tax

Similar to many other countries, Japan charges penalties for any delay in the payment or the filing of the tax returns.

Japanese tax system offers a wide range of possibilities to pay taxes:

The annual filing of the corporate tax return has to be done within 2 months of the last day of the fiscal year at the taxation office where the company has its registered business address. The final financial figures with regard to the corporate earnings and the taxable amounts need to be correctly calculated and require the approval from the majority of the votes casted at the general meeting of the shareholders of the company.

Beside descriptions of the taxation system in Japan, the JTPP Helpdesk also strives to supply practical information to get your job done with regard to tax matters. For now, it is not yet possible to file tax returns etc. in other languages than in Japanese. However with the more practical guides JTPP Helpdesk aims to make the procedures more transparent and comprehensible for European SMEs.

Main points  

• Blue tax return forms give preferential tax treatments for fillers; 
• A registration in the local tax office is necessary; 
• The company must undertake a specific accounting procedure to be eligible. 

In Japan, Corporation tax is operated on the basis of a self-assessment system.

Further reading 

It is possible in Japan to complete the entire tax return filling and payment online. This solution may be very useful for a company headquartered abroad. There is however one important precondition to using online tax-services, which prevents foreign companies from using the online portals: 

Companies must have legal residence in Japan, which is necessary to obtain a digital ID/Electronic certificate.

e-Tax

www.e-tax.nta.go.jp

There is a local tax office in almost every important city in Japan. Below lists the contact information of the Regional Tax Bureaus. 

A list of the addresses of local tax bureaus is available on the website of the National Tax Agency, but only in Japanese.

The Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau offers consultations for foreigners in English during weekdays from 9:00 to 17:00 local time. It is possible to get information by calling +81-3-3821-9070.

The following domestic business transactions are exempted from Consumption tax:

Although corporate and consumption taxation issues are those you will have to deal with in your daily business activities as an SME, there are also a number of other taxes and rules that might have effect on your business dealings.  Some of these are introduced on this page. Please use the quick link to jump to the appropriate section.

Quick links to

Foreign companies engaged in business in Japan without a physical presence, but possessing warehousing and distributing goods in Japan, may be classified as having a permanent establishment in Japan. In this situation, the company could also be subjected to direct, as well as indirect taxes like Consumption tax.