RetireJapan

Hello there Japan Finance. I have a US rIRA with dividends and capital gain distributions. These are not cited on the 1099, but are visible in my Vanguard online account.

Just wondering- does anyone know definitively if I do or do not need to pay Japanese taxes on these?

So long as they are inside the rIRA, there is no taxable event. Only when you take money out of the rIRA, an Income Event, and therefore a Taxable Event occurs.

Thank you very much!

It seems to be a gray area--comment from elsewhere

"So in light of the US Treasury's Technical Explanation, and in the interests of rendering the US-Japan Tax Treaty coherent, I think there is a good foundation for the view that US-based IRAs held by Japanese residents are generally taxable only upon distribution, from the perspective of Japanese tax law. And as noted previously, this position seems to align with those expressed publicly by licensed professionals here and here."

which is what I said.
Only when you take money out of the rIRA (a Distribution), an Income Event, and therefore a Taxable Event occurs.

Thanks very much for these comments. I'm going to a CPA soon for help on my Japanese taxes. I'm concerned if I should not mention my rIRA at all to him, under fear that he will not understand what a rIRA is and recommend paying taxes on it, or mention it to him and he will say the rIRA is not currently taxable due to no withdrawals, or he will say the rIRA is taxable and I need to pay taxes on it (but it turns out he is incorrect).

Sometimes I think the truth is that no one really knows, and I shouldn't mention it until I do something that generates actual paperwork. These dividends and capital gains are not cited in any document because, as we've been saying, they're not a taxable event.

I think it also depends on the vibe I get from the guy and how well I trust that he knows the tax law and knows what a rIRA is.

Does anyone know a good Japanese phrase for "taxable event"?