Hello.
Throwaway account because of a lot of sensitive data.
I will move to Japan soon with my spouse (Japan citizen) using spouse visa. For now, I have registered sole proprietorship in Poland ( [https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Przedsi%C4%99biorca\_b%C4%99d%C4%85cy\_osob%C4%85\_fizyczn%C4%85](https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Przedsi%C4%99biorca_b%C4%99d%C4%85cy_osob%C4%85_fizyczn%C4%85) ) and have contracts with my clients. Both me and my clients want to continue our businesses.
I’m a programmer, so the business will be programming services.
It’s important to mention that I’ve been to Japan in the past for total time of over a year on WH and tourist visas (1Y WH visa -> few days trip to South Korea -> 3M tourist visa in Japan -> Poland).
I want close (or freeze) my SP in Poland and start the same in Japan, to pay taxes there and just be the “lawful resident” in “eyes of Japan”. However, I’m struggling with finding ELI5 guide to SP in Japan. Most of the English websites just copy-paste the same article that explains almost nothing and is kind of advertisement for their services.
I plan to receive my salary on my Polish bank account in Polish currency or Euro or USD, exchange to JPY and then “manually transfer” it to Japan (ATM withdrawal from Polish account -> ATM deposit to Japanese account) to avoid man-in-the-middle and their horrendous fees when making transfers from my clients to my bank account and silly questions from Japanese banks where from the money come (or maybe they will still call me after ATM deposit? Anyway, it’s an issue for later date.). There are no fees for withdrawal from my Polish bank account and also no fees in 7-11 ATMs. I have to figure out deposit fees in banks yet, if there are any.
Given the current exchange rate between Polish currency and JPY, I should earn around 8,723,148 JPY annually (probably more, because end of the year pay rises happening soon), before taxes.
My Japanese is still kind of low, so I will probably do a lot of things with help of my wife when it comes to city offices etc.
Given the background, my questions are:
* What should I do to start sole proprietorship in Japan properly?
* What kind of licenses, if any, I need for programmer/IT services?
* What kind of taxes and when should I pay them?
* What kind of invoice should I create each time for my clients?
* How should I handle the actual income, given the shenanigans with currency conversion (X currency into JPY)?
* Should I find an accountant for help with taxes (in Poland I do have one for about 6700 JPY / month)?
* Where I can find list of things, I can buy using my registered SP (“company purchases” **(\*1)**)?
**(\*1)** – I’m not sure how to call it in English. Talking short, in Poland I can buy things using my registered SP and thanks of that pay lower taxes for the month of the purchase.
Thank you for your time.
by That_Mushroom_8182