Death & Taxes

[Russell]

Nevertheless, shipping stuff to Japan is going to be pretty bothersome. My dad had a huge collection of HO model trains, of which I'll receive most. I am wondering to take some of them in my carry-on luggage and check-in luggage on my way back next week, and ship the rest by sea on a later date. I guess nobody here has experience with how security at airports handles this? Some of them might actually think that I could use those locomotives as weapons? When I google, it appears not to be a big problem, but one never knows...

If I were you I'd pack them carefully and ship them over professionally. In my experience the customs guys here are very understanding when it comes to items of obvious personal emotional value. There are tax rates set according to the type of item. The main issue is you will set a value for insurance against damage or loss, and they will calculate the tax against this. I found going down to the docks and clearing the stuff quite interesting.

Thanks Legion. What would you consider a professional shipping company? (or do you mean to advise not to transport them as my luggage on a plane?) I was thinking about DHL Less-than-Container-Load; Wifey is thinking about two Japanese shipping companies (Nitsu, Yamato). Would they count as professional?

[legion]

I did an internet search and found somewhere that picked up from addresses in my hometown & delivered to Japan. Almost everything arrived in one piece bar a couple of picture frames which arrived with the glass shattered, (wisdom in retrospect, take the pictures out of the frames when you send them, doh) and some plastic cases which got crunched.

The folk I used were

https://voovit.com/home

Which I remember because they kindly gave us branded sticky tape.

You order the boxes, they deliver them, you pack them, then they come round and pick them up. Given my experience I would say order an extra box and pack everything individually with lots of bubble wrap.

[wagyl]

I used Yamato to ship from Japan. Due to a free trade agreement between Japan and the destination country customs was not an issue, except for excise on wine, so Yamato refused to ship any wine, to avoid any customs interaction. However, all these shipping companies are aimed at the salarymen becoming executives of foreign subsidiaries, and pricing is expensive, aimed at that market. I worked my butt off getting a good price for the sale of my better-than-a-Minica car, 450,000 JPY or so, and that only covered the cost of shipping 5 cubic metres, and that was at the rates I received by calling in some favours with people I know who work at Yamato. I was, however, happy with the service received (especially at the Japan end of the transaction).

I have heard comments like this from more than one source viewtopic.php?f=41&t=30653&p=353649&hilit=nittsu#p353649

[Grumpy Gramps]

I used Yamato to ship from Japan.

That is how it works IMO. To ship to Japan, you'd likely have to find a trustworthy shipper in the Netherlands and they will then work with whatever partner they have in Japan.

[wagyl]

OK, how about these operatives? https://www.rotterdamportinfo.com/yamat ... e-bv-c1036

(generally speaking I agree, because the receivers of the goods are doing most of the paperwork, the deliverers are just delivering to an address)

[wangta]

Sorry to hear about your loss Russell. That sucks, happens to all of us eventually but I am lucky cause my parents are both still alive. And your cuntry, Netherlands, has a much fairer, more logical inheritance tax policy than Japan. Unless gaijin are PR or married to J spouses, they have to be off their trolleys to even tell the Jp anything about any money they have back home incl. from their olds.

Shafting ordinary taxpayers of modest and relatively modest means cause you have a law that on paper catches big fish and trans-nationals who don't pay tax anywhere they live, is just fucking unethical. Yeah, make your laws but if they're unethical and immoral fuck following them.

Speaking of taxes that aint inheritance, can anybody here tell me about the situation re juminze and what year category the last payment falls into? I've paid my juminze up to the end of the 2017 calendar yr. The last one of the vouchers I got has to be paid in January. Recently I've been getting shafted at work, we all got a pay cut and our tax has been increased. I like to eat and pay my rent/utilities/net bills etc first. I just can't pay my last juminze installment until March if I want to eat and pay other bills.

I also can't pay my health insurance for the yr's end until March. Last yr I didn't get a fucking tax refund tho my income came in at under 20,00000 yen. With more income tax taken out than in 2016. If I'm gonna get a tax refund this yr, does delaying paying that juminze and health insurance up to the end of last yr mean I won't get another fucking refund this year? All my juminze and health insurance payments were up to date when I lodged my tax return last yr but not one yen was given as a tax refund.

Any info?

[Russell]

A small head up on my inheritance.

