Paying in taxes in Japan

[Infidel]

Did you change citizenship? I read somewhere that you had to be a citizen to own land in Japan.

[Harisenbon]

Did you change citizenship? I read somewhere that you had to be a citizen to own land in Japan.

You do indeed.
I am also curious how Mukade is owning his land. Are you the 世帯主 of your household?

[keatonatron]

Why not? I legally own the land I live on...

That's because you live in a tent on some dirt in a wagon you pull behind your car

[two_heads_talking]

Why not? I legally own the land I live on...

That's because you live in a tent on some dirt in a wagon you pull behind your car

Isn't japan still one of the highest in cost per square footage of land? I remember there was a time where if you dropped a 10,000 en bill in Tokyo, it couldn't buy the property it covered (even if it was for sale)... Is it still that expensive.

[keatonatron]

That's why a wagon full of dirt sounds even better. If someone tells you to get your land off theirs, you can just roll it on to the next 10,000 yen note and hope the landlord there doesn't notice.

[two_heads_talking]

That's why a wagon full of dirt sounds even better. If someone tells you to get your land off theirs, you can just roll it on to the next 10,000 yen note and hope the landlord there doesn't notice.

lol, talk about vagrancy.. lol

[Harisenbon]

Isn't japan still one of the highest in cost per square footage of land?

Depends where you're comparing. Where I live, land isn't prohibitively expensive, but the problem is finding people who are willing to sell you land instead of just renting it. There are only very rare cases where they make any new land.

Tokyo is not representative of the rest of Japan.
There are more places that AREN'T Tokyo than ARE.

[two_heads_talking]

Tokyo is not representative of the rest of Japan.
There are more places that AREN'T Tokyo than ARE.

understood, that was partially why I asked about Japan, as I pretty much understood Tokyo to be the most expensive extreme.

[lazyrapper]

Maybe I lost track here a little, but I thought the question was about the level of tax in Japan.

The tax system is very different to the UK (that's where I come from) but now that I'm a permanant resident of Japan my tax bill is slightly less than it was when I lived in the UK. The tax system is a little different for tempory visitors though.

You might want to check out: http://www.transprimo.commumity.officelive.com/ as they have quite a bit of info on the subject. japan-guide.com has a fair bit of info as well.

[fuzzycuffs]

A tangential, but related question:

What if you have a job that's technically in America, so you still pay your American income tax, but you just live in Japan?

That's going to be my situation soon, and we have someone in Japan that's already doing the exact same thing, but how do I go about paying things like city taxes and the like for residing, but not earning money, in Japan?

[coco]

A tangential, but related question:

What if you have a job that's technically in America, so you still pay your American income tax, but you just live in Japan?

That's going to be my situation soon, and we have someone in Japan that's already doing the exact same thing, but how do I go about paying things like city taxes and the like for residing, but not earning money, in Japan?

Welcome to TJP forums.
Although I don't know if your case applies to 日米租税条約, if so, you will have a chance to be legally exonerated　from paying the residence tax.
http://www.tax.metro.tokyo.jp/shitsumon ... _j.htm#j15

外国税額控除とは
　外国において生じた所得で、その国の所得税や住民税に相当する税金を課税された場合には、一定の方法により計算された金額が控除されます。

租税条約による特例は
　非居住者の利子や配当、特定の報酬による所得などに対する二重課税を避けるため、日本と租税条約を締結している国があります。当該国の国籍を有する方には、住民税についても特例が認められる場合があります。
　租税条約の詳しい内容については、国税局でおたずねください

[keatonatron]

That's going to be my situation soon, and we have someone in Japan that's already doing the exact same thing, but how do I go about paying things like city taxes and the like for residing, but not earning money, in Japan?

Well, in America and Japan, when you work for a company you get charged income tax (managed by the company). And when you buy a house, you have to pay taxes (managed by the local government).

So if you live in Japan and work in America, the American company will deal with your income tax and the Japanese government will deal with your other taxes. The American company doesn't care where you live, and the Japanese government doesn't care where you work (well, the department that deals with those kinds of taxes doesn't care).

Although I'm noe sure how much tax there is for just living, unless you buy a house. I rent, and don't recall paying any "city taxes". Maybe it's added into my rent.

But if you do have to pay taxes, I assume they'd just send a bill to your house, just like they do for your utilities.