Japanese Tax FAQs

Tax is probably the last thing on your mind when you're shopping in Tokyo or chilling in a Zen temple so at taxback.com we try to make sorting out your tax affairs as easy and stress-free as possible for you.

Taxback.com can sort out your income tax and pension refunds once you leave Japan. Our customers get an average Japanese tax refund of 49000* JPY and an average pension refund of 102000* JPY.

We not only guarantee that your tax return will meet all the legal requirements of the Japanese tax authorities, but we'll also get you back the maximum legal refund possible.

To find out how much money you could claim try our FREE online refund calculator.

When can I get my tax back?

The Japanese tax year is from January 1st to December 31st and we can claim your tax refund from Japan up to five years after you leave.

2005 - 2009 Japan tax refunds: If you worked in Japan between 2005 and 2009 we can file your income tax return immediately so apply for your refund today!

2010 Japan tax refunds: If you work in Japan in 2010 we can apply for your tax refund as soon as you leave the country so download the Japanese TaxPack now and send everything in to us when you finish working.

Can I get a tax refund from Japan?

Japanese tax law means you must have been in Japan for more than one year to be eligible for a tax refund. Use our FREE online tax refund calculator to see how much overpaid tax we could get back from Japan for you.

How much money will I get back?

Taxback.com will get you back as much overpaid Japanese tax as is legally possible. That amount depends on factors like:

• Your earnings
• How long you worked for
• How long you were in the country for

The average refund we get for our Japanese tax clients is 49000* JPY!

Try our FREE online tax refund calculator to see how much cash you could get back.

How long will it take to receive my Japanese tax refund? Where's my refund?

As soon as we have it, you'll have it, because we contact you immediately when we receive your refund from the tax office to organise the easiest way to get it to you.

You can watch the step-by-step progress of your application on your online account. It'll go something like this:

When we receive your documents it takes us less than five working days to get your Japanese income tax return ready. This includes:

• Receiving and checking the documents
• Estimating your refund
• Completing your forms
• Sending them to the tax office

Once at the tax office, your application takes about eight weeks to process, depending on how busy they are. Don't worry - our tax team will keep chasing the tax office to see how your application is progressing.

As soon as the tax office sends us your refund, we'll contact you to sort out the best way to get your cash straight to you.

The total estimated time for your Japanese tax rebate is two to four months.

How does taxback.com work?

Here's how our easy three-step service works:

• Register online or use our FREE tax refund calculator and then download the TaxPack for Japanese tax returns.
• Send us your documents and signed forms. We'll estimate your refund and give you an online tax tracking account. If you're missing any documents we can get replacements for you.
• Chill out while we file your tax return and get you the maximum possible legal refund.

How do I know what's happening with my tax return?

You can follow the progress of your Japan income tax return on your online tracking account. This allows you to see every step of your application. As soon as we have your refund we'll contact you to sort out the best way to get your money straight to you.

Rather talk to a human being? We have our own taxback.com staff available to talk to you in 26 taxback.com offices in 19 different countries. Click here to find your local office number or use our Live Chat.

What are the advantages of using taxback.com?

Thousands of people choose our service because:

• We get you the maximum legal refund
• FREE online refund estimations
• Every customer gets a Personal Online Tracking Account – you can follow your tax return every step of the way
• All our tax returns are legal and compliant with Japanese tax law.
• Document retrieval service
• 24-hour customer support and tax refund help
• Free phone, free fax, free post, free online tax help with our live chat!
• No language barriers - our services are available in: Bulgarian, Chinese, Chinese-Taiwanese, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Spanish, Thai, Turkish, and Ukrainian.
• Money sent worldwide and in your local currency. You can get your refund in: Australian Dollars, Brazilian Reals, Bulgarian Lev, Canadian Dollars, Czech Koruna, Euro, Hong Kong Dollar, Indonesian Rupiah, Japanese Yen, Latvian Lat, Lithuanian Litas, Moldovan Lei, New Zealand Dollars, Norwegian Krona, Pakistan Rupee, Peruvian Nuevo Soles, Philippine Peso, Polish Zloty, Romanian Lei, Russian Rubles, Singaporean Dollar, Slovak Koruna, South African Rands, South Korean Won, Swedish Krona, Thai Baht, Turkish Lira, UK Pounds, Ukrainian Hryvna, US Dollars.

How much will it cost?

First of all, our FREE Online Tax Estimation costs you nothing - just a few minutes to fill it out. We'll email your refund estimation straight to your personal email with no obligation to use our service.

When you send us your documents and signed forms, we'll evaluate your refund and what additional services you need such as document retrieval. Then we'll let you know how much it will cost to file your return for you.

For Japanese tax refunds we charge 9% + handling fee of the refund received, subject to a minimum processing fee of 6454 JPY + handling fee.

Why the minimum fee?

