What are the chances of getting hit with a tax audit in Japa

[pragmatic]

I have been doing my Tax return as a sole proprieter like on http://www.gaijintax.com in order to help keep my NHI health premiums from going through the roof. Most of the deductions are legistmate. There are some where I played in the gray areas in order to inflate my deductions.

That being said, what are the chances of getting hit with a tax audit in Japan?

[matsuki]

My friend got hit with one as soon as he got his PR visa.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

Keep your expenses at 35% of total gross income or less and they will probably not come near you unless you're making your money under suspicious circumstances.

[pragmatic]

Keep your expenses at 35% of total gross income or less and they will probably not come near you unless you're making your money under suspicious circumstances.

Interesting. May I ask how to figured that out?

[Samurai_Jerk]

Keep your expenses at 35% of total gross income or less and they will probably not come near you unless you're making your money under suspicious circumstances.

Interesting. May I ask how to figured that out?

You need to hire an accountant and/or a tax lawyer.

[FG Lurker]

That being said, what are the chances of getting hit with a tax audit in Japan?

What sort of business are you running (just a basic idea is enough), roughly how much are your gross sales per year, and how are you moving money around?

[pragmatic]

That being said, what are the chances of getting hit with a tax audit in Japan?

What sort of business are you running (just a basic idea is enough), roughly how much are your gross sales per year, and how are you moving money around?

I have private students. However, because I earned so little income this year with them, I realized that I can save more money with huge tax deductions than I made in revenue. Payment is by cash which I am reporting "on good faith".

Therefore my question still stands:

What are the chances of getting audited by the National Tax Agency (NTA)?

[Samurai_Jerk]

That being said, what are the chances of getting hit with a tax audit in Japan?

What sort of business are you running (just a basic idea is enough), roughly how much are your gross sales per year, and how are you moving money around?

I have private students. However, because I earned so little income this year with them, I realized that I can save more money with huge tax deductions than I made in revenue. Payment is by cash which I am reporting "on good faith".

Therefore my question still stands:

What are the chances of getting audited by the National Tax Agency (NTA)?

You have a 32.625% chance of being audited.

[pragmatic]

That being said, what are the chances of getting hit with a tax audit in Japan?

What sort of business are you running (just a basic idea is enough), roughly how much are your gross sales per year, and how are you moving money around?

I have private students. However, because I earned so little income this year with them, I realized that I can save more money with huge tax deductions than I made in revenue. Payment is by cash which I am reporting "on good faith".

Therefore my question still stands:

What are the chances of getting audited by the National Tax Agency (NTA)?

You have a 32.625% chance of being audited.

Very funny. In the US, the chances of getting audited are fairly small. However, I am going to guess they are larger here in Japan due to the fact that society is more strict and everyting is over-regulated.

Seriously, I wonder how closely they look at individual tax returns?

[wagyl]

Seriously, I wonder how closely they look at individual tax returns?

Seriously, the best advice was that given by Screwed-down Hairdon't. If you don't get too extravagant and start drawing attention to yourself with outlandishly greedy claims, you will not appear on the radar, or alternatively the effort of auditing you will be judged as being too great in comparison with the benefit to the tax authorities.

Time to be Pragmatic.

(The second best advice given was, if you are worried enough about it to question the free advice you are seeking from amateur strangers on the internet, time for you to pay out for professional advice.)

[FG Lurker]

That being said, what are the chances of getting hit with a tax audit in Japan?

What sort of business are you running (just a basic idea is enough), roughly how much are your gross sales per year, and how are you moving money around?

I have private students. However, because I earned so little income this year with them, I realized that I can save more money with huge tax deductions than I made in revenue. Payment is by cash which I am reporting "on good faith".
Therefore my question still stands:
What are the chances of getting audited by the National Tax Agency (NTA)?

If you keep your claimed "entertainment" expenses reasonable and don't claim really high expenses overall the chances are fairly slim. If you are filing with a blue form to get the greater base deduction and to be able to carry losses from year to year there is a higher chance of an audit than if you file with the standard white form.

If they do come though they can ask for receipts as far back as 7 years so make sure you keep your records for that long. Keep them *well organized* as well. When they come a good chunk of what they are looking for is to see how well organized your business is. If they like what they see they will be more likely to leave you alone in the future. If they *don't* like what they see they'll be back again within 3 years for sure. If they *really* don't like what they see they may come back every year for a while.

[Russell]

Any experiences?

[Russell]

This guy got hit by a tax audit, but it took Japanese authorities many decades to catch up with him.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

That being said, what are the chances of getting hit with a tax audit in Japan?

What sort of business are you running (just a basic idea is enough), roughly how much are your gross sales per year, and how are you moving money around?

