Over a decade ago, a younger and dumber version of myself left Japan in a pretty broken state after losing a parent to suicide.
It was not an ideal, “clean” exit – it was a turbulent time in my life (though I realize that’s no excuse). I did manage to hand over my residence card, but was surprised after returning to the US to receive mail from the municipal tax authority saying I owed residence tax in Japan.
I’d kept my Japan bank account active (and a mobile account, which I expect got frozen…oof) and not long after I got the tax notices in the mail, the full sum of tax owed with late penalties was collected directly from that bank account (which I eventually closed on a later visit as a tourist).
Many years later, I’ve accepted a job offer in Japan and will soon apply for a COE and Highly Skilled Foreign Professional visa (my profile hits >100 points, I’m keen to go direct to HSFP (ii) status). It’s a highly compensated job (just below the new J-SKIP visa pay threshold) in a critical high growth industry with a need for international talent, and I hold multiple Ivy League degrees and JLPT N1 certification, if context matters.
My impression from a quick Google search is that payment records of residence tax is more an item that is looked at for renewing visas rather than a completely new COE and visa. However, I am getting a bit worried about the downside scenario of this becoming an issue somehow (though my tax was ultimately paid…belatedly…about 10yrs ago).
Curious to hear if anyone out there has any experience or perspectives on this. Many thanks in advance!
3 comments
This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.
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**Resident tax paid by seizure >10yrs ago – now applying for COE/work visa**
Over a decade ago, a younger and dumber version of myself left Japan in a pretty broken state after losing a parent to suicide.
It was not an ideal, “clean” exit – it was a turbulent time in my life (though I realize that’s no excuse). I did manage to hand over my residence card, but was surprised after returning to the US to receive mail from the municipal tax authority saying I owed residence tax in Japan.
I’d kept my Japan bank account active (and a mobile account, which I expect got frozen…oof) and not long after I got the tax notices in the mail, the full sum of tax owed with late penalties was collected directly from that bank account (which I eventually closed on a later visit as a tourist).
Many years later, I’ve accepted a job offer in Japan and will soon apply for a COE and Highly Skilled Foreign Professional visa (my profile hits >100 points, I’m keen to go direct to HSFP (ii) status). It’s a highly compensated job (just below the new J-SKIP visa pay threshold) in a critical high growth industry with a need for international talent, and I hold multiple Ivy League degrees and JLPT N1 certification, if context matters.
My impression from a quick Google search is that payment records of residence tax is more an item that is looked at for renewing visas rather than a completely new COE and visa. However, I am getting a bit worried about the downside scenario of this becoming an issue somehow (though my tax was ultimately paid…belatedly…about 10yrs ago).
Curious to hear if anyone out there has any experience or perspectives on this. Many thanks in advance!
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Since the residence tax was (eventually) paid you should be fine. It’s only really an issue if you have an outstanding balance.
Tax records are only kept for 5 years.