Hello everyone. Allow me to explain.
From 2017-2021, I was living in Japan when suddenly my father and mother had a horrific accident back home. My father passed away and my mother was injured. Because of this, I had to leave Japan immediately (I literally left within 2 days – it was total chaos during the pandemic). Up until that point, I'd paid my taxes completely and on-time. However, seeing as I left in March, my taxes for that year, weren't paid. Because of the circumstances, I couldn't come back to Japan until now (it's been 3 years since this happened).
Now, I'm trying to re-enter Japan by applying for a work visa. While I'm sure the company will accept me, I'm just wondering: will Japanese immigration reject my application because of unpaid taxes?
I did the math and I owe around ¥420000 or so in back taxes (both health insurance + residence tax). I should be clear – I want to pay all of this back whether I'm in Japan or if I'm still abroad. I spoke to the embassy about this and they seemed clueless and told me "When you re-enter Japan, contact the local tax office and speak to them and pay them back but we have no idea if this will impact your immigration application".
Does anyone know anything about this? Could it prevent me from re-entering Japan on a work visa? Thank you.
by tokyo2049