Hi, I’m tax illiterate and have found myself in quite a convoluted situation regarding residency, so I’d really appreciate any advice/help.
My final work date on my contract is 31th August, but I was planning to leave Japan (initially for a holiday but now permanently) on August 14th. For context, there is very little work to do in August and we don’t get/apply for holiday/PTO because the salary is not based on contracted hours, so it’s common for people to be abroad for a month or two at certain times of the year while still completing any necessary tasks remotely (this is done without informing the head office, as there’s an unspoken agreement that you can do it, but telling them will create problems).
For taxes, my understanding is that I need to ask if my employer can pay the rest of my residence tax owed for 2023 in a lump sum (deducting it from my last salary) and do a tax adjustment on my 2024 income tax given that I am leaving midway through the year. Since I’m leaving in August, from what I’ve read on other posts, I will not need to pay residence tax owed for 2024 since I will no longer be in Japan as of January 1st 2025, and so cannot be held liable for residence tax on that previous year. Is this all correct?
While I think I finally understand the residence tax situation, I’m still not sure about the income tax- does it work like the residence tax where I’m paying based on the previous year. When I pay for the lump sum on residence tax will I be doing the same for income tax too?
Now for the immigration issues. The other day without thinking things through I completed a moving out notice for August 14th. But my pay day is August 15th. If on August 14th I go to the airport and get the hole punched through my residence card to invalidate it, is this likely to cause issues for my final salary, which I will receive the day after? Ideally I would fly August 15th, but I’ve had an important appointment planned for over one year that I need to be back for. I never even considered until a few days ago that this would be such a problem.
I have considered getting the re-entry permit at the airport, since my residence card won’t expire until March 2025 and I would still technically be employed until the end of August. But it seems like this might cause issues for getting my pension money back. I don’t know if sending my residence card back to immigration by post after my last working day would avoid creating problems related to both my final salary and pension withdrawal application. Or, if it would mean I’d need to wait until the re-entry permit or my residence card expire, delaying my pension withdrawal application (which I want to avoid as I’m in need of that money).
It seems like my best bet is to simply invalidate my residence card at the airport and potentially incur whatever costs there are. Would you agree?
I’d really appreciate any suggestions or advice based on your own experience and knowledge, as well as confirmation on my understanding of the tax situation. Anxiety about all of this is literally keeping me up at night. And while I have no intentions of returning to Japan, I don’t want to create problems for my friend who will be my tax representative so that I can get back the final 20% of the pension money.
by Astrid_Victoria