tax

[Anonymous]

Hi
Here's another tax question. My company took 10 000 of my measly 250 000 salary in the first month in tax, but since the second month they have been deducting 30 000 a month from the same salary every month. Some folks have been telling me this is too high, but no one has any authoritative answers on how much I should be taxed. It seems high though considering what I'd previously heard about Japan's low tax rates. How much should I be taxed on this salary? I have a work visa and I have been here 9 months if that has any bearing on it.

I asked my company why the amount of tax went up and why it was so high, they assured me it was correct and that I can claim a fat wad of it back at the end of the financial year. However they also have a tendency to lie. Does this sound right? If I return to my home country before that time can I still claim it back?

I'd welcome any advice.

Cheers

[trip_hop]

Only authoritative answer can come from your employer or a tax official.
This forum only gives advice.
But in 2002, monthly income for single person between 248,000 and 251,000\ has basic tax of 10,240\.
You can check at the National Tax Office. www.taxanser.nta.go.jp
They also have an excellent English Guide to taxes.

If you have only been here 9 months, you should not be paying local and ward taxes yet. But, ASK your employer for a breakdown of the deduction first. Maybe some facts I do not know.

First year you have basic tax, after that you're taxed on previous year's earnings. Tax rebates do happen. but check with your employer. They issue it to you.

Trip Hop

[Raymond]

Hi Trip Hop, I posted a message about working independently in Japan. Could you reply please? Others have recommended you as someone who knows a lot about Japan.

Please help, thank you.

[trip_hop]

Crossed posts!
:-)
TH

[Hiyodori]

Johnny Cash --
30,000 yen taken out of a 250,000 yen monthly salary is actually about right. I don't know your specific situation, but in general, in addition to the income tax that TH mentioned above, this will include "kousei nenkin" (national retirement pension) and "kenko hoken" (health insurance) when working for a corporation. And the first month's take home pay will always be more than the amount from the second month onward. These deductions should all be written clearly on your pay stub. If it's in Japanese and you can't read it, ask a Japanese friend for help.

You will most likely be able to get a small portion back as a refund in December's salary or after you file a tax return next spring (if you choose to do it yourself, and not via your company). In addition, a large portion of the national pension payments are subject to being refunded as well, after leaving Japan, subject to a number of conditions. Your local ward/town/city office will usually have a pamphlet containing a good explanation for all of this in English.

It's always a shock to see the second month's pay slip be less than the first....
Hiyodori

[Glenski]

I've been in Japan for years, and on the same salary as mentioned above, I never had more than 15,000 yen taken out in taxes from my paycheck. The original poster should confirm exactly what (taxes alone, or taxes plus insurance, as Hiyodori mentioned) is being withheld.

[Anonymous]

Well, thanks for the advice.

In response to Glenski, there is no breakdown of the deductions on the paysheet. Simply a column - "Deductions". I do not have company insurance (to the best of my knowledge). When I asked my superviser about it, she repreatedly fobbed me off, then said "Aha, I know, it's the city tax". I moved to a different ward of Yokohama between the first and second paychecks, but there that much of a discrepancy between the wards? And TH said I shouldn't be charged city / ward tax yet... aaagh!

Anyway thank you all, I'll check that tax office website and try to get some clearer answers from company.

[Anonymous]

everything said above sounds about right,if you'd like to add things up for self to check to see is you're getting ripped off, you can visit http://www2.gol.com/users/jpc/Japan/taxes.htm and it's all in English though some of the mathematics involved can be quite cruel.

If you all don't mind I'd like to ask a question about taxes for the self employed, more specifically I'm interested in all the deductions that we are entitiled to. I'm spent hundreds of hours searching for this info over the net and through phone calls but no real good answers.

I know there are deduction for dependents, medical, insurance, business costs and the 380000yen personal deduction but the part I don't get is are the self employed entitled to a standard deduction? The guy at the tax bureau said no, but that seems strange because employed people have half of their income deducted through standard deduction. This would seem unfair and very very cruel for the self employed so I figure there must be a mistake here.

* Just so all of you that are employed know, you get about 35% of your earnings deducted as a standard deduction, if you make an average salary as a FT English instructor.

regards,

Sam