RetireJapan

Having joined Interactive Brokers last summer and having started investing in US ETFs for the first time, I have also received dividends for the first time. It is only a couple hundred in USD, so I shouldn't have to pay any tax to Uncle Sam as the amount falls well below the standard deduction. However, I want to check about the Japanese side of things.

I have read that if the amount is under 200000 JPY, one doesn't have to pay any national tax (correct?), but resident tax must still be paid. For those who have done so, which type of tax office did you visit to take care of things? Or was it able to be done online? What information did you need to present (totals/dates paid/exchange rates?) Also, when would it need to be paid by? I plan on taking a trip to the local tax office, but any advance advice would be appreciated.

Recent discussion:
https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanFinance/c ... _overseas/

Thanks! I looked back, but not far enough.

If you have invested in the US ETFs through a Japanese Broker, then taxes have already been withheld.
They will have withheld 15% National, 0.315% Reconstruction, and 5% Residents' Taxes.
If the Total income, other than your primary employment is less than Y200,000, then you do not need to do anything.

FlamingWombat wrote: ↑Thu Feb 10, 2022 8:37 am...
I have read that if the amount is under 200000 JPY, one doesn't have to pay any national tax (correct?), but resident tax must still be paid. ...

Yes, on the residence tax, you file that regardless. There are a couple conditions on the 200k/national requirements. One is that it applies if you are not otherwise required to file a return--eg, if your company does it for you. If there is some reason that you do file a return (company does not do it, two jobs, etc), then this 200k does need to be listed/included on the return that you file. The other condition (probably not important here) is that if your income is over 20M, then you have to do a return (company cannot do it for you), and since you'll be doing/submitting a return, the 200k has to be listed there.

Tkydon wrote: ↑Thu Feb 10, 2022 12:28 pm If you have invested in the US ETFs through a Japanese Broker, then taxes have already been withheld.
They will have withheld 15% National, 0.315% Reconstruction, and 5% Residents' Taxes.
If the Total income, other than your primary employment is less than Y200,000, then you do not need to do anything.

Investing through Interactive Brokers, not a Japanese broker.

captainspoke wrote: ↑Thu Feb 10, 2022 1:28 pm Yes, on the residence tax, you file that regardless. There are a couple conditions on the 200k/national requirements. One is that it applies if you are not otherwise required to file a return--eg, if your company does it for you. If there is some reason that you do file a return (company does not do it, two jobs, etc), then this 200k does need to be listed/included on the return that you file. The other condition (probably not important here) is that if your income is over 20M, then you have to do a return (company cannot do it for you), and since you'll be doing/submitting a return, the 200k has to be listed there.

One job and my company does my year-end filing for me. I've never had to do any of my own filing for the residence tax (and only 1 kakutei-shinkoku the first year after buying a house, as required). So, I am under the impression I have to file some kind of supplementary kakutei-shinkoku to account for my dividends.

Sorry to be annoying, and thanks to everyone who replied, but most of the replies apply to situations that aren't mine. I have received dividends through Interactive Brokers, therefore no Japanese taxes have been withheld; the amount of the dividends is a mere 5万円; and my one and only job does my year-end filing for me so I never normally file a kakutei-shinkoku. Any advice for this particular situation would be appreciated (as I simultaneously scour the Japanese tax sites).

Well, there's now a pinned tax-filing thread, and another for weekly questions on the JapanFinance sub reddit -- how about asking there?

I've read various things, and while our situations are somewhat close (more so in the past than now), I tend to focus on and remember what is personally relevant. So I don't want to comment on your specifics--I'd doubt the quality/accuracy of my answers for your situation, and don't have the expert knowledge to ask your details to tailor an answer. (Rambling on, in spite of some of my posts(!) is not my MO.)

One suggestion would be to go ahead and file on your own. Eventually (hopefully!) you'll be over the ¥200k threshold and then will have to do it. So why not now. This would give you a glimpse of running the gauntlet at the tax office, and/or seeing how it could be done on your phone.

My local tax office is taking reservations (corona control, it used to be first come, first served, and was jammed), done via their LINE app. My 'window' is 11-11:30 on Wednesday. No, don't even dream that it'll only take a half hour! Start to finish I'd guess 2, maybe 3 hours.

FlamingWombat wrote: ↑Sun Feb 13, 2022 2:46 am Sorry to be annoying, and thanks to everyone who replied, but most of the replies apply to situations that aren't mine. I have received dividends through Interactive Brokers, therefore no Japanese taxes have been withheld; the amount of the dividends is a mere 5万円; and my one and only job does my year-end filing for me so I never normally file a kakutei-shinkoku. Any advice for this particular situation would be appreciated (as I simultaneously scour the Japanese tax sites).

Yes, you should file a kakutei shinkoku.
The under 200k limit is for national income tax (所得税), but does not apply to local tax. So, for local tax purposes your city/ward will add it to your income for the year and take their cut accordingly...