Hello! Very first reddit post ever here 🙂 I hope I’m doing it right!
I know we’re not supposed to … so this is all hypothetical \*wink\*. Let’s say I plan to work *very* part-time + remote for a US company to help pay off my debts.
Even though I will not *physically* be living in the US, should I file taxes as-if I was? Should file it as “foreign earned income”? Should I be reporting this income with Japan, and paying tax on it that way?
Additionally, should my US employer withhold taxes / medicare / etc. since I will be in a foreign country?
Thank you in advance for your wisdom! The google was only helpful in giving me the same tax-form 30 different ways <3
4 comments
Take a look at the responses [here.](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanFinance/comments/uoj0qc/instructor_visa_and_the_gig_economy/) Also, take a look at the Wiki section of that subreddit. You will find out that work would probably be Japan-source income, and likely not subject for US taxes.
First it’s worth noting that doing things that violate the terms and conditions of your employment could get you fired if they catch you.
When you’re residing in Japan, if you’re working remotely in a foreign country then your income is going to be taxed by Japan first. At least, that’s what’s supposed to happen if you do all the right paperwork. Unless you’re making more than USD 110K, you can write all of your income off from US taxes using the FEIE.
For the side job, are you an employee? An independent contractor? This will affect the paperwork, and the paperwork is non-trivial.
In other words, it’s complicated. Standard advice is to pay a professional to help, at least the first year. If you make so little from your side job that it’s not worth paying someone, either do the research yourself or quit the side job.
Many people commit tax fraud in this kind of situation, because it’s tricky. However, following the law is probably a good idea.
The “correct” answer is that the JET contract prohibits unapproved side jobs so you could get fired etc etc
But that said a lot of people have under the table side jobs. What most people in this situation do is have the money deposited into a US account and then don’t report the income on your Japanese taxes. Since your school handles your Japanese taxes for you, you can’t report a side job on Japanese taxes without your school finding out. You are legally supposed to report it on Japanese taxes, but people don’t. Basically since the money never even enters Japan, it’s close to impossible for the Japanese government to ever know about your unreported side income.
People then file U.S. taxes as normal. I believe they just file it as a regular W-2, but I’m not sure.
I’m not necessarily advocating that you should do this, just telling you what other people do.
Thanks everyone! I will hopefully have no need to take on another job while working JET 🙂