Currently in Japan on a Spouse visa (have a JP wife and child). I’m a majority shareholder of the company which I founded back in Australia. I’ve been getting paid via Director’s fee (役員報酬, foreign income) and I’m moving my tax residency to Japan this year. Me and 2 other AU family members are directors of this company. I’ve gone through Tax consultants and visa consultants to make a lot of this work (for example, exiting AU tax residency).
Now, ongoing, I’m split between whether I should remove myself from the Board of Directors from the company and get hired via an EoR as a 正社員 in Japan instead to make my life more streamlined.
I’ve noticed that everything in Japan becomes easier if you’re an 正社員. Taxes + social securities are withheld at source, applying for schools/kindergartens become easier (check the 会社員 box), PR applications become easier, loans become easier, and even bank account applications ask if you’re a 正社員(or 会社員). It seems to be a signal of stability. It also removes any question of establishing a Permanent Establishment for my company in Japan.
I *could* keep being a 役員 of a foreign corp, and pay myself directly, but that just seems like living life with a thousand paper cuts. Having to explain that I’m a 役員 in a foreign country to a thousand sources (each of them not a big deal, but collectively very taxing) just seems an unoptimized way to live life. Declaring and remitting taxes manually, having to show the stability of my company to Immigration for longer visas, harder time getting a loan, etc etc.
Is there any take on this? Has anyone done it? Thank you very much!
by len_anonymous
1 comment
EORs take a pretty significant cut, but otherwise everything else you said should be accurate.