I have private students. However, because I earned so little income this year with them, I realized that I can save more money with huge tax deductions than I made in revenue. Payment is by cash which I am reporting "on good faith".

Therefore my question still stands:

What are the chances of getting audited by the National Tax Agency (NTA)?

I wouldn't report any cash payments, anywhere (unless, of course, we're talking amounts that are laundered rather than used to pay for a normal lifestyle without extravagance). Tax authorities will never show you such kindness; why do it for them?
Having said that, my (considerable) experience with tax authorities in this cuntry is almost entirely pleasant. They will even help you by pointing out areas in which you are entitled to make great deductions: unthinkable in my native cuntry of Australia where, like most cuntries, "tax collection" is effectively a euphemism for "brutally sodomized sans lubrication."
If, in the highly unlikely event you are audited, simply apologize and arrange a repayment schedule if are found to have been delinquent. Tax authorities here are extremely accommodating.

BTW, Pragmatic, if you think the Untied States is not over-regulated you are deluded. It's one of the, if not the most bureaucratic cuntries on earth...

[Samurai_Jerk]

BTW, Pragmatic, if you think the Untied States is not over-regulated you are deluded. It's one of the, if not the most bureaucratic cuntries on earth...

Yeah, I didn't even get into that point with him. Sure the chances of getting audited there are small but that's true anywhere. The US tax code is a fucking nightmare though and the IRS will do everything they can to take as much of you money as possible if they've decided you're not compliant. As you've pointed out, that's very different from the tax authorities in Japan.

[yanpa]

Marusa tax investigators leave no stone unturned

The term “Marusa,” meaning the investigation division of Japan’s National Tax Agency, was popularized by Juzo Itami’s brilliant 1987 comedy “Marusa no Onna” (A Taxing Woman), about a female investigator who doggedly pursued the operator of a chain of love hotels suspected of evading taxes.

With March 15 the deadline for filing individual income taxes, Flash (March 20) looks at this organization and its members’ tenacious attempts to squeeze more revenues from suspected tax cheats.

On the morning of Oct 9, 2008—while the world’s economy was teetering on the precipice with the failure of Lehman Brothers—the door intercom awakened 34-year-old entrepreneur Kiyoaki Isogai from slumber in his 800,000-yen per month apartment in Roppongi Hills Residence. From bed, he telephoned his younger sister in Saitama to ask her what was going on.

...

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

The US tax code is a fucking nightmare though and the IRS will do everything they can to take as much of you money as possible if they've decided you're not compliant. As you've pointed out, that's very different from the tax authorities in Japan.

Thanks for riding shotgun there, comrade.

Actually, it's not just the U.S. tax code that's fucked; it's pretty much all your law-based codes. Ever seen details of legislation that goes through your Congress? Because of all the partisan wheeling and dealing that needs to be done to get just about anything passed, you'll see things like, say, Obamacare, tied up deeply to public works projects in places like, say, Intercourse, Pennsylvania. I say this and it makes me sound like a Tea Party advocate. It couldn't be further from the truth, but even those cousin-fucking, cult-deluded imbeciles can see that the plutocracy running the Untied States is a borderline kleptocracy and corrupt to the fucken core.

I'm not a Merkin and I apologize for offending the sensibilities of anybody still deluded enough to be pursuing what they've been indoctrinated to be a Merkin Dream...but, it pisses me off because cuntries around the world see kleptocrats get away with corruption in the Eew-nighted States and then start it in their own cuntry: like mine. Wake up Merkins!

[Samurai_Jerk]

Actually, it's not just the U.S. tax code that's fucked; it's pretty much all your law-based codes.

Yes, but I was trying to stay on topic.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

Actually, it's not just the U.S. tax code that's fucked; it's pretty much all your law-based codes.

Yes, but I was trying to stay on topic.

OK, OK....my bad! (Sanctimonious prick! )

[TennoChinko]

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2 ... ight-back/

OUR LIVES | JAPAN LITE
Bone up on your tax audit ninjutsu to fight back
BY AMY CHAVEZ

Our island of 602 people has a PA system that is used to make important public announcements. While these announcements usually concern typhoon warnings, ferry cancellations and funeral announcements, the PA system is not limited to these. Temple ceremonies are announced too, such as Buddha’s birthday and the anniversary of his passing into Nirvana.

But last week for the first time ever, I heard a very unusual announcement.

“Shiraishi Island residents, may I have your attention please. Two men in suits are driving around the island in a car and knocking on doors. We consider this shady activity. Know your rights as a citizen and do not let them inside your house.”

