[Event Report] Japan Visa/Tax - What has changed?

Exit tax, reporting of overseas assets, new visa statuses introduction

On April 7th, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Japan, in conjunction with the Danish and South African Chambers of Commerce in Japan, and member company Nakai Immigration Services held an information networking event focused on visa and tax issues in Japan. Hosted at the Tokyo American Club, the event started off with a 40 minute session on changes to visa statuses and exit tax reporting in Japan. The information session was followed by a networking session, and of course a delicious buffet menu, with free-flow beverages prepared by the club. 

Nakai-sensei of Nakai Immigration Services started by discussing immigration law revisions that have been introduced this year including the “Business Manager” status without the requirement of an upfront investment, the integration of the “Engineer” and “Specialist” type visa, and the “Student” visa for junior high/elementary school students. Nakai-sensei also elaborated on the planned establishment of a 1 year stay permit for wealthy individuals having over 30Mil Yen in bank savings. Finally, he gave a general outlook to the immigration policy by the Abe administration.

Ito-sensei of ITO International Tax & Accounting Office presented recent tax reforms that may affect non-Japanese individuals living in Japan. His discussion focussed on inheritance tax, and foreign asset reporting as well as the newly introduced exit tax. These tax reforms were introduced to prevent several tax avoidance actions by wealthy Japanese individuals, however as a side effect of the reforms, new rules could be applied on and severely affect individuals without Japanese nationality living in Japan.

Following the presentations, guests from all three chambers took part in a vibrant Q & A session, in which event attendees engaged presenters on visa and tax questions. Of particular interest to the crowd was the discussion on exit tax, and the newly established need for foreigners to declare overseas assets to the Japanese government. 

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Japan would like to thank both the Danish and South African Chambers, for supporting this event.  

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Nakai Immigration Services LPC (NIS) provides one-stop professional legal services to obtain visas for Japan, as a boutique immigration law firm with over 20 years of experience. Our team includes Gyoseishoshi (immigration) Lawyers, a US attorney at law, and a former Supervisor at the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau, and a Labor and Social Security Attorney. NIS files applications at local immigration bureaus of Japan daily, and our multilingual staff speak native English, Spanish, native German, Chinese and Korean apart from Japanese. Correspondence is available in all of these languages. 

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