RetireJapan

I was able to successfully open an iDeCo account on SBI so that was a big win for me. I thought that it would be simple to open a NISA account as part of my existing account but the iDeCo website seems separate from the main SBI website. So, I started to fill in the form from scratch to open an SBI account and NISA account but I ran into the following:
開設する（源泉徴収あり）　⇒　確定申告が原則不要
　　 初心者の方、確定申告を不要にしたい方におすすめ
開設する（源泉徴収なし）　⇒　確定申告が必要
開設しない　　　　　　　　　　⇒　ご自身で損益計算をし、確定申告が必要
or according to Google translate:
Open with (Withholding tax withheld) ⇒ Tax return declined in principle No need for
　　 beginners, those who want to make final declarations unnecessary

Open (not withholding tax) ⇒ Tax return required

Do not open ⇒ own income calculation and need to file a tax return
--
I'm a bit confused about what these options mean in practice and what would be best for me. I would assume the first as it seems the most straightforward but probably I'm missing something. Can anyone help?

It's difficult to tell from the current context. You've only posted the answers to the question, but not the question itself.

I had a look at the form, and that seems to be the question asking if you want to open a tax-reporting account. This is a different account from the NISA (at this point you're just opening a regular account, I think the NISA application comes after that). The options are:

1. Open a tax reporting account and deduct the tax automatically (recommended for beginners who don't want to do a tax return)
2. Open a tax reporting account but don't deduct the tax (you need to do a tax return - I'm guessing they give you the figures to use)
3. Don't open a tax reporting account - any taxable investments you do, you need to calculate the profit/loss yourself and do a tax return.

Option 1 looks good to me. Having a tax reporting account is good to have because a) it's good place to do your taxable investments once you've maxed out your iDeCo and NISA and b) It's a place for NISA funds to be transferred to after their NISA period has expired.

Also check out step 4 from RetireJapan's Start Here post: http://www.retirejapan.info/blog/start-here

The first step is to open the accounts. We recommend using the big online stockbrokers (Monex, SBI, Rakuten). You can open all the accounts with one company or spread them around. Most people should get a tax-reporting and deducting account (特定口座ー源泉徴収あり).

I believe it's either asking how you want tax to be reported, or if you want to open a 特定口座.

I had a similar question on my Monex application and it was about opening a 特定口座.

Yes, it's asking if you want a tax-reporting taxable account to go alongside your ordinary taxable account.

When you open a NISA account you also need a normal taxable account to go alongside it.

The three options are:

1. tax reporting with an end of year paper (源泉徴収票) -this type also deducts and pays the tax for you (in principle, you don't need to do anything)
2. tax reporting without the 源泉徴収票 (you have to submit the paper to the tax office)
3. no tax-reporting account, just an ordinary one (you have to report your own taxes)

For most people number one is the easiest solution. You will also have an ordinary account too, but be careful: if you buy something and put it in the ordinary account, it cannot later be moved to the tax-reporting one.

Thanks everyone for your feedback. I think I need to go with 1 or 2. Previously my company has handled all my tax matters including stuff like home loan, insurance, and spouse deductions. So I haven't submitted a separate tax return (which occurs in Feb-March I think?). However, when opening my iDeCo account I found that my company couldn't or wouldn't make the withdrawals directly from my salary pre-tax so I had to set up the withdrawals from my bank account. Because of this, I presumably will need to make a claim separately to get my tax back. In addition, it looks like I'll exceed ¥200,000 for income ex-Japan this year so I need to lodge a return for that as well.

With that being the case, would it make sense just to go with 2. since I'll be probably lodging my own form annually from now on? Or, can I just go with 1. and perhaps save myself a little paperwork?

adamu wrote: ↑Mon Oct 29, 2018 10:25 pm Also check out step 4 from RetireJapan's Start Here post: http://www.retirejapan.info/blog/start-here

The first step is to open the accounts. We recommend using the big online stockbrokers (Monex, SBI, Rakuten). You can open all the accounts with one company or spread them around. Most people should get a tax-reporting and deducting account (特定口座ー源泉徴収あり).

Yeah, I've been a bit clueless about this whole process (language has been a bit of a barrier too). I was quite sure that, in opening my iDeCo account, I had already opened an SBI account. So, I was a bit confused by that aspect of the NISA application. Whoops!

Chris D wrote: ↑Tue Oct 30, 2018 5:10 am With that being the case, would it make sense just to go with 2. since I'll be probably lodging my own form annually from now on? Or, can I just go with 1. and perhaps save myself a little paperwork?

I would still recommend 1. as it requires zero effort on your part