Hello All,
Long time lurker, first time caller. I have gatherd so much valuable information from this forum and I wated to start out saying thank you for making this such a great resource. I typically can find what am looking for by looking at older posts or the FAQ, but this one I have not been able to find a good answer yet.
I am a US citizen working for an American company receiving my pay pre-taxed via 1099 and deposited to my US account. I arrived in Japan under a spousal visa in October of 2018, I have been paying my taxes in the US up until this year which I understand is when I need to start paying directly to Japan instead. We have a Japanese accountant that my wife is working with to assist us in filing our taxes but there have been a few snags we are working thru. The one item I cannot get clarity on is about my Social Security paid in the US. Our accountant has asked us to provide proof that we have been paying social security in the US, I believe what he is looking for is called 日米社会保障協定 適用証明書.
I went to the SSA’s website and requested a document that is supposed to be some type of statement on my SS accounts history but have yet to receive anything from them in the mail after about a month (sent to a US address).
My question is if there is a specific form that is required to prove you have been paying Social Security in the US that the Japanese tax authority is looking for? And, is it possible to keep paying Social Security in the US while I am paying income tax in Japan to maintain what I believe to be a better Social Security package when I retire? I understand that 2nd part is a bit loaded, but it is still not clear if we plan to stay in Japan for what may be the rest of our lives or will be returning to the US at some point. From what I have gathered, the SS benefits in the US would be preferrable over Japan’s SS benefits.
Thank you all for any suggestions and for all your help, I really appreciate it!
by Select_Stuff2407