Residence tax

Every year in July the government sends out residence taxes, which have to be payed if you have been living in Japan for more than a year. Im planning on returning to home in december. I have heard if you dont pay all of your residence tax you can`t come back into Japan for work again. Is this really true? It seems a little strange.

I have tried to find out about this but no one seems to give a definate answer. They just say pay up until july this year. If anyone can give me any info or no`s of someone I can speak to. Your help would be appreciated.

Every year in July the government sends out residence taxes, which have to be payed if you have been living in Japan for more than a year.

According to my understanding, you have to pay residential taxes even if you spend only a year or less in Japan. It just happens that, unlike the national income taxes which are fully due shortly after the end of the running tax year, the "resident tax" (= municipal and prefectural income tax) is paid in installments during the year following the running tax year (kind of "post payment").

If you leave Japan during the tax year, make sure with the city hall that you pay all your outstanding residential taxes, or you might understandably run into problems when re-entering Japan on a later date.

I left Japan a few years ago not planning to go back. I paid my ward taxes up until the time I left but didn't inform my ward office I was leaving Japan and didn't pay any of the installments due later in the year- I didn't really give it a thought. As I was only 6 months into a 3-year visa I just left without surrendering my alien registration card so technically I was still resident in Japan.

I changed my mind and came back to Japan 8 months later. I had no trouble at Immigration, no mention of taxes, but as soon as I registered in my new city I started to get bills for the outstanding amount of ward tax from the year before, with penalty fees for lateness.

The same thing has happened to friends of mine who left Japan under similar circumstances and then came back. None of us had any trouble getting back in, but once we were here they wanted their money.

In my case I have never payed such a thing.
back in 2000 I lived in Japan for about 2 years and never received a notice to pay Residence tax so I did not ask any questions or pay then I went back to my home country then in Late 2005 I returned to Japan with out any problems and have been working and living here in Japan and again I have not received any notice to pay a Residence tax,
I have heard about it but I'm not about to ask.
Anyway I haven't payed such a tax mmm...

It is possible that your resident's tax is being deducted by your employer, so you don't receive demands.

If you have registered your correct address with your city/ ward office I can't think of any other reason why you wouldn't receive bills for it- everyone who has been here longer than a year and earns income has to pay it, although there are issues with people with dependents/ on dependent visas that can change the situation I have heard.

Resident Tax is income tax on the prefectural and municipal level. I don't think that, unlike national income taxes, it ever gets withheld by the employer. One exception might be foreigners, who stay for less than a year, who I believe, usually get 20% of their income withheld. These 20% should cover all the taxes.

But I am not a tax expert.