Indeed, a suspicious gray car had been driving around the island all day. Being that our island only has one road 6 km long, most people who do drive it do so quickly because they know exactly where they are going — straight! But this car crept along very slowly looking like a large, elderly, gray bug.

By now, the entire island was in a panic. Many had already let the men in black suits inside after which the men carried away important documents. “Nothing like this has ever happened on this island before,” said one of the long-time business owners on the beach.

Unfortunately, by the time I heard the announcement, I had let the men into my house, too. They arrived at my door and, like police officers, flipped open official-looking certificates showing that they were from the tax office. I then asked for their business cards, which they gave me. One man was from the city tax office and the other was from the prefectural tax office.

“We’re here to do a tax audit for the years 2009 to 2011,” they announced.

I invited them inside and they sat down on the sofa. After all, I have nothing to hide. I pay my taxes every year and abide by the tax laws. The only reason they should be here at all is to return some of the money they’ve grazed from my salary and used to fund dubious projects involving concrete. One thing I was sure of was that there was no way in hell I could owe any taxes.

“Can we take off our jackets?” they asked. I thought this was a very dumb question (do I look like their mother?), but I said yes.

They told me to explain my job, so I did, briefly. I also produced three files, one for each tax year in question. These files had my tax statements and supporting documentation inside.

They picked up one of the sheets of paper labeled “other income” that had itemized amounts I had been paid for book royalties and writing projects. May we take a copy of this receipt? They asked. “Sure, but it’s already accounted for on my tax return,” I said. At this point I was getting suspicious. Why were they always asking me questions? And how in the heck were they going to copy this piece of paper?

“I have a portable copier!” said the man and he went outside to retrieve it from the elderly gray bug. Who knows what else was inside that car. Perhaps a portable jail cell?

The man came back into the house, struggling with a cumbersome — but, um, portable — copy machine. “Can I borrow your electrical outlet?” he asked. Do you think I can write off his electricity usage on my taxes for this year?

A few minutes later I got a phone call from another islander. “I heard that the men are inside your house right now. Tell them to leave immediately. I’m very serious.”

I told the men that something had suddenly come up and that I needed to go attend to it. The men said OK, finished their copying and started to leave.

“This is all very strange,” I told them in my concluding comments. “I would think you’d make an appointment before you came.” They agreed that they should make an appointment, so they did. They would come again next Thursday.

That night there was an emergency meeting at the local bar for all the business owners on the island.

Someone had acted swiftly and called in representatives from the local Small Business Association. In this informal meeting they taught us about our rights concerning the tax office. “They are not allowed inside your house. Nor can they take anything out of your house or copy any documents,” they said. “Unless they get your permission, of course.”

We all groaned as we realized that what we had mistaken for politeness was really a clever prying into our affairs. When the tax man says, “May we take off our jackets?” or “May we take a copy of this?” he is asking for permission because he must have it in order to perform that action. If you say no, he cannot legally carry out the action at that time.

The Small Business Association explained that this type of tax investigation is called “nin’i chosa,” and while we have to cooperate with the tax men, it is to be done at our convenience, not theirs.

They cannot just show up at your door and expect you to drop everything to answer their questions. The reason they do this is to try to catch you off-guard. They will try to deceive you, or coerce you into saying something you shouldn’t. They will try to surprise you with questions and demand point-blank answers. But you have the right to take time to think about the answers or consult someone if necessary.

And starting in 2013, new laws will come into effect so that the tax men will have to present a paper in advance informing you of why you are being audited and what will be covered in it along with the date of the audit.

The men from the Small Business Association then passed out booklets that explained exactly what the tax men can and cannot do. It lists all your legal rights (with drawings!), everything from your right to privacy to your right to refuse people entry into your home.

Until then, they said, every time the tax man asks for permission to do something, ask them why they need to do it. If you feel they are violating your rights, you may tell them to stop the audit at that moment and reschedule to finish it at a later date. You have the right to stop the audit process if you feel overwhelmed or if you don’t know the proper answers.

They recommend having someone else in the room with you during the audit (for blue form tax filers). They encourage people to demand to know reasons for absolutely everything and to never use your inkan stamp unless you know exactly what you’re signing for.

The tax men may be intimidating but you can be, too. Stand up for your rights. Know your tax audit ninjutsu and use it to fight back.

[yanpa]

Dust storms on a summer's day in March. And now an informative article from Amy Chavez! What is the world coming to

[wangta]

I have been doing my Tax return as a sole proprieter like on http://www.gaijintax.com in order to help keep my NHI health premiums from going through the roof. Most of the deductions are legistmate. There are some where I played in the gray areas in order to inflate my deductions.

That being said, what are the chances of getting hit with a tax audit in Japan?

