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Leaving before Jan 1st

Philippines is cheap and warm... just stay out of Manila... Cebu for example.. granted it is a longer flight... but.... just something to consider rather than bouncing to a colder climate.

If you really have to do that just go all in and travel to Angeles City. :p
 
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It still might be. I believe we will need to have several levels of court to figure that one out. What we know is leaving Japan is perfectly legal though working without a valid visa is not.

And while I am not keeping up to date on this fine fellow Carlos-gaijin it seems he has not been cheating on taxes as he hasn't received the money yet. So no taxes are due yet either. The charges against him are for financial misconduct (against the securities laws) and not for tax evasion.
I am not following that closely either. I heard that they are saying he received money and he is calling it deferred income. In this situation, it is a pure case of ‘might makes right’. And Carlos is still in the clinker as far as I know. It was obviously a set up. Which is my point. They don’t like powerful gaijin and they don’t like tricky gaijin either. Just following the letter of the law is not enough sometimes. We gaijin need to BE clean but we also need to LOOK clean and not attract attention. For example: going to Korea for one day in the last week of the year looks like a tricky tax dodge that is only available to gaijin. Which is exactly what it is....
 
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Always consult with a tax professional, and every other country should follow US and just tax world wide income so nobody gets away with taxes :p

As for my two cents (2 yens) worth of rant, income should be taxed where it is earned, period, doesn't matter where you live at the beginning of year or end of year. All the loopholes are because of the way too complex tax rules exist and only the international big companies and their accountants have the abilities to study all the rules and take advantage of the loopholes.
 
Philippines is cheap and warm... just stay out of Manila... Cebu for example.. granted it is a longer flight... but.... just something to consider rather than bouncing to a colder climate.
Watch out flying back on New Year's day from RP though. Missed an international connection because of a flight diversion due to firework-based haze visibility and got stuck there for a few days once.
 
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and every other country should follow US and just tax world wide income so nobody gets away with taxes

That would be like curing cancer by shooting the patient in the back of the head. I would drop my nationalities faster than a Chinese massage girl drops her pants and then I wouldn't pay any taxes at all. But give my money instead to that Chinese girl. Remembering she now has no pants on!
 
It still might be. I believe we will need to have several levels of court to figure that one out. What we know is leaving Japan is perfectly legal though working without a valid visa is not.

And while I am not keeping up to date on this fine fellow Carlos-gaijin it seems he has not been cheating on taxes as he hasn't received the money yet. So no taxes are due yet either. The charges against him are for financial misconduct (against the securities laws) and not for tax evasion.

My last day at work is 28th and the official last day is the 30th, so I should be sweet if I leave and handover my work visa/resident card on the 30th... im sort of scared they will refuse my re-entry under the tourist visa lol. but im sure this is done all the time.
 
im sort of scared they will refuse my re-entry under the tourist visa

I am pretty certain they will not give you a tourist visa.

Because they let you enter either with your existing work visa or if that has expired then instead you are allowed to enter for three months under the Visa Exemption Arrangements that Japan has with 68 countries. :D

In other words giving away your residency card does not invalidate your visa. Totally separate thing. You still have a year to move back (if your visa stays valid that is) even without getting the re-entry permit.
 
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I am pretty certain they will not give you a tourist visa.

Because they let you enter either with your existing work visa or if that has expired then instead you are allowed to enter for three months under the Visa Exemption Arrangements that Japan has with 68 countries. :D

In other words giving away your residency card does not invalidate your visa. Totally separate thing. You still have a year to move back (if your visa stays valid that is) even without getting the re-entry permit.

Well per my resident card there is still 3 years left, so when I go through immigration I will say I am permanently leaving and surrender my resident card. I believe this triggers the cancellation of my visa and if I return again, is that 3 months temporary visitor visa or bust. Seems like I am getting a lot of contradicting advices from different people, looks like I will find out first hand soon...
 
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I believe this triggers the cancellation of my visa

Many people believe in ghosts or Santa Claus too! Your residence card and your visa have no direct link to each other. If you have work visa then leaving that company can eventually lead them to cancel your visa but even that is not so clear cut.

But if you for example have a work visa for Japan but your company decides to send you to another country for a year your visa still continues to be valid even if you are not a resident.

Nit-picking continues: there is no tourist visa. It is exactly visa exemption that they give you for three months. So in theory totally different, in practise just the same.
 
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What do they base residents tax on previous years income? Wht can’t they base it on current year the same as they do for income tax? Seems like trouble to me. And with the number of foreign worker set to rise, I would hope they look into it. Imagine the field day the redneck Trump supporters in the US would have if immigrants didn’t pay State taxes on year one and then some of them bolted without paying their last years taxes. In Japan it’s too tempting to not pay and it is definitely going to be Brought up by the anti-gaijin crowd.
 
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yeah but that's if you're still there isn't it ?

It comes down to if you are a resident or not. And to make it more confusing tax residency is not even the same as residence for immigration purposes.

In practise it means if you give up your residency card by the end of the year you get away without paying the residence taxes next year. As said you can come back for temporary visits as long as you don't take up residency again.

If you really want to pick nits your (single entry) visa becomes invalid the second the immigration officer processes you at port of entry and grants you a status of residence.

