RetireJapan

Tokyo TV's "World Business Satellite" just ran a segment on Amazon's apparent entry into the Furusato Nozei scene - it was interesting and I'm sure we'll hear more so here's a summary:

The buzz is that if Amazon enters the furusato nozei biz, it could cause quite a disruption in the market, due to the potential for lower costs and leveraging Amazon's distribution network for more efficient delivery of the goods. Many municipalities contacted said they have already been approached by Amazon (which is not publicly commenting), and if Amazon does enter the market then offering furusato nozei there will be effectively mandatory given its huge presence in retail.

Apparently the stock prices of incumbent furusato nozei aggregators has fallen in response to this news breaking.

On the other hand, one incumbent player seemed skeptical that Amazon could reduce costs much, since the government is touchy about players getting into the grey areas of the scheme, and another man from a think tank noted that the furusato incumbents have built up convenient features to ease the burden of the tax return submission for furusato nozei, so Amazon may have a challenge to catch up with the leaders in this area.

(I've been totally with Rakuten the past couple of years, but in Amazon turns up I will definitely be giving it a try. But yeah, one does wonder how much more fat is in this market to be skimmed off to make for a better deal for us tax payers / donators.)

Furusato nozei is insanity for the Japanese government. I'm shocked it hasn't been shut down yet. But I hope it does live on as we make very full use of it.

This is the site I use

https://www.furusato-tax.jp/?header

and they produce a nice XML file of all the donations which I was able to send directy to my accountants without all the fuss of fasffing around with doxens of paper forms.

I quite like the look of https://mypg.jp/. It lets you donate "directly" so reduces the platform fee the portals charge and still generates the XML file. I discovered it a bit late so I've not used it yet, but I might give it a try this year.

I'm not sure if any of these platforms publicly list how much they charge the municipalities, but I'd like to know. The only reason I think mypg.jp is cheaper is because last year a few municipalities were offering the same rewards for lower "donations" through that than via the other portals (a bigger saving than going on a shopping spree on Rakuten Ichiba to maximize marathon points, for example).

Deep Blue wrote: ↑Wed Mar 13, 2024 2:14 pm Furusato nozei is insanity for the Japanese government. I'm shocked it hasn't been shut down yet. But I hope it does live on as we make very full use of it.

This is the site I use

https://www.furusato-tax.jp/?header

and they produce a nice XML file of all the donations which I was able to send directy to my accountants without all the fuss of fasffing around with doxens of paper forms.

Rakuten will also produce an XML file of all furusato donations that can be used with etax.

I worry that Amazon's entry will herald the end of the furusato good times - it is one thing for Japanese companies to make out like bandits arbitraging the processing and delivery costs of these transactions which is ultimately coming out of tax revenues - it is another thing if a US company starts doing the same. Anyway, curious if Amazon's offerings or benefits will be any better than the other aggregators.

eyeswideshut wrote: ↑Wed Mar 13, 2024 9:03 pm
Rakuten will also produce an XML file of all furusato donations that can be used with etax.

Good to know. I logged everything in excel again this year. Will look for the simpler option for next time!

eyeswideshut wrote: ↑Wed Mar 13, 2024 9:03 pm

Deep Blue wrote: ↑Wed Mar 13, 2024 2:14 pm Furusato nozei is insanity for the Japanese government. I'm shocked it hasn't been shut down yet. But I hope it does live on as we make very full use of it.

This is the site I use

https://www.furusato-tax.jp/?header

and they produce a nice XML file of all the donations which I was able to send directy to my accountants without all the fuss of fasffing around with doxens of paper forms.

Rakuten will also produce an XML file of all furusato donations that can be used with etax.

Good to know, never really looked into Rakuten as their UI on Ichiba just drives me insane.

I was asking some friends and people I know about Furosato Nozei, and I was surprised the majority opinion was it’s a terrible, unfair system and should be done away with.

JimNasium wrote: ↑Thu Mar 14, 2024 3:58 am I was asking some friends and people I know about Furosato Nozei, and I was surprised the majority opinion was it’s a terrible, unfair system and should be done away with.

My wife and I are of the same opinion. It's a terrible system and we never do it. We want to support our own town, the place we live and work, not some other town based on a cheap gift!

JimNasium wrote: ↑Thu Mar 14, 2024 3:58 am I was asking some friends and people I know about Furosato Nozei, and I was surprised the majority opinion was it’s a terrible, unfair system and should be done away with.

https://www.retirejapan.com/blog/furusato-nozei/