I ordinally asked this in japanlife but was recommended to try here.
I am a freelancer. A company I work for paid me twice for January’s hours. They are asking for me to wire one of the payments back (I have confirmed with my bank that yes I was paid twice).
I asked them to file a Kumimodoshi 組み戻し. They have requested that as their financial year is about to end and these take time to resolve, they would prefer for me to return the fund by transfer.
I do want to be clear that I trust them. I have worked with them for a number of years, and I do not believe they are attempting to scam me.
What I would like to know is, if simply wire finds back is considered a standard and sound practice. I don’t want to do anything that breaks any laws or would put me or my visa at any risk.
I did search in other posts, but what I found was not specific to my problem.
To anyone who might reply, thank you for your insight.
by welldressedaccount
3 comments
I presume you have worked for this company before, have a trusting relationship and this was an honest mistake.
Yes, if I were in your position then I would just wire back the mistaken funds.
From an accounting point of view it’ll be just like a refund. You got money in, you sent the same money back. Income = refund amount and therefore the two cancel each other out.
Would r/japanlife have you believe that giving back something that was given to you mistakenly result in imprisonment and/or deportation? That’s craziness and if so you might want to stop asking questions there!
>I am a freelancer
Just to clarify your employment relationship with them. Are you a contractor or an employee? I ask because I know some people call themselves “freelancers” but still work as an employee with the entity they conduct work for.
If you’re an employee, you’re going to want to be diligent with your end of year tax slip for 2024 from them, end of 2024. Because if they have paid you double for January 2024, then on paper, it could end up looking like you got 13 months salary, instead of 12 months. Should they not adjust this correctly their side.
So, if you’re an employee, make sure to track your employment income with this employer, to ensure they don’t screw up again come tax time at the end of the year.
You can just send the money back. That’s normal practice in this situation. Any process that takes the money out of your account (including kumimodoshi) requires your consent, so there is no risk of being double charged, like you often see in the U.S. with Venmo scams.