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For foreign companies, the competent tax office is the location of the main permanent establishment in Japan.

The National Tax Agency , an external organ of the Ministry of Finance, is in charge of the assessment and collection of internal taxes. It supervises 12 Regional Taxation Bureaus throughout Japan, under which 524 local tax offices are set up to execute tax administration. (NTA)

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.