This fee covers all the things that make filing your Japanese income tax return with us so easy, such as:

• Customer support 24/7 by phone and Live Chat
• Online tracking service – in seven languages
• Free phone and free fax
• Local staff to meet you and guide you through the process in 18 offices worldwide
• Tax technicians
• Researchers to identify new legal developments to maximise your refunds
• Quality team

I paid into a pension fund – can I get a refund from that?

Yes! Even if you're a foreigner working in Japan, you will probably have been paying into a Japanese pension plan out of your wages. We can apply for this refund up to two years after you've left Japan. Our average Japanese pension plan refund is 102000* JPY so download the Japanese pension refund pack today to get your cash back fast!

To apply for your pension refund from Japan, we'll need a copy of your pension book or pension number. Don't have that information? No problem – contact us on japan@taxback.com and we can sort it out for you.

What about tax I paid on my pension refund?

When you receive your Japanese pension refund the Japanese Insurance Agency deducts 20% worth of tax off your pension reimbursement. Don't worry though - we can claim that tax back up to five years later for you. Our average pension reimbursement tax refund is 55000* JPY so download the Japanese pension reimbursement tax refund pack now and apply for your refund today!

Oops - I lost my documents/Help - I never got my documents – what do I do?

We know it's easy to lose documents in the move back home or to not even receive them in the first place. That's why we have a document retrieval service to organise replacements for you.

If you're missing documents, just contact us on japan@taxback.com and we'll sort it out for you.

What is a Gensen-Choshu-Hyo?

To claim your Japanese tax rebate, we need your Gensen-Choshu-Hyo or Statement of Income. A Gensen-Choshu-Hyo is the official tax form that you get from your employer at the end of the tax year. It outlines your earnings and the amount of taxes you paid that year.

If you've misplaced your Gensen-Choshu-Hyo or you're applying for a tax refund mid-year and you haven't received it yet, don't sweat, our document retrieval service can help you out.

Can I do it myself?

Every tax office in the world is set up to accept applications directly from taxpayers so yes, you can file your return yourself. The reality is though once you submit it, there's no updating process and no feedback until you get a yes or a no, which is frustrating and very worrying.

Preparing your Japanese tax return will involve getting all the tax forms and trying to put all the information together properly – and it's not as easy as it looks.

The tax system in Japan is very complex and filing their own tax return is a challenge that many Japanese citizens don't even attempt themselves.

At the end of the day ask yourself -
Would I wire my own house?
The reality is no, I wouldn't - I'd use an electrician.
It's a technical, professional piece of work, so I'd get a technical professional to do the job properly. I don't want to risk my house blowing up!

It's the same with tax. Our taxback.com customers rely on us as technical professionals to file their Japanese tax returns and get their tax back. Our customers tell us they knew trying to file it themselves would lead to stress and a possible loss of money in refunds. They'd rather focus on their university courses, their day-job or, more importantly, tasting the local delicacies.

Filing your return yourself won't make your house explode, but it can result in lots of stress and leave you out of pocket if you miss out on refunds you're owed.

It's easier for you to let us put our 11 years of experience filing tax returns to good use by doing all the work for you. It makes sense to use an expert.

Use our FREE online refund calculator to see how much tax you could get back.

What's the difference between filing my tax return and getting my tax refund?

We file your Japanese tax return in order to organise your tax refund.

A tax return is the annual submission of tax forms documenting your earnings, taxes paid, deductable expenses and allowances that you send to the tax office for review. They review it according to the information submitted by your employer and the current laws that apply to your case.

If you get a tax refund, this means the tax office review found you have overpaid tax in Japan and are due some back.

Our estimate of your refund is based on our prediction of what the tax office will decide when they review your tax return - providing they have the same information as us.

Use our FREE online refund estimator to see how much tax you could get back.

I worked abroad in other countries - can you help me to claim refunds from these countries?

Absolutely! We've been organising tax refunds for people working all over the world since 1996. If you've worked in any of the following countries click on them to apply for your refund!

Australia tax refund	Austria tax refund	Belgium tax refund
Canada tax refund	Denmark tax refund	Germany tax refund
Gibraltar tax refund	Guernsey tax refund	Holland tax refund
Ireland tax refund	Luxembourg tax refund	New Zealand tax refund
Norway tax refund	UK tax refund	US tax refund

Our research team is constantly developing tax return services for new markets so if you've worked in a country not mentioned above, email our team on newtaxes@taxback.com to see what we can do for you.

Can you guarantee that I'll receive the refund amount you estimated for me?

No, but we do guarantee to get you the most money back that we legally can.

Our estimate is based on your documents and our experience in filing thousands of tax returns every week since 1996. Naturally, the Japanese tax authority has the final decision in your tax refund based on their systems and tax codes.

When our tax technicians prepare and file your return, they check for any allowances or benefits you could get and ensure we apply for the maximum rebate possible.