Generali Utmost International Vision Policy Termination

[gaijin86]

Silversurfer>> The guy who ran Banner ... lived then in a huge and expensive apartment in Omotesando, Tokyo, a high-rent area.

I am having problems with fund I bought from Banner. Has anyone else there been totally fleeced by Banner? (I mean get nothing back on one of their investments).

[Wales4rugbyWC23]

I just recently completed the surrender process for my Vision policy. Got my final bonus payment then cashed out.

Funds were transferred into my Japanese bank account. I made some small gains on the investment so now wondering what I need to do regarding tax. Does anyone here know what I need to report? And how do I go about reporting it?

How many years had you been contributing?

[tiubhart]

I was contributing for almost 11 years.

[beanhead]

Agreed it’s not the best of returns. But, I will continue with it as it’s quite a lump sum now and don’t think I want to try to bring it into JP.

The implication of the part I put in bold is that bringing it into Japan will create some responsibility to pay tax on the gains.
My understanding is that once those gains are realized, you owe Japan tax on them anyway, even if they remain in Jersey or Cuba or wherever in $ or GBP etc.

[Wales4rugbyWC23]

I was contributing for almost 11 years.

I would not bring it into Japan. I sent it to the UK. You just got the 10 year bonus? Were you paying in yen?

[tiubhart]

I was contributing for almost 11 years.

I would not bring it into Japan. I sent it to the UK. You just got the 10 year bonus? Were you paying in yen?

I got the 10 year bonus before surrendering the policy. I was paying in yen and that was then going into a US dollar fund. After policy surrender, the funds were transferred to my JPN bank account in Yen. Bad move?

[goodandbadjapan]

I was contributing for almost 11 years.

I would not bring it into Japan. I sent it to the UK. You just got the 10 year bonus? Were you paying in yen?

I got the 10 year bonus before surrendering the policy. I was paying in yen and that was then going into a US dollar fund. After policy surrender, the funds were transferred to my JPN bank account in Yen. Bad move?

No, not a bad move as if you are a tax resident in Japan you have to pay tax on the gains no matter where the money is. I had the same policy, cashed in after 10 years and simply reported the gain to my accountant who included it in my tax return. You were paying in yen and got yen back so I think you just simply subtract the amount put in from the amount taken out and submit the balance as your gain.

[Tsumitate Wrestler]

I have a friend who is a well known foreign journalist in Japan. I would love for him to do a cautionary piece on this kind of predatory scheme. He may be amenable.

Would that article be worthwhile? Would anyone comment off or on the record?

*It is definitely not me as you can tell by my terrible prose/grammar.

[Wales4rugbyWC23]

I would not bring it into Japan. I sent it to the UK. You just got the 10 year bonus? Were you paying in yen?

I got the 10 year bonus before surrendering the policy. I was paying in yen and that was then going into a US dollar fund. After policy surrender, the funds were transferred to my JPN bank account in Yen. Bad move?

No, not a bad move as if you are a tax resident in Japan you have to pay tax on the gains no matter where the money is. I had the same policy, cashed in after 10 years and simply reported the gain to my accountant who included it in my tax return. You were paying in yen and got yen back so I think you just simply subtract the amount put in from the amount taken out and submit the balance as your gain.

A lot of that supposed 10 year bonus is just a recycling of the upfront management fees that you paid at the beginning. I made hardly anything over 10 years but sent it from Hong Kong to the UK and I had been paying in yen at the time of Brexit, so made a bit on the good Sterling yen exchange. If you are tranferring a bit to Japan in one go, I think you might be contacted by the Japanese tax office.

Thanks to the great work of Retire Japan, most long term expat residents in Japan are not investing in those so called 'offshore' investments, any longer.

[tiubhart]

I got the 10 year bonus before surrendering the policy. I was paying in yen and that was then going into a US dollar fund. After policy surrender, the funds were transferred to my JPN bank account in Yen. Bad move?

No, not a bad move as if you are a tax resident in Japan you have to pay tax on the gains no matter where the money is. I had the same policy, cashed in after 10 years and simply reported the gain to my accountant who included it in my tax return. You were paying in yen and got yen back so I think you just simply subtract the amount put in from the amount taken out and submit the balance as your gain.

A lot of that supposed 10 year bonus is just a recycling of the upfront management fees that you paid at the beginning. I made hardly anything over 10 years but sent it from Hong Kong to the UK and I had been paying in yen at the time of Brexit, so made a bit on the good Sterling yen exchange. If you are tranferring a bit to Japan in one go, I think you might be contacted by the Japanese tax office.

Thanks to the great work of Retire Japan, most long term expat residents in Japan are not investing in those so called 'offshore' investments, any longer.

Thank you for your insight! I totally agree about the bonus. It really feels like little more than a payback of some of the initial charges and fees. Those fees were pretty brutal, so I’m more than happy to be finished with it.

Regarding the tax situation in Japan, I’ve already filed taxes through my company for last year. Since the surrender payment was deposited into my bank on December 30th, I assume I need to include it in my tax return. Should I ask my company if they can refile my tax return for the past year, or should I just wait to be contacted by the tax office? I don’t want anyone thinking I’m trying to hide anything, but I’m not sure if my company will be willing to assist with the paperwork again.

Speaking of paperwork, do I need documents to show how much I paid into the policy versus the final payment? Apologies for all the very basic questions. As you can probably tell, I’m quite new to all things investing. Hopefully, with some further research on the Retire Japan forum and site, I’ll improve.