You have to realise that potentially you are a person of interest. When I lived in Japan my last yrs there I worked at a number of different jobs and the tax office was always very nice to me as I didn't try to squeeze what I could re deductions for things I had bought to do my different jobs. I got paid transportation at all my jobs, for example, and didn't claim I was paying it myself. The tax office people told me they appreciated this as they knew false claims were made by part time teachers with different gigs. They're not stupid.

I was encouragd by my tax office to claim for all the flashcards, toys, games etc that I had bought at home on vacation to use in my different jobs. 90 percent of them were teaching kids. They looked at my receipts and then did an exchange rate to see what they were worth in Japanese yen.

I think as a sole proprieter these days you're more likely than an English teacher on a salary from one employer or an English teacher with different employers to get audited. The world's changed a lot in the past decade and that includes govts trying to squeeze what they can for revenue. It stands to reason - in Japan you can't continually spend taxes on concreting rivers, pork barrels to regions, huge concessions to high cost farmers, and golden parachutes to ex politicians without eventually having to ratchet up taxes.

I'd like to know if Japanese wards are now really chasing down gaijin tax/health insurance/water debtors. I'll never forget the look on the face of the woman at my last ward office when I came in with cash to pay my bills due the next week or month or what would have been the future, for water, health insurance and ward taxes. She looked shocked that I was an honest gaijin. I suppose I could have done what some others did and closed my bank accounts before leaving Japan with no contacting anybody I owed money to.

But what's the deal now? Have they linked up all the information on outstanding debts via computer and can track you more easily? I also think the way some gaijin were exulting about being on the ward registers was misplaced as it's clear to me those changes were meant to track gaijin more, not less. I presume it's harder to escape your ward debts by moving these days.

[Samurai_Jerk]

I'd like to know if Japanese wards are now really chasing down gaijin tax/health insurance/water debtors. I'll never forget the look on the face of the woman at my last ward office when I came in with cash to pay my bills due the next week or month or what would have been the future, for water, health insurance and ward taxes. She looked shocked that I was an honest gaijin. I suppose I could have done what some others did and closed my bank accounts before leaving Japan with no contacting anybody I owed money to.

I don't think it's always as simple as gaijin skipping out on the bills. This is my second stint in Japan and when I left after my first, I had to fight with some companies to get my final bills issued before I left. They told me it wasn't possible because of the billing schedule and so I should just estimate how much I owe and leave some money with my employer and let them pay for me. I told them their choice was bill me now or don't get anything. That worked but it meant running around town visiting various offices my last few days in country. I could see someone with less time on their hands and less patience then I had just telling them to go fuck themselves. Especially if they don't have the language skills to explain their situation (or someone with the skills to do it for them). That was nearly 12 years ago so maybe things are easier now.

[Taro Toporific]

...I'd like to know if Japanese wards are now really chasing down gaijin tax/health insurance...

Japanese wards are not "chasing down" non-payers but Immigration has really cracked down---To renew your visa, gaijin need to show proof of payment of ward tax, national income tax and health insurance.

[Coligny]

...I'd like to know if Japanese wards are now really chasing down gaijin tax/health insurance...

Japanese wards are not "chasing down" non-payers but Immigration has really cracked down---To renew your visa, gaijin need to show proof of payment of ward tax, national income tax and health insurance.

Hope there is a quick line for toyboy wankerz...

[Samurai_Jerk]

...I'd like to know if Japanese wards are now really chasing down gaijin tax/health insurance...

Japanese wards are not "chasing down" non-payers but Immigration has really cracked down---To renew your visa, gaijin need to show proof of payment of ward tax, national income tax and health insurance.

Hope there is a quick line for toyboy wankerz...

Get in line behind all the Filipina and Romanian hostesses.

[J.A.F.O]

I don't even know how to file taxes in this country... (Blue form white form ???) no income = no income tax.

[Russell]

I don't even know how to file taxes in this country... (Blue form white form ???) no income = no income tax.

OK, how do you survive without income?

Married a rich woman?!? (you wouldn't be the furst wan here on FG)

[J.A.F.O]

Married is such a strong word....... yea pretty much.

[wuchan]

I don't even know how to file taxes in this country... (Blue form white form ???) no income = no income tax.

Go to local tax office, play dumb no nihiongo game, don't have gensen (have subcontractor) paperwork and claim all daily expenses.

I don't even know how to file taxes in this country... (Blue form white form ???) no income = no income tax.

OK, how do you survive without income?

Married a rich woman?!? (you wouldn't be the furst wan here on FG)

Waste your money on land that is valued at 10% the cost, grow mochigome and double your money every year...