Hi everyone! I've been in Japan for just over a year now, and during my first year, I was pretty clueless about a lot of things. I consulted both a tax agent and an administrative scrivener, but they gave me the wrong advice. They said that overseas work income doesn't need to be taxed in Japan, money transferred into Japan that comes from savings isn’t taxable, and that interest from overseas savings doesn’t need to be reported either.
It wasn’t until I came across this forum that I realized I had been handling my taxes wrong. I didn’t know that if you transfer money into Japan and then earn income abroad in the same year, you still need to report it. I also didn’t realize that overseas work done while living in Japan counts as Japan-based income. So this year, I hired a tax accountant to file a final return (last year, I only reported my income from my Japan-based job). But I ended up getting hit with a penalty from the tax office.
However, the accountant didn’t report my overseas interest income, saying it didn’t need to be declared. So I had to file a correction return myself to include the missing interest income.(Acctually It's the tax accountant's fault)
My question is: Will this tax issue affect my visa renewal or my chances of applying for permanent residency in the future? (I’m not a highly skilled professional, so I probably have another 8 years before I can apply for PR.)
Also, I’m really curious—does anyone actually manage to get their taxes 100% right all the time? If your income is made up of different sources, it’s really easy to make mistakes. Even tax accountants mess up when it comes to overseas situations. If someone really didn’t know and consulted professionals but still made errors, would this have a serious impact?
by maikeei2312