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Resident tax

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AussieBird

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Recently received a resident/citizen tax bill for about Y170,000 for a prefecture that I only lived in and was registered at for six weeks from Nov to Dec 2007. They told a third party who called them up that I would have to pay this regardless of how long I lived there.
What do you know about this? Is this bull***t?
 
The amount seems extreme. Are you sure the notice is genuine?
 
Quite sure that the payment book was genuine.

But knowing Japanese bureaucrats, they probably have it wrong. I had a friend call them to find out if they had made a mistake and told them that I had moved from that prefecture after six weeks and since was currently back home with no definite plan as to when or if I would return. They seem to be saying that either I have to pay for the period from when I registered, December 2007 for a year to December 2008 or for the year prior to that, even though I don't live there and lived there for such a short time.
So does anyone know of a rule that says that if I live in a certain prefecture at a certain time, that I have to pay for a year at that prefecture and not at the prefecture that I currently live in or is this a mistake on their part?
Would really appreciate some info on this.
*-*
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I don'T know that law on this one, but I assume you are still living in Japan, right? Have you received a bill for citizen's tax from the place you currently reside? If not, my guess is that it'S legitimate.
As to the amount, I don't know what it's like where Mike Cash lives, but from where I live, that sounds like a fairly reasonable sum to pay, assuming that you had worked in Japan that previous year full time and have no deductions to declare (dependants, etc.).
 
Citizen's tax.

I have lived in Japan for almost two years and this bill was sent to an address that I used to live at in the prefecture I currently live in. I used to live in this this same prefecture prior to moving to the prefecture that I moved to in November 2007 to December 2007 and now I am living back where I have always lived. Yet I get this citizen's tax bill for a place a lived at for less than two months and I don't live there anymore.

Is it right for them then to ask for a year's worth of tax and if so what about tax for where I am living now?
 
When you moved to the other prefecture, did you take some steps to change your registered residence? It all boils down to where you were officially registered. You do have a civic (read: legal) obligation to keep all that sort of thing updated.
 
Please bring back your memory that you didn't pay any resident tax for your first year.

No matter how much you love the present city/prefecture than the former ones, the city/prefecture where you live(d) and register(ed) on January 1 will send you a threatening letter, "Pay tax, or we'll charge you about 15% overdue interest rate". Ask the municipal office for installment payment, if necessary.
 
Resident's tax.

I did get re-registered when I came back, but I only lived in the other prefecture for six weeks from Nov to Dec 07. So which period are they trying to claim for, upto Jan 08 or from Jan 08 to Jan 09? Also, please take into consideration the fact that I only lived there for a very short period. Am I liable to pay a whole year's worth of tax or have they got it wrong? I don't have a problem paying for the period I lived there = six weeks worth, but I'm a bit confused about being asked to pay a whole year's worth of it.
Any clearer help on this before I call them up.
 
You pay residence tax based on your income and the tax rules of the area you lived in the previous year.

So were you registered in that city for a year? 17man is definitely extreme for only a couple months. You need to call up that city and see what's up.

And have you been asked to pay residence tax by anybody else?
If you are getting away with 2007 at 17man, then you're fine.
 
Two months salary.

I was registered there for six weeks but worked there for two months. I registered again where I currently live just after I returned. So, from what you are saying Orochi, they have got it wrong right, I should only have to pay my current prefecture where I lived for 85% or so of 2007 right and two months worth of tax to them?

Any ideas?

My current prefecture hasn't asked yet Orochi. I don't have a problem paying them in installments when they do, but I don't like another trying to screw me over.
 
Last edited:
You're not being screwed over.

You just need to figure out what you owe to who last year.

The best thing to do would be to call up these folks and say where you lived in 2007.
i.e. Jan-Feb I was in X. March-Dec I was in Y.
If your alien card is up to date, then the paper trail will support you as well.
That should clear up everything.
 
