non-resident went smoothly with no issues. Wouldn't hestitate to recommend them!