Rhetorical Visa Question (No Kidding)
Haluk Skywalker
I'm a freelance translator, who resides in Japan but works with translation
agencies in Turkey only.
I have an account in Citibank. My agencies in Turkey deposit my weekly
paycheck to my Citibank account and I withdraw the money in Japan. Although
I pay shit load of banking commission; I don't care. Money's comin', so no
problem.
So basically, 100% of my income is from Turkey. I am not working in Japan. I
live there with tourist visa, leave the country every three months and come
back.
Practically I am not in ihou taizai or do I? And the only tax I am subject
to is 5% zeikin, right?
Louise Bremner
> I'm a freelance translator, who resides in Japan but works with translation
> agencies in Turkey only.
I have a suspicion that this is not a suitable place to ask such
questions. Maybe a tax lawyer or accountant who is experienced with
gaigin?
________________________________________________________________________
Louise Bremner (log at gol dot com)
If you want a reply by e-mail, don't write to my Yahoo address!
Ken Yasumoto-Nicolson
I can't speak for the specifics, but you are (rhetorically) violating
the Immigration Laws by working on a tourist visa. The least you will
get, after immigration spot a lot of 3-month stamps in your passport,
is told you can't come back into the country without a proper working
visa obtained in advance - this happened to an ex-colleague of mine.
The worst, they'll slap you with back taxes - not just income tax, but
pension, health, et al, and I'm sure they can work residence tax in
there too.
As Louise says, get advice from a proper lawyer, who will, I would
hope, tell you you have to obtain the proper visa paperwork.
Ken
Dave Fossett
I'm not a lawyer either, but it sounds like you would be working on a
tourist visa, which is not allowed. Don't you get a lot of difficult
questions asked at immigration each time you re-enter Japan?
And just pray that you don't suddenly need medical treatment in Japan, as
without health insurance, you will probably be turned away by most places.
--
Dave Fossett
Saitama, Japan
Ryan Ginstrom
"Dave Fossett" <re...@via.newsgroup> wrote in message
news:7tuDb.1900$747...@news1.dion.ne.jp...
> And just pray that you don't suddenly need medical treatment in Japan, as
> without health insurance, you will probably be turned away by most places.
This at least is not true. We use expat insurance (which is the same as no
insurance as far as the hospital is concerned), and have never been turned
away. In fact, IME they will treat you without even first verifying that you
have means to pay, unlike most US hospitals, where they want an insurance
card or credit card up front.
--
Regards,
Ryan Ginstrom
Drew Hamilton
>I can't speak for the specifics, but you are (rhetorically) violating
>the Immigration Laws by working on a tourist visa. The least you will
>get, after immigration spot a lot of 3-month stamps in your passport,
>is told you can't come back into the country without a proper working
>visa obtained in advance - this happened to an ex-colleague of mine.
Well, I can't talk about personal experience, but I can share the
experience of my good friend.. uh... Brew. It probably won't
answer your question at all, but it'll give you an idea what will
happen if you get red-flagged.
Brew was working on a tourist visa through a fairly thinly-veiled
thing where he had set up a company in Canada and his employers
contracted with his company, which in turn paid him a salary.
On the third trip into Japan, the immigration officer red-flagged
Brew (he had forgotten his air ticket back to Canada) and made him
go into the special room. The special room held Brew, another
Canadian, and two Koreans. One of the Koreans kept saying "DENWA
KUDASAI! DENWA KUDASAI!" until he finally wigged out, started
throwing punches at security guards, and was hauled off to
somewhere else. Then it was Brew's turn.
Well, Brew sat down before the guard and lied through his teeth.
"I'm just here to learn Japanese", he said. "Maybe look around
for a job." Well, the guard wanted the name and phone number of
one of Brew's friends. Problem was, Brew really only knew people
from work at the time. If he gave the immigration official the
name and number of someone at work, bad things would happen, but
then Brew decided that he really had no choice.
