I have PR in Japan, but currently live overseas. I left in December 2021 with a 5 year re-entry permit and I intend to return permanently some time in 2026.
1. Up to now, I’ve been under the impression that if I sell crypto in say March 2025, I am still on the hook for “miscellaneous income” tax, because I believed having lived in Japan for at least 5 of the last 10 years (2015-2021) made my worldwide income taxable regardless of whether I have an address in Japan or where that income is. However, I talked to an accountant today who said that if I sell crypto in 2025, as long as I use a non-Japanese exchange and still have no address in Japan at that time, I won’t have to pay any taxes because the 5/10 year thing only applies to current residents. Is that true? Would that mean I will never have to pay this tax even if I return in 2026?
2. If I sell that crypto in March 2025 and then become a resident again in 2026 and sign up for pension and NHI, will my pension/NHI contributions be calculated taking the crypto sale into account because it technically counts as my previous year’s income? Or does it not count as income in the same way as the first question?
3. I’ve been submitting tax returns for crypto sales since leaving Japan but I calculated them myself and while I made a genuine honest effort I want to make 100% sure I am not a single yen out. Is there an accountant you can recommend preferably in Tokyo to whom I can submit all of my complicated trade records across multiple exchanges and records of when I’ve been a resident of Japan etc. and have them recalculate everything for each year (2021-present)? I definitely need to do at least 2021 because I was a Japanese resident then.
Thank you.
by JohnnyJohnsonP
