Can I do this on my visa??

6 comments

1. I think if the revenue is below some certain threshold (200,000 per year?), then it doesn’t matter. Otherwise you should get a permission to engage in other activity. Even then though, the effort time and money you get from online sales, shouldn’t exceed that of your main job.

2. IANAL, but it’s my understanding that a visa can restrict *employment;* other activities (even those that might earn money) are not affected.

   You can buy and sell stocks, for example, but can’t be hired to manage the stocks of someone else.

3. I pay a 10% commission to their company on the Mercari that is deducted from the sales, do you pay a tax in addition to that?

   I see here they recommend filing a tax return…

   [メルカリshopガイド](https://support.mercari-shops.com/hc/ja/articles/4404609708569-%E7%A2%BA%E5%AE%9A%E7%94%B3%E5%91%8A%E3%82%84%E9%96%8B%E6%A5%AD%E5%B1%8A%E3%81%AF%E5%BF%85%E8%A6%81%E3%81%A7%E3%81%99%E3%81%8B-)

   [メルカリびより](https://jp-news.mercari.com/contents/7772)

4. You need permission to engage in activity outside your visa and are risking deportation by not doing so.

5. IANAL If you make/import/distribute a product to sell for profit (no matter where) it requires an additional permission on humanities/engineering visa. Selling your personal stuff you don’t need on sites like Mercari or PayPay Fleamarket is different story.

   Also Mercari does not withhold any tax as in general selling second hand personal belongings is not taxable income. 10% they take is commission for using their service. On top of that you also need to (by yourself) track your sales and fill tax return and eventually pay tax if you earn over certain amount of money.

6. I did something a little similar, selling some services – in my case within the visa but I needed to do the blue 確定申告　during the recent tax season. Not a huge issue and let’s you do some new deductions but for sure you want to comply with the Japanese tax office requirements.