When the Immigration guard hung up the phone after talking with
Mr. Isozaki, he said "Mr Hamilton, ".. er, I mean, "Mr. Bamilton,
you have been staying illegally. It is the decision of the
country of Japan that you be sent back to Korea." Well, that was
bad. The entire country wanted rid of me. Er, Brew. Well, then the
immigration guard called in his supervisor. After some talking in
rapid-fire Japanese, the supervisor said, "Mr. Bamilton, it is the
decision of the country of Japan that you be sent back to
Canada.". Well, that was better, actually. But Brew said, "Listen,
all my stuff is in Tokyo, including my air ticket back to Canada.
Can I somehow go get it?"
Well, after some more rapid-fire discussion in Japanese between
the two guards, one turned to Brew and said "You may have a 14-day
tourist visa to get your things." Then, for some reason, the
supervisor decided to call Isozaki. He hung up the phone, looked
at Brew's passport, *stamp*, *stamp*. 90-day tourist visa. "Mr.
Bamilton, when you come back in 90 days please do not forget your
airline ticket home."
To this day, Brew doesn't know what Isozaki said. Isozaki claims
that he said the same thing both times. He won't tell Brew what
that was. It must have been something good, though, since Brew
has never again had any troubles entering Japan.
Brew is no longer a stupid 20-year-old kid, and would not think of
working illegall again. I suppose that the test of what his
immigration record looks like will come later this year when he
applies for a Working Holiday visa.
--
- awh
http://www.awh.org/
Marc
"Haluk Skywalker" <yokoo...@spam.net> wrote in message
news:brl9v0$4njib$1...@ID-201738.news.uni-berlin.de...
What 5% zeikin???
I would agree with louise about getting more professional advice, but for
what it is worth -- a 90-day tourist visa is very often used by people
travelling to Japan for business. The key is that you can't be employed by
or be paid a salary by a company that is a resident of Japan. In my case I
worked in Japan for 6 months this year, but formally I was employed by the
branch in the US and all of my salary came was derived from the US, and
deposited in to my US bank account (and I didn't pay no stinkin' commission
to Citibank, but that's another story...)
Haluk Skywalker
yazdı:1g61v9c.1oghr7a1jo5kw8N%dame_...@yahoo.com...
> Haluk Skywalker <yokoo...@spam.net> wrote:
>
> > I'm a freelance translator, who resides in Japan but works with
translation
> > agencies in Turkey only.
>
> I have a suspicion that this is not a suitable place to ask such
> questions. Maybe a tax lawyer or accountant who is experienced with
> gaigin?
>
This is just preliminary thinkin'. If the idea seems sensible at all, I will
ask a lawyer when I get to Japan in January.
Haluk Skywalker
yazdi:7tuDb.1900$747...@news1.dion.ne.jp...
> "Haluk Skywalker" wrote:
>
> > I'm a freelance translator, who resides in Japan but works with
> translation
> > agencies in Turkey only.
> > I have an account in Citibank. My agencies in Turkey deposit my weekly
> > paycheck to my Citibank account and I withdraw the money in Japan.
> Although
> > I pay shit load of banking commission; I don't care. Money's comin', so
no
> > problem.
> > So basically, 100% of my income is from Turkey. I am not working in
Japan.
> I
> > live there with tourist visa, leave the country every three months and
> come
> > back.
> >
> > Practically I am not in ihou taizai or do I? And the only tax I am
subject
> > to is 5% zeikin, right?
>
> I'm not a lawyer either, but it sounds like you would be working on a
> tourist visa, which is not allowed. Don't you get a lot of difficult
> questions asked at immigration each time you re-enter Japan?
Not really. I got two children there and if it was any country else I'd have
permanent residency.
> And just pray that you don't suddenly need medical treatment in Japan, as
> without health insurance, you will probably be turned away by most places.