How much was your income for the last two months last year?
1,700,000*10ﾂ≫??Y170,000
 
It isn't as though you're going to be able to go to them and say, "Some gaijins on the internet said XXXXXX" and have them go by it. You really need to go and talk to the people at both places (it would be easier to talk about them if you named them for us) and clarify what your actual resident status was for tax purposes.

If it turns out that you somehow were on the books in two places simultaneously and can show some evidence of where your actual physical residence was for the entire period they may be open to a reasonable adjustment of the tax amount to fit the facts.

Your quickest peace of mind will come not from us, but from talking with the relevant authorities of both places.
 
Basic salary = Y520,000

I have no problem if I have to pay for those two months, but when my Japanese friend called them up, they said that it didn't matter if I only lived there for two months, they said that I would still have to pay for a whole year regardless of that. So my question to you guys is, does this sound right or has my friend or the prefecture made a mix-up? Could this have something to do with them thinking that I was living there during January this year or does it relate to me having lived there during December of 2007? From your experience have you only had to pay for the months that you lived in a certain prefecture or have you also been asked to or paid for a full year?
Paying for a full year cannot be right can it?
 
Calling them will only make things more confusing. Take the form down to your local city hall where you are living at "now" and ask what you need to have done. This is the only way you will get clarification as they will contact your previous local and sort things out for you and make sure you ask them to explain everthing until you are satisfied. But don't be supprised if the amount is correct.
 
Having to pay all or nothing does sound right to me. I don't move around from prefecture to prefecture very much, but it does sound right from everything I've absorbed through my time here that residents' tax is something you have to pay or you don't. There is probably nothing like a discount for only living there for 6 weeks. Having said that, you only have to pay it at one place and one place only for that year's worth of tax.

However, that is just what I think. As far as what you should do, following Frustrated Dave's advice would be an excellent start.
 
The local office where your registration on Jan. 1 this year will tax you, no matter how many times you move from town to town around Japan.

Y520,000*2=1,040,000 (I don't know if it was before/after the income tax)
1,040,000*10%=104,000

The missing Y63,000, I guess, might not be the tax, but the NHI health insurance & pension and others.
And the Y170,000 is not the local tax for the previous year, but it is for this fiscal year (Apr. to Mar.) based/calculated on your salary of the previous year.

Even after you quit your job tomorrow, the company or the local office kindly charges you for the tax and others this year, though you don't have to pay unemployment insurance.
 
Thanks

Some good info the last few replies, cheers for that, it makes things clearer and in response to Frustrated Dave, yes I agree with you, that's why I'm on here for that sort of advice, so thanks again. I moved out of that prefecture in December of 2007 and can prove it through a letter from my landlord and through bank statements back here and through proof of closing my bank account in that prefecture along with evidence that my employment was only temporary. However, I didn't register at this prefecture again until late Jan 2008. If I can prove this, do you think I have a chance to null and void there claim in light of me having already left there in 2007?
 
I would need to know the law on resident tax where you lived to answer that. The only way you are going to get clarification is to find someone with some patience at your city hall and have them enquire for you. Then if those documents are required you can start from there. Other than that I believe there is a free service for 30mins that deals with legal problems that you could talk to. I don't know the number, maybe someone else here can give that?
 
So you returned to your country or went to other countries outside Japan around Jan. 1 this year, right?
And I presume that you returned your gaijin card at the airport without applying the re-entry permit, and then you re-applied your visa.


If you retained your visa with your re-entry permit and just went to other countries around January 1, you are the same as other Japanese tourists. But the tourists do not enjoy their short vacation for the tax reason.

I don't know what you do here, but aren't your general affair and/or accounting staffs in your company of your help?
 
Even though this is not directly related to OP's question, I would like to throw in another question on the local taxes. If you have the house or condo in A prefecture and are living in B prefecture in a rental property (because of the job or education), do you pay the local resident taxes for A prefecture? I believe you pay the resident tax for the prefecture your domicile is registered with.
 
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