investment options within japan ?

[jarjarbinks]

I've been looking at horror stories about taxman thumping on gaijin with overseas investments ...
is there any reliable investment option in japan which will give me something like %5 ?
or is there any alternative that you would recommend ? (opening up an account at HSBC HK, is it worth the hassle ?)

[IparryU]

I've been looking at horror stories about taxman thumping on gaijin with overseas investments ...
is there any reliable investment option in japan which will give me something like %5 ?
or is there any alternative that you would recommend ? (opening up an account at HSBC HK, is it worth the hassle ?)

Yes there is, depending on the term you would like to do (1 year to 5 years), you can get anywhere from 5% to 10% (fixed interest) depending on the currency. The rate includes 10% tax, so this nullifies the tax issue and is also OK for US passport holders and US residents.

[jarjarbinks]

thanks, do you have any recommendations you can share ?
actually I'm not US citizen, I'm Turkish. Being a developing country, we have some good interest rates back at home (9 - 10 % monthly), but our currency is rubbish so don't really feel much confident investing there ... Suppose I did though, do you think the J-Taxman could find my accounts at Turkish HSBC or ING ? (if I moved the money 'manually')

all in all it doesn't feel worth the hassle and risk, if I can find something around 7 - 10 % yearly in Japan, I would be content with that.

[IparryU]

thanks, do you have any recommendations you can share ?
actually I'm not US citizen, I'm Turkish. Being a developing country, we have some good interest rates back at home (9 - 10 % monthly), but our currency is rubbish so don't really feel much confident investing there ... Suppose I did though, do you think the J-Taxman could find my accounts at Turkish HSBC or ING ? (if I moved the money 'manually')

all in all it doesn't feel worth the hassle and risk, if I can find something around 7 - 10 % yearly in Japan, I would be content with that.

The J-tax man is not as proactive as Uncle Sam... but Japan would not hunt down your overseas HSBC or ING account unless it was tied to your HSBC/ING account in Japan (as it would be on one record). but even if that, i doubt they would hunt you down for it. unless you are in the 50M+ range that is.

But what does get monitored is money from overseas being remitted to a Japanese bank account (or visa verse). so I would be cautious of how much you TT, but anything less than 1M should be ok.

Also, If you do send money to an overseas account, for example your grandmother or elderly parents, you can write that off on your Japanese taxes as funding your dependent. There is even a section for it on the forms. But it cannot be a crazy amount, about 10% to 15% of your annual salary is the max you should do.