>
Good point there. Most hospital cashiers cannot even calculate med expenses
without an insurance card...
Haluk Skywalker
yazdi:brlt8s$4cruc$1...@ID-101276.news.uni-berlin.de...
That's right. They don't verify the payment before treatment, which is a
humanly thing to do.
Haluk Skywalker
yazdı:1pvDb.564499$Fm2.531558@attbi_s04...
>
> "Haluk Skywalker" <yokoo...@spam.net> wrote in message
> news:brl9v0$4njib$1...@ID-201738.news.uni-berlin.de...
> > Lets assume for a minute that:
> >
> > I'm a freelance translator, who resides in Japan but works with
> translation
> > agencies in Turkey only.
> > I have an account in Citibank. My agencies in Turkey deposit my weekly
> > paycheck to my Citibank account and I withdraw the money in Japan.
> Although
> > I pay shit load of banking commission; I don't care. Money's comin', so
no
> > problem.
> > So basically, 100% of my income is from Turkey. I am not working in
Japan.
> I
> > live there with tourist visa, leave the country every three months and
> come
> > back.
> >
> > Practically I am not in ihou taizai or do I? And the only tax I am
subject
> > to is 5% zeikin, right?
>
> What 5% zeikin???
>
shouhizei
Michael Cash
<re...@via.newsgroup> belched the alphabet and kept on going with:
>"Haluk Skywalker" wrote:
>
>> I'm a freelance translator, who resides in Japan but works with
>translation
>> agencies in Turkey only.
>> I have an account in Citibank. My agencies in Turkey deposit my weekly
>> paycheck to my Citibank account and I withdraw the money in Japan.
>Although
>> I pay shit load of banking commission; I don't care. Money's comin', so no
>> problem.
>> So basically, 100% of my income is from Turkey. I am not working in Japan.
>I
>> live there with tourist visa, leave the country every three months and
>come
>> back.
>>
>> Practically I am not in ihou taizai or do I? And the only tax I am subject
>> to is 5% zeikin, right?
>
>I'm not a lawyer either, but it sounds like you would be working on a
>tourist visa, which is not allowed.
Not only that, he opens himself up for charges of income tax evasion.
--
Michael Cash
"Tom Cruise saves late 19th Century Japan from creepy politicians and creeping
Westernization in "The Last Samurai," another Hollywood epic that shows that
nobody embodies the nobility of an exotic foreign culture like a visiting white
guy."
John Beifuss
Louise Bremner
> > > Practically I am not in ihou taizai or do I? And the only tax I am
> > > subject to is 5% zeikin, right?
> >
> > I'm not a lawyer either, but it sounds like you would be working on a
> > tourist visa, which is not allowed. Don't you get a lot of difficult
> > questions asked at immigration each time you re-enter Japan?
>
> Not really. I got two children there and if it was any country else I'd have
> permanent residency.
Note that you do not want to get the tax authorities pissed off at you.
In the worst case, it could become impossible for you to return to Japan
at all. (Didn't that happen to one of the Kents?)
Haluk Skywalker
yazdı:bg92b1-...@urd.awh.org...
> Ken Yasumoto-Nicolson <ken_ni...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> >...
>
> Brew is no longer a stupid 20-year-old kid, and would not think of
> working illegall again. I suppose that the test of what his
> immigration record looks like will come later this year when he
> applies for a Working Holiday visa.
>
I think hoshounin (Isozaki) is the key in case of tourist visas. My first
entry to Japan was with tourist visa. I was questioned about an hour until
my ex came. But I think they are not as though when speaking to a Japanese
national.
Tell Brew Bamilton my best wishes. I wish him best of the luck for his
Working Holiday Visa (whatta oxymoron).
Haluk Skywalker
yazdı:1g63153.1rod3ypwqzk0N%dame_...@yahoo.com...
> Haluk Skywalker <yokoo...@spam.net> wrote:
> ...
