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wagyl wrote:chokonen888 wrote:I concede...besides the tax balance being tipped in Japan's favor, apparently my real issue with this all is the "taxation without representation" and being American, that mentality is hammered into me beyond repair.
Well if you want representation you can become a native son by naturalisation. (yes I know I am being glib and that is not the intended emphasis of your post)
wagyl wrote:The perspective I get, not being from a rebellious colony, is that all you guys got out of that deal is a system where "you've got representation? Well then you have a tax liability" with the way the US taxes citizens wherever they are on the globe.
chokonen888 wrote:wagyl wrote:chokonen888 wrote:I concede...besides the tax balance being tipped in Japan's favor, apparently my real issue with this all is the "taxation without representation" and being American, that mentality is hammered into me beyond repair.
Well if you want representation you can become a native son by naturalisation. (yes I know I am being glib and that is not the intended emphasis of your post)
True, but as you say, that is a valid option. On the other hand, why it's such an issue here is the lack of guaranteed "rights" that aren't extended to non citizens here. (one of Havill's reasons for naturalizing)
chokonen888 wrote:On the flip side you have Japan dipping it's hand further in the cookie jar for foreign inheritances? It just seems the way it's setup is going to guarantee more money flows into Japan than out to countries that don't have higher/more taxes than Japan.
Asked in November if he would pay the bill, Johnson said: “No is the answer. I think it’s absolutely outrageous. Why should I?
“I think, you know, I’m not a … I, you know, I haven’t lived in the United States for, you know, well, since I was five years old … I pay the lion’s share of my tax, I pay my taxes to the full in the United Kingdom where I live and work.”
Asked why he continued to carry a US passport, to which he responded: “It’s very difficult to give up.”
legion wrote:Bo Jo jumps the shark
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/jan/22/boris-johnson-settles-us-tax-demandAsked in November if he would pay the bill, Johnson said: “No is the answer. I think it’s absolutely outrageous. Why should I?
“I think, you know, I’m not a … I, you know, I haven’t lived in the United States for, you know, well, since I was five years old … I pay the lion’s share of my tax, I pay my taxes to the full in the United Kingdom where I live and work.”
Asked why he continued to carry a US passport, to which he responded: “It’s very difficult to give up.”
Boris discovers the downside of dual citizenship.
wagyl wrote:You need to lurk on some bulletin boards for people trying for green cards, or even for people who have them, to get a perspective of people feeling that they are denied rights. Like the right to go overseas during the long drawn-out bureaucratic process, and the right to non-extortionate application fees.
wagyl wrote:The rules on who pays what taxes haven't changed, other than that the amount excluded from calculations as tax free has decreased, and the marginal rates at the pricier end of town have increased. But that is so for all inheritances, whether domestic or foreign. And it always was for all inheritances, domestic or foreign.
What has changed is that they have tightened up reporting of mysterious swellings in assets. To find people dodging tax. We get into the ever popular "surely you have nothing to hide, so you have no problem reporting" territory. And moaning about it, sadly, will only attract the spotlight on you.
The priority as to which country gets first dip is decided by tax residency. As we have discussed before, it is possible to be tax resident in more than one country. And I remember a poster here who seemed to manage to be non resident in either Sweden or Japan for the moment. It is not fool proof, but I think you will find any tax authority doing its job will be lining up to establish their priority when the effort involved pays off (they are remarkably pragmatic things, tax authorities, chasing the easy and big bucks first).
kurogane wrote:wangta wrote:
Message to Kurogane - do you remember Super Grover and all his trying to justify hiding his and his J wife's Canadian investments from the J taxman for years?
Do I???? Probably one of the things I miss most about the demise of GP is losing the chance to screw that otherwise loveable and wonderful screwball over his tax rage. It was his Kryptonite; he was absolutely loony when it came to his tax obligations. And as I used to say over there, and as Wagyl said above just now, FGs are utterly trivial to any and all JRA regulations and activities. This isn't to say we aren't subject to them, but it is to say that anybody that thinks they are specifically targetting foreigners has a Debito level case of delusional self-importance, not to mention an internet conspiracy theory level understanding of the issue.
I never had a serious issue with the JRA and I earned a nice income that was exempted from taxes by a rather complicated inter-departmental agreement between the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of whatever the JRA is in; they contacted me a few times but it was quick and easy to resolve their inquiries. I found them at least as professional as Revenue Canada, which is allegedly known for being professional and reasonable. I am also convinced that without at least my level of Japanese or some serious pluck things would not have gone that smoothly. Christ, not even educated Japanese can read the tax code
wangta wrote: It was Super Grover's and a few others' self-righteousness that made it rather comical.
Wage Slave wrote:I was in that thread as "Brown Cow".
The bit I found really comical was that SG believed he was hard done by because he had been entrapped. The NTA had deliberately refrained from pulling him up for years in order to persecute him more completely when they finally did. And it was their fault he was years and years in arrears.
But even more laughable was Ken44 who believed that anyone who did report their overseas income was a simpleton and a fool. According to him if you were clever and an American citizen then there was no way they would or could do anything. Reporting income was just drawing attention to yourself and inviting an investigation.
