Departing non-permanent resident

Hello,

I'm a foreigner living in Japan under a specific working visa, and sadly, I've been asked by my family to go back home asap (for personal reasons). While they have not given me a definite deadline, the fact that I need to go home still stands, and I was wondering:

1) Since I have to go home asap, I do not want to pay taxes aka more than what I need to (because I am paying my taxes quarterly, and my company deducts a small amount from my salary every month for taxes) - when would be the best time to leave Japan? I know that we pay taxes to the city/municipality/ward where a person is registered as a resident by Jan 1st of xxxx year. Would it matter if I left Japan before January 1st 2017?

2) If I go to the city hall/office and tell them that I'm leaving by a certain date (for example, Dec 31 2016), will they ask me for my travel documents? Because if not, I was thinking of leaving my apartment and travelling a bit (a week) before going home for good (this is assuming I can completely "unregister" myself from my city/domicile, and that I won't have to pay taxes for the 5 or so days I'll be staying in Japan - was planning to stay at a friend's house or a hotel during the time I'd be travelling around before going home).

3) If I leave, do I have to really give a firm decision that I'm leaving for good, or could I still take my work visa with me until it expires? My work visa expires in July 2017, and I might have the opportunity to go back and work in Japan again should things get sorted out faster than the time me and my family think it would take.

I hope someone can help me out - I am really in need of information regarding this before I can make my final decision as to when I'd leave, so I can properly inform my workplace and my landlord. Thank you in advance!

Since your status expires in less than a year, yes, you can come back before it expires, but that might not leave you much time to find a new job and apply for an extension.

Thanks for your response, Firas. But that barely touches on my concern regarding my question, like if I have to give the border control/immigration - or even my city hall? - a firm answer that I'm not returning, because I don't want to give them an impression that I'm still returning when even I am unsure if I will be.

Again, thank you for taking time to read my concern!

1) Absolutely leave before 1st Jan 2017, else you will have local taxes next year. other than that I don't see any advantage of leaving early

2) You can do and tell them you are leaving and stay with friend, But i don't think you will save anything by doing

3) you don't have to give them firm answer and you can keep your visa until it expires, the only flip side is that you wont be able to get lumpsum return on pension, since these days they check if you still have valid visa then they wont process it
you can claim it after July 2017 tho.

Hello Zzzz, thanks for your response.

I'm a little confused with your answers to #1 and #2, I hope you don't mind that I'm trying to clarify - I just wanted to be absolutely sure before I do anything (like quit my job, book flights, etc).

For #1, you said I have to absolutely leave before Jan 1st 2017 - what did you mean though, with other than that I don't see any advantage of leaving early? Did you mean later, ie Jan 2 onward, or did you really mean to type earlier, as in Dec 25th, etc?

#2 - Did you mean that, even if I tell them that I'm leaving/I've quit my job, and that I'm just travelling, that they'd still be taxing me for my stay in Japan (despite not having a proper domicile/staying in hotels) to travel?

I am sorry if my questions sound stupid or persistent, I'm just weighing my options, because I don't wish to incur more expenses than what's already in store for me when I leave Japan (apartment cleaning fees, plane tickets, sending stuff back home, etc.) Thanks again!

For #1, you said I have to absolutely leave before Jan 1st 2017 - what did you mean though, with other than that I don't see any advantage of leaving early? Did you mean later, ie Jan 2 onward, or did you really mean to type earlier, as in Dec 25th, etc?

I think they mean that there is no financial advantage to leaving earlier than Jan 1st, as in you will still owe taxes through the end of the year regardless. What you don't want to do is to trigger a new tax bill by staying beyond January 1st.

#2 - Did you mean that, even if I tell them that I'm leaving/I've quit my job, and that I'm just travelling, that they'd still be taxing me for my stay in Japan (despite not having a proper domicile/staying in hotels) to travel?

As long as you are in Japan on a resident visa you are a resident, whether you are working or traveling during that time doesn't matter.

Yuibo, there are 2 things, one is tax liability i.e do you owe taxes to government and second is how much do you owe- please note I am only talking about local tax since it's paid the following year based on income of previous year

So if you are not present in the records of local ward office, as of 1st Jan then they won't demand you to pay tax in 2017
So you should absolutely move out of ward office records before 1st Jan

Now even if you move out in Nov or Dec it does not matter since cut off date is Jan

"So if you are not present in the records of local ward office, as of 1st Jan then they won't demand you to pay tax in 2017."
it is unsure.
if OP uses the same Zairyu card, I believe that the residential status will continue. (your stay will not be reset by going abroad.)
if OP gets a new working visa, I am not sure that the old Zairyu card information continues to the new one. (but, you have to write your recent all immigration records in the application form. also they have your passport number.)

be noted that your future renewal may not be accepted, if you don't pay taxes.

Thanks for the responses! I sincerely appreciate it.

For the record, I am paying my local taxes, and my employer/company is withholding my taxes/deducting income taxes from my monthly salary - so it's not a question of running away from unpaid (local/city) taxes, but more of not incurring any more expenses or running up a new (local/city) tax bill - hence my question on dates and unlisting myself from the City/Ward Office's registered residents.

yllwsmrf - "As long as you are in Japan on a resident visa you are a resident, whether you are working or traveling during that time doesn't matter." ~ So basically, even if I am unregistered from my ward/city before I go on a short travel before heading back home, they would still run me up with 2017 taxes, as long as I stay in Japan (even without a registered address)? Because they send the local/city tax slips to an address and I would be unregistered from that before I even travel, right?

Zzzz - "So you should absolutely move out of ward office records before 1st Jan". ~ thank you for clarifying! Would you have any source/website that you know of that says I just have to be unregistered from my city so I won't incur a my 2017 tax bill? :)

ken - same question as what I am asking yllwsmrf - if I am no longer registered anywhere, and they already put a "seal/stamp" on my Zairyu Card indicating that I'm leaving Japan (they do that, right? at the back of my card?), how will they send me a tax payment slip? Will they actually send it back home, knowing that I'm not 'residing' or holding residence anywhere in Japan, and just travelling before going back home for good?

you have to pay this year's city tax for 4 times. you may have paid twice. but, it is not enough.

if you want to escape from 2017's city tax, you have to leave Japan for more than one year. (leave before Dec.31, 2016 and not come back for more than one year.)

ken - thanks again for responding. I... honestly don't know where you got the idea that I'm not fully paying my resident/local tax but if it helps - I'm paying the rest of the remaining taxes I need to pay, ie, December 2016 and February 2017 payout, next month.

I've also looked around the internet (and found a thread on reddit) in which the OP has the same concern as I do, and, from reading the whole thread, I've decided that I really do need to leave Japan before January 1st 2017 rolls in. Looks like I've got no choice on the matter, despite my wishes to travel around before leaving (for good, most likely).

Thanks to everyone that has paid attention to my question! Your responses have helped me come to a decision.