I'm in the process of selling property and businesses in Australia & the US and transferring funds to Japan. The numbers are not insubstantial and i've put this off for many years because the Yen was too strong in the past to make it worthwhile. But the time has come and i want to take advantage of the current weak JPY and reinvest the funds here in Japan.
But I'm getting nervous and here's why:
One of my acquaintances in Japan sold off his investment property in NZ and transferred the monies to Japan. One year after receiving funds in Japan, he was contacted by the Japanese Tax Office who visited him at work unannounced . Long story short, they wanted to tax him for capital gains in NZ over 25 years as well as rent received during that time (no mention of the fact that all rent received went towards paying his bank loan).
Has anyone sold everything one owns overseas and transferred your life savings to Japan? What was it like for you when dealing with the Japanese Tax office and banks?
I know the Japanese Tax office exchanges info with it's counterparts overseas and has a history of going after foreigners. And I've heard Japanese banks red flag money transfers. Having to explain my wealth, legitimately accumulated over many years, is very mendokusai. I don't speak Japanese and that won't help. Not looking forward to this.
Please share your experiences.
Thanks in advance.
by Exotic-Helicopter474