Reverse expat, impact on investments?

[mighty58]

First post on this forum, which I've been lurking in for a while.

So I'm a foreigner but am your typical career-track seishain at megacorp Japanese company. There's been some talk that I could be sent overseas for a stint, likely 3-5 years, as an expat sent from Japan. The assumption is that I will come back to Japan after that.

Anyway, my question relates to the status of my investments here in Japan during the period I would be out of the country as an expat. Would I need to liquidate my accounts (I hold mutual funds and stocks at both Monex and Shinsei) prior to leaving? Or an I able to keep them? Obviously, I would be a non-resident of Japan during that time for taxation purposes, although I would keep my PR status. Also, practically, I would also not have an address (such as a jikka, as my wife is also non-Japanese) to receive mail from the likes of Shinsei, who I know sends out mail periodically as a compliance procedure, keeping track of which letters get returned.

Has anyone been in this sort of situation or know what happens to Japan-based accounts during such absences?

I only have taxable tokutei-kouza accounts right now, I've hesitated on getting NISA/Junior NISA/ideco accounts precisely because this question has always been in the back of my mind.

[RetireJapan]

Interesting question. It hasn't come up before. However, it must be a common thing for Japanese workers.

Have you talked to your company about this? Perhaps they could handle your domestic mail? I would be surprised if you had to close your accounts if you are working for a Japanese company and planning to come back...

Also, for iDeCo at least, if you leave Japan they freeze the account for you until you return or until you can cash out (at which point you can have the proceeds sent to a foreign bank account).

Anyone else?

[adamu]

I doubt your foreigner status has any effect, but your non-residency probably does. I don't know the answer but surely loads of Japanese have had this problem. Could be worth asking / searching on a Japanese expat site. But it's not looking good:

Shinsei says you have to close your account: http://faq.shinseibank.com/faq_detail.html?id=656
Monex says you have to close or suspend your account: https://faq.monex.co.jp/faq/show/2379?s ... in=default

Perhaps there's a way for your employer to act as a proxy and do some fancy tax stuff, allowing you to keep your juuminhyou active while you're away and avoid all the forced closures.

[mighty58]

Thanks for responses. Yes, I should ask the company, but apparently it's not really the done thing to start asking about details of expat assignments before you get them, as they're quite sought after. The few individuals I asked who had actually been abroad had no idea as they didn't invest.

Thanks for the links though, the Monex one was quite useful. Somewhat related, but what exactly happens when you "freeze" an account? I assume it means you can't add or withdraw (or buy or sell), but I assume your underlying assets can continue to grow. Sounds a bit risky not to be able to take action in the event of a downturn, but I guess you would need to balance that with the penalty of paying capital gains tax of you liquidate prior to leaving the country.

[RetireJapan]

For iDeCo at least, you can't pay in any more, but you can rebalance/buy and sell within the account.