I do thank SG though for prompting me to act as my five year anniversary came up - In a strongly don't be like that guy sort of way. I have to say the response from my (ruralish) tax office was actually quite negative:
1. You don't need to report this because it is overseas income and we don't need it. We have dignity.
2. Ah, I checked. Yes, actually it seems you do.
3. OK if you must then do so but I am going to look down my nose at it. It feels beneath our dignity.
wangta wrote:I agree mostly with you but silly Super Grover was one of a number of gaijin professors to be audited. So I think the tax authorities were indeed looking for long term gaijin with PR/spousal visa and J wives after they first uncovered a lucrative collection of assets etc that some PR gaijin were not mentioning in their tax statements.
It just struck me as verging on the ridiculous that so many people with PR, whether that was the full PR complete with visa or PR by virtue of living 5 of the past 10 years in Japan, on that thread were up in arms about the fact that the J authorities were not prepared to endorse their failure to report their money earned in Japan and stashed away in Canada or the USA or wherever, or the money earned from investments abroad. Especially after the bunnies were sending home money constantly and also receiving it from back home.
chokonen888 wrote:wangta wrote:I agree mostly with you but silly Super Grover was one of a number of gaijin professors to be audited. So I think the tax authorities were indeed looking for long term gaijin with PR/spousal visa and J wives after they first uncovered a lucrative collection of assets etc that some PR gaijin were not mentioning in their tax statements.
It just struck me as verging on the ridiculous that so many people with PR, whether that was the full PR complete with visa or PR by virtue of living 5 of the past 10 years in Japan, on that thread were up in arms about the fact that the J authorities were not prepared to endorse their failure to report their money earned in Japan and stashed away in Canada or the USA or wherever, or the money earned from investments abroad. Especially after the bunnies were sending home money constantly and also receiving it from back home.
One of my Aussie friends was audited immediately after he got a PR visa. I'm pretty sure that's the trigger for at least a closer look at your income.
Apparently, he hadn't reported some "on the side" sales of Japanese goods overseas and they went after him for it. All I know is what he told me but apparently the guy on his case was so pushy and persistent, his wife almost divorced him over it. The impression he gave me was it wasn't much, if any, actually owed...but "a team" with badges showed up at his home, unannounced, as if it were a raid. Demanded documentation and asked all kinds of personal info of him without a reasonable amount of time. All I know is he was able to handle it but moved back to Aus after the experience.
chokonen888 wrote:wangta wrote:I agree mostly with you but silly Super Grover was one of a number of gaijin professors to be audited. So I think the tax authorities were indeed looking for long term gaijin with PR/spousal visa and J wives after they first uncovered a lucrative collection of assets etc that some PR gaijin were not mentioning in their tax statements.
It just struck me as verging on the ridiculous that so many people with PR, whether that was the full PR complete with visa or PR by virtue of living 5 of the past 10 years in Japan, on that thread were up in arms about the fact that the J authorities were not prepared to endorse their failure to report their money earned in Japan and stashed away in Canada or the USA or wherever, or the money earned from investments abroad. Especially after the bunnies were sending home money constantly and also receiving it from back home.
One of my Aussie friends was audited immediately after he got a PR visa. I'm pretty sure that's the trigger for at least a closer look at your income.
Apparently, he hadn't reported some "on the side" sales of Japanese goods overseas and they went after him for it. All I know is what he told me but apparently the guy on his case was so pushy and persistent, his wife almost divorced him over it. The impression he gave me was it wasn't much, if any, actually owed...but "a team" with badges showed up at his home, unannounced, as if it were a raid. Demanded documentation and asked all kinds of personal info of him without a reasonable amount of time. All I know is he was able to handle it but moved back to Aus after the experience.
wangta wrote: That sounds quite harsh. Was he a gaijinpot poster? There were a few tales on the relevant gaijinpot thread about calling cards left by tax office staff and in the original Japanese their job title was more or less tax evasion inspectors. I feel sorry for your friend because it sounds like he wasn't being sneaky and self-justifying for years like Super Grover and Ken44.
Sounds more careless than anything.
kurogane wrote:Harsh? Sure. Careless? Probably, but probably mixed with a touch of White Guy in Japan entitlement syndrome. IPU called it first: he evaded his tax duties. And if he really moved home because he got audited for evading taxes on income he was legally required to report he sounds like a complete pussy, and the entitlement aspect starts to look larger. I assume there are Australians that share that childish anti-government/anti-tax attitude we saw so gloriously with our favourite Canadian redneck. Strangely, those are exactly the types that seem to get audited for their misdeeds, and cry the loudest when busted. Coincidence? Maybe.............
Aw, yiya might, Ize pays me taxes yiya. Ize jest don't git wise deyz damn jappos think I needz to pee tickses on all me incomb.
wagyl wrote:I would agree that immigration status is not a factor: I am not sure that the tax authority even knows what your immigration status is. If this guy was a sarariman then usually taxes would have been done through his employer, and it can be very difficult to get a side business income reflected there, since they don't like sararimen having a side business. Either something else raised some suspicions with them -- maybe the house, as you say -- or he was just unlucky.
kurogane wrote:BTW, I got a sneaky feeling you have a touch of the anti-tax attitude in you. Which is fine, but one shouldn't let that cloud their tax strategies.
wagyl wrote:I would agree that immigration status is not a factor: I am not sure that the tax authority even knows what your immigration status is.
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