I used Yamato to ship from the Netherlands to Japan, door to door. They have a European office for moving stuff out to Japan. It is not just a shipper, but they take care of the whole process from packing into boxes (though I did most of that myself) to getting it beyond customs in Japan and delivering at home in Japan, including unpacking if one wishes. Most moving companies in the Netherlands ship from door to port in Japan, but this gives added costs to ship to your door in Japan (as I experienced in the past), which are not insignificant. It is possible to import inherited stuff into Japan tax-free one time, and Yamato took care of the whole process of getting it through customs.

So how much did I pay? It was 2200 Euro for 47 pieces of luggage comprising 675 kg with a volume of 3.5 cubic meter. I think that is a reasonable price.

The initial estimate for the time it would take was 6 weeks, but it actually took almost 4 weeks more. In my case I didn't mind, because it gave me time to make space in my house to store the stuff, but it could be annoying to someone moving to Japan. All in all, I am pretty satisfied.

Now for the inheritance tax. I talked with the tax offices in the Netherlands and Japan, and it turns out I have to pay tax in the Netherlands. The amount I pay will be subtracted from the tax I have to pay in Japan, and the Japanese tax officer suggested that I may have to pay little in Japan, since inheritance tax in Japan is lower than in the Netherlands. Well, I'll have to see how that turns out, but let's hope for the best!

[Russell]

Today I made a visit to the tax office in Japan, loaded with documents related to the inheritance tax I paid in the Netherlands, each with a translation into Japanese. I also gave them a document detailing the calculations for the tax in the Netherlands and in Japan, which showed clearly that my inheritance tax in Japan would be much lower than that in the Netherlands.

It was quite a friendly guy who helped me. He told me that since the amount I paid in the Netherlands would be subtracted from the amount to be paid in Japan, I do not need to pay anything in Japan. I even do not need to file any documents, but I need to have my documents ready in case there is an inquiry from the tax office when I start transferring money to Japan.

Anyway, quite a relief. Though I must say that inheritance tax in the Netherlands is fucking high. In Japan it is only fucking high for people who inherit more than a few hundred million Yen, but most people do not need to worry about that...

[Wage Slave]

Thanks for that. It jives exactly with my advice and it's really good to know that is the case.

[matsuki]

Basically, if you don't transfer said money to Japan, the J-tax office won't inquire. The locals seem to be quite creative when it comes to earning money overseas and keeping it there.

[Russell]

Basically, if you don't transfer said money to Japan, the J-tax office won't inquire. The locals seem to be quite creative when it comes to earning money overseas and keeping it there.

Well, that is, until they are caught at some point in the future.

I do not want to worry about that.

It is their life, their choice. I have my life, my choice.

[Wage Slave]

Basically, if you don't transfer said money to Japan, the J-tax office won't inquire. The locals seem to be quite creative when it comes to earning money overseas and keeping it there.

Well, that is, until they are caught at some point in the future.

I do not want to worry about that.

It is their life, their choice. I have my life, my choice.

Yes exactly my view and my practice as well. And given that FATCA and such means they have real time access to bank account and investment account data these days I'm not at all sure that keeping the money offshore offers all that much protection. Except maybe in Panama or somewhere.

[matsuki]

Basically, if you don't transfer said money to Japan, the J-tax office won't inquire. The locals seem to be quite creative when it comes to earning money overseas and keeping it there.

Well, that is, until they are caught at some point in the future.

I do not want to worry about that.

It is their life, their choice. I have my life, my choice.

What choice? You just said it was taxed in your home country so you owe nothing here?

To be clear, I'm not encouraging avoiding paying taxes here by keeping money overseas, just pointing out that many locals are doing just that. I do, however, agree it will become more difficult in the future.

[Russell]

Basically, if you don't transfer said money to Japan, the J-tax office won't inquire. The locals seem to be quite creative when it comes to earning money overseas and keeping it there.

Well, that is, until they are caught at some point in the future.

I do not want to worry about that.

It is their life, their choice. I have my life, my choice.

What choice? You just said it was taxed in your home country so you owe nothing here?

To be clear, I'm not encouraging avoiding paying taxes here by keeping money overseas, just pointing out that many locals are doing just that. I do, however, agree it will become more difficult in the future.

Well, I have the choice to declare my assets abroad. No need for that before, but required by law if they exceed 50,000,000 Yen.