> >
> > Not really. I got two children there and if it was any country else I'd
have
> > permanent residency.
>
> Note that you do not want to get the tax authorities pissed off at you.
> In the worst case, it could become impossible for you to return to Japan
> at all. (Didn't that happen to one of the Kents?)
>
>
No, I don't want to piss off tax people or immigration people or any other
competent authority that may be lurking this newsgroup. Actually my primary
concern was not evading tax at all.
But I really think that immigration laws (or tax regulations etc) need to be
reviewed as the world changes. Nowadays living in a country does not
necessarily mean making an income in that same country.
Who are Kents?
Haluk Skywalker
yazdi:qsottv4839uft2rkq...@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 16 Dec 2003 11:53:15 +0900, "Dave Fossett"
> <re...@via.newsgroup> belched the alphabet and kept on going with:
>
> >"Haluk Skywalker" wrote:
> >
> >I'm not a lawyer either, but it sounds like you would be working on a
> >tourist visa, which is not allowed.
>
> Not only that, he opens himself up for charges of income tax evasion.
>
Unlike US, govt. of Turkey does not levy income tax on income its citizens
made abroad. Thus I wouldn't be evading income tax of Turkey. Because the
income is originating from Turkey, I wouldn't be evading income tax of Japan
either.
I don't know about the laws, but good judgement says there is no evasion
here.
Matthew Endo
> Not really. I got two children there and if it was any country else I'd have
> permanent residency.
Japanese citizens?
You could probably get some sort of visa based upon the fact that they
live there, similar to a spouse visa.
--
Matt
ma...@gol.com
Ryan Ginstrom
> Unlike US, govt. of Turkey does not levy income tax on income its citizens
> made abroad.
Sounds very enlightened. Of course, the US doesn't levy income taxes on all
its citizens living abroad -- just the big bad rich ones.
> Thus I wouldn't be evading income tax of Turkey. Because the
> income is originating from Turkey, I wouldn't be evading income tax of
Japan
> either.
>
> I don't know about the laws, but good judgement says there is no evasion
> here.
Well, for income tax purposes it's not where the money comes from, but where
the work was done. You work in Japan, you owe Japan income taxes.
--
Regards,
Ryan Ginstrom
Louise Bremner
> " Louise Bremner" <dame_...@yahoo.com>, haber iletisinde şunları
> yazdı:1g63153.1rod3ypwqzk0N%dame_...@yahoo.com...
> > Haluk Skywalker <yokoo...@spam.net> wrote:
> > ...
> > >
> > > Not really. I got two children there and if it was any country else
> > > I'd have permanent residency.
> >
> > Note that you do not want to get the tax authorities pissed off at you.
> > In the worst case, it could become impossible for you to return to Japan
> > at all. (Didn't that happen to one of the Kents?)
> No, I don't want to piss off tax people or immigration people or any other
> competent authority that may be lurking this newsgroup. Actually my
> primary concern was not evading tax at all.
Of course it wasn't. But maybe you need to be a little more careful with
your wording, just in case.
> But I really think that immigration laws (or tax regulations etc) need to
> be reviewed as the world changes. Nowadays living in a country does not
> necessarily mean making an income in that same country.
True, but it's possible you're not the person to insist on such changes.
Just follow the existing rules for now, and get professional tax advice.
>
> Who are Kents?
There were two gaigin *tarento* a few years ago, both with the given
name "Kent". I don't remember seeing either of them in my random
flicking through the channels, for some time now.
Brett Robson
>
>But I really think that immigration laws (or tax regulations etc) need to be
>reviewed as the world changes. Nowadays living in a country does not
>necessarily mean making an income in that same country.
>
If you are living in a country and not paying income tax then you are consuming
resources of that country without contributing anything to it.
.
----
"You don't bang it at 11:00pm but on the other hand, you don't play tribal house
when you're headlining a tech-house party"
DJ Mike McKenna talking shit
Haluk Skywalker
yazdı:1g67dxk.1vr...@yahoobb219000172010.bbtec.net...