I think that is not correct for nit-picking purposes. But that your single entry visa becomes invalid the moment you leave the country without re-entry. Residency does not give you the legal right to live in Japan, visa does.

Though nowadays that re-entry is just a tick in the immigration form, you don't even have to get it separately like the not-so-good old days.

What do they base residents tax on previous years income? Wht can’t they base it on current year the same as they do for income tax?

Because their systems still uses smoke signals and the city guys don't know how much you made last year until the next May or so on. So it would be totally legal to move to Japan second of January, work until end of the year without paying any local taxes and then move away.
 
I think that is not correct for nit-picking purposes. But that your single entry visa becomes invalid the moment you leave the country without re-entry. Residency does not give you the legal right to live in Japan, visa does.

No, Status of Residence is (incorrectly) referred to coloquially as a visa, but the visa is just the approval to enter the country (subject to the whim of the PoE immigration officer). Status of Residence is what allows you to stay there.
 
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It comes down to if you are a resident or not. And to make it more confusing tax residency is not even the same as residence for immigration purposes.
when I went to pay my residence tax last year they told me I don't have to because I was out of Japan from september to January 2nd. my residence card was still ongoing.
the OP won't even be in Japan when the tax will be coming, he can even interupt his juminhyo before leaving.
 
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I am pretty certain they will not give you a tourist visa.

Because they let you enter either with your existing work visa or if that has expired then instead you are allowed to enter for three months under the Visa Exemption Arrangements that Japan has with 68 countries. :D

In other words giving away your residency card does not invalidate your visa. Totally separate thing. You still have a year to move back (if your visa stays valid that is) even without getting the re-entry permit.
You are correct as far as the tourist visa, people who need those have to apply for them at an embassy before they enter the country.

As to the rest, sorry, Mike, but you have it wrong.

As far as a working visa, that is invalidated as soon as you enter the country and are given a status of residence. At that point, you no longer have a valid visa, you have a used visa that you have surrendered to obtain your SOR. There are certain visa types that allow for multiple use, but these are rare.

Surrendering your residence card upon exit is a voluntary relinquishment of your status of residence.
 
D

Doesn’t he still owe the taxes? I don’t see what changing his visa status or leaving before Jan 1 buys him. He is liable for city taxes for 2018 based on his 2018 income. Normally he would pay each month or quarterly through the 2019 year. He doesn’t avoid any taxes by leaving. He still owes. Staying one day on a work visa in 2019 would only mean that he owes one day of taxes (if he worked on that day) in 2019 that he would have to pay in 2020.
As far as I know he would be liable for 2018 taxes unless he’s military.
 
I am not following that closely either. I heard that they are saying he received money and he is calling it deferred income. In this situation, it is a pure case of ‘might makes right’. And Carlos is still in the clinker as far as I know. It was obviously a set up. Which is my point. They don’t like powerful gaijin and they don’t like tricky gaijin either. Just following the letter of the law is not enough sometimes. We gaijin need to BE clean but we also need to LOOK clean and not attract attention. For example: going to Korea for one day in the last week of the year looks like a tricky tax dodge that is only available to gaijin. Which is exactly what it is....
Any income has to be reported in Japan regarding the Nissan case. The whistleblower
when I went to pay my residence tax last year they told me I don't have to because I was out of Japan from september to January 2nd. my residence card was still ongoing.
the OP won't even be in Japan when the tax will be coming, he can even interupt his juminhyo before leaving.
Your situation and his is different. The question you might ask is— who prepared his taxes? Did his company or does he do it himself? The other question is did he pay into the pension system? If so, he could get a percentage back from what I have told.
 
Any income has to be reported in Japan regarding the Nissan case. The whistleblower

Your situation and his is different. The question you might ask is— who prepared his taxes? Did his company or does he do it himself? The other question is did he pay into the pension system? If so, he could get a percentage back from what I have told.
yeah and I'm self employed so I guess it's different, but I thought the residence tax comes after the income tax is paid.
 
yeah and I'm self employed so I guess it's different, but I thought the residence tax comes after the income tax is paid.
It does as far as I know. But if one is self employed versus working for a conpany, then you could technically just leave. On the other hand, sometimes people get caught in a tax problem. I focus on taxes because just relinquishing your residence card is very simple and can be done by checking a box on the customs form. Many have problems when they just exit and fail to take care of their tax obligations. And when they least expect it, they get detained at the airport. But my general understanding is that changing your status isn’t even all that difficult, especially in this case.
 
Many have problems when they just exit and fail to take care of their tax obligations. And when they least expect it, they get detained at the airport.

That doesn't happen in Japan, Leon. Go troll somewhere else.

The worst that happens here is a future visa application gets denied or that you get hit with a tax bill upon your return.
 
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Could you clarify what you mean by this statement? What about driver's licenses and 3 months?

If you wish to use an international driving permit from another country you must be out of Japan for at least three consecutive months, and if you wish to convert a license obtained in another country, you need to be in the country in question for at least three months in total.
 
Obviously there are more knowledgeable people on other forums, at the local government offices, and the immigration centers. Just leaving this country without taking care of business will lead to hassles later if you return. Most point out taxes and how to properly change your visa status. In here the idea is to tell you to just leave. I don’t personally see the point of asking people in this forum anything unless it’s sex related. My advice to the OP is to seek professional advice from the locals.
 
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