[Wage Slave]

Yes. You also have the choice to declare the income from those assets each year and pay tax accordingly.

[Wage Slave]

Basically, if you don't transfer said money to Japan, the J-tax office won't inquire. The locals seem to be quite creative when it comes to earning money overseas and keeping it there.

Well, that is, until they are caught at some point in the future.

I do not want to worry about that.

It is their life, their choice. I have my life, my choice.

What choice? You just said it was taxed in your home country so you owe nothing here?

To be clear, I'm not encouraging avoiding paying taxes here by keeping money overseas, just pointing out that many locals are doing just that. I do, however, agree it will become more difficult in the future.

To be clear you are talking about evading taxes not avoiding them. An important distinction. That said, I wouldn't assume that tax evasion is the reason they place assets abroad - Given interest rates here, there's a case for placing money overseas just for the income. It's known as the carry trade.

[Russell]

Basically, if you don't transfer said money to Japan, the J-tax office won't inquire. The locals seem to be quite creative when it comes to earning money overseas and keeping it there.

Well, that is, until they are caught at some point in the future.

I do not want to worry about that.

It is their life, their choice. I have my life, my choice.

What choice? You just said it was taxed in your home country so you owe nothing here?

To be clear, I'm not encouraging avoiding paying taxes here by keeping money overseas, just pointing out that many locals are doing just that. I do, however, agree it will become more difficult in the future.

To be clear you are talking about evading taxes not avoiding them. An important distinction. That said, I wouldn't assume that tax evasion is the reason they place assets abroad - Given interest rates here, there's a case for placing money overseas just for the income. It's known as the carry trade.

Interest rates in the Netherlands are abominable, but I guess there should still be places in which they are higher than in Japan...

[Wage Slave]

Basically, if you don't transfer said money to Japan, the J-tax office won't inquire. The locals seem to be quite creative when it comes to earning money overseas and keeping it there.

Well, that is, until they are caught at some point in the future.

I do not want to worry about that.

It is their life, their choice. I have my life, my choice.

What choice? You just said it was taxed in your home country so you owe nothing here?

To be clear, I'm not encouraging avoiding paying taxes here by keeping money overseas, just pointing out that many locals are doing just that. I do, however, agree it will become more difficult in the future.

To be clear you are talking about evading taxes not avoiding them. An important distinction. That said, I wouldn't assume that tax evasion is the reason they place assets abroad - Given interest rates here, there's a case for placing money overseas just for the income. It's known as the carry trade.

Interest rates in the Netherlands are abominable, but I guess there should still be places in which they are higher than in Japan...

Well at least you are not watching the Euro fall against the Yen with it. I can get 1.9% for a 1 year fix in the UK but that's not a lot of use with a falling pound. The carry trade is riddled with exchange rate risk - and potential profit as well of course.

In Japan you might get, what?, .01% for a one year fix?

[Wage Slave]

Anyone fancy a bit of risk?

IR.JPG

[Russell]

In the Netherlands interest rates are virtually zero.

If I am gonna take risk, it is better to do that on the stock market, with quality stocks.

[Wage Slave]

In the Netherlands interest rates are virtually zero.

If I am gonna take risk, it is better to do that on the stock market, with quality stocks.

Yep, we are all being pushed towards stocks. Speaking of quality (I hope) I have a little slice of Akzo Nobel. We will see - so far OK. Not spectacular but steady.

[Wage Slave]

I believe Canman is interested in this thread.

[Buraku]

Queensland mining tax hike sent ‘shockwaves through Tokyo,’ says Japanese Ambassador
https://www.news.com.au/national/queens ... 0afea388ba

Japan’s state funeral for Shinzo Abe to cost more than £10m
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/ ... opposition

and blame the Korean Moonie not the Japan guy?

or Where does it go internationally

So like a broken record we've been hearing this shit for decades....but don't worry any second, next week, maybe next month China will totally collapse.

maybe this guy should do stand up comedy, he more or less calls the Chinese '1 Billion Congoids who Live in Sub Saharan Poverty'

ザ・カミング・ウォー・ウィズ・ジャパン: 「第二次太平洋戦争」は不可避だ, Peter Zeihan's guy Booknotes-The Coming War With Japan
https://www.c-span.org/video/?18335-1/t ... -war-japan