I haven't been able to get one until now. I'll give it another try in
January, but it seems there is no direct way.
Haluk Skywalker
yazdi:1g67hid.hj09npjshcynN%dame_...@yahoo.com...
> Haluk Skywalker <yokoo...@spam.net> wrote:
>
> > " Louise Bremner" <dame_...@yahoo.com>, haber iletisinde şunları
> > yazdı:1g63153.1rod3ypwqzk0N%dame_...@yahoo.com...
> > > Haluk Skywalker <yokoo...@spam.net> wrote:
> > > ...
> True, but it's possible you're not the person to insist on such changes.
> Just follow the existing rules for now, and get professional tax advice.
>
> >
Yes, ma'am...
Michael Cash
<yokoo...@spam.net> belched the alphabet and kept on going with:
Since when do tax department bureaucrats care more about good judgment
than the law?
As Ryan has pointed out, it doesn't matter how the money is channeled.
If the work is performed in Japan and money is paid for it, then the
income is considered to be earned in Japan and taxable by Japan.
Otherwise, don't you think there would be a huge business in providing
to all Japanese the very sort of international payroll transfer racket
you have thought of? We'd save not only by paying no income tax, but
by perennially being in the lowest bracket for national health
insurance, since each year our previous year's income would be zero.
Hokousha
> I'm a freelance translator, who resides in Japan but works with translation
> agencies in Turkey only.
> I have an account in Citibank. My agencies in Turkey deposit my weekly
> paycheck to my Citibank account and I withdraw the money in Japan. Although
> I pay shit load of banking commission; I don't care. Money's comin', so no
> problem.
> So basically, 100% of my income is from Turkey. I am not working in Japan. I
> live there with tourist visa, leave the country every three months and come
> back.
Well, you know, just for conversation's sake, because I know nothing
of the law in these matters and you certainly shouldn't rely on
anything I say, it sounds like you're a bit out on a limb.
Unless you've been doing this for years, then depending on a number of
factors, the zeimusho would probably classify you as a non-permanent
(possibly illegal, but that's not their department) resident. As a
result, foreign source income remitted abroad is not taxable... in
principle. But then, this is Japan, the LDP is running a huge deficit,
and your case is unusual if you have no Japan source income at all.
They could rightly question how it is that you could be living here
without working. If you respond that you are working (while in Japan),
then their interest in your case would undoubtedly deepen. Depending
on a variety of factors such as the nature of your work, the location
and nature of your company's clients, how and where you live, etc,
they could easily decide that your income (or at least the portion
that you withdraw for expenses in Japan) is taxable. They have
latitude to do that, and it costs them nothing to try.
So keep your head down and check with the the accountant. Don't wait
for January because there may be things you can do now to mitigate the
situation if in fact you could be deemed to owe taxes. Your embassy
may be able to recommend someone.
Tim
GHill18299
You sound exempt from income tax.
Hibijibi
> Well, for income tax purposes it's not where the money comes from, but
where
> the work was done. You work in Japan, you owe Japan income taxes.
As usual, I am late adding to this thread. Taxwise, I was in a similar
situation last year. Although it does not touch on legal residency issues,
Skywalker might find our post from last year interesting...
http://makeashorterlink.com/?Z1E951ED6
At that point I thought I would have to pay Japan income taxes. However,
after consulting with our zeirishi, he said not to report it. So I didn't.
Best of luck in your own research,
Hibijibi
Haluk Skywalker
yazdı:bs5of4$8sime$1...@ID-149122.news.uni-berlin.de...
Thanks. It is clear enough:
"As stipulated by Japanese Income Tax Law, salaries, wages or other
compensation for personal services performed in Japan are treated as "INCOME
FROM SOURCES IN JAPAN", whether they are paid in Japan or abroad."