Company sponsored rent program

Hi guys,

I couldn't find any post that gave an answer to my specific question so I thought of starting a new thread.

I got a job offer from a Japanese company and the offer lists "A company sponsored rent program to optimize tax efficiency" as one of the benefits I'm getting. A nice lady from HR tried to explain it to me when they gave me the offer but I didn't really care to understand it at the time. I contacted them later but they did not reply to my email for some reason.

(1) Anyone has an idea what "A company sponsored rent program" means? I assume they pay part of your rent. Is there anyone who is getting a similar benefit from the company?

(2) Secondly, what would be a rough figure for the living costs for two people near Tokyo area? I want to pay only around 80,000 JPY for the rent. So I'm thinking of probably renting a place in Chiba.

A "company sponsored rent program" can range from one where the company rents the whole apartment on your behalf (in their name) and provides it to you; one where the company subsidizes part of your rent (the rental agreement is in your name, with the company as the guarantor); to one where company has some rental apartment already available, etc. It puts me at a loss when they say "optimize tax efficiency" - possibly they mean that instead of paying you additional salary/allowance for housing, they are willing to provide you with housing, so that your total remuneration received will be less, resulting in less income tax for you? (But I know some employers who would add the rent to your annual remuneration calculation; if that is the case, it makes no difference.)

For (2), please check the "living" section of this website. But 80,000 yen a month would get you a small studio apartment in central Tokyo. It also depends on what kind of size of housing you want, and how far you are willing to commute, and also if the company pays you for transportation.

Thank you so much for the information mate. Company does pay for the transportation and I'm not very specific about the place I want to get. I think around 40 min travel time would be ok.

I will check out other threads to get more details about living costs.