Rosetta Stone Learning Center

Moving in Japan

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Summer in Japan is notoriously hot and humid, especially for expats who hail from more temperate climes. Despite the heat and humidity, it can be a prime time for movers who want to take advantage of the lower prices that are available in this otherwise unpopular moving time. With the Coronavirus pandemic carrying on and the Olympics underway, plans to move may seem like something better left for cooler weather, but there are ways to make moving less of a hassle. 

 

 

Popular Movers

The fastest way to move is to get help. Moving companies specialize in a variety of services that cater to the many needs of movers in Tokyo. There are plenty of options to choose from when selecting movers. Some of the major movers are well-known, with many services to choose from.

  • Sakai Moving Service Co., Ltd
  • Heart Hikkoshi Center
  • Nittsu 
  • Art Hikkoshi Center

Movers that are local to Tokyo may offer better choices for people in the capital as they often target the large market of foreign residents in the city, offering services in English and employing bilingual staff. Some of the popular Tokyo-based ones are the following:

  • Tokyo Move
  • Tokyo Helping Hands
  • Quoz
  • Tokyo Truck Guy

 

 

Official Requirements

There are some procedures you need to follow when moving in Japan. Doing these in a timely manner will prevent much hassle later on. 

When moving house, you have 14 days to notify your local ward office or city hall. If you will be moving outside your current ward, you will need to fill out a Move-out Notice (Tenshutsu-todoke 転出届 ) at your ward office or city hall. After filling out a Move-out Notice, you will receive a Certificate of Change of Address. Take this certificate to your new ward office or city hall. There, you will have your residence card updated to reflect your new address on the back side of your card.

If you are moving within your current ward, you need only notify your ward office or city hall and have them change the address on the back of your residence card.

Different ward offices may have different methods, so be sure to give yourself plenty of time before the deadline.

Items you will need for each visit include the following:

  • Residence Card
  • MyNumber Card
  • Certificate of Change of Address (if leaving your ward)

Aside from the obvious notifications of utilities and local government, don’t forget to register a change of address with any entity that will be sending sensitive information to your address. These include your bank, employer, and home-country tax authorities. 

Registering your change of address on time makes everything easier. Paper trails are usually permanent in Japan and bureaucratic mistakes tend to follow you for quite a while. Don’t make future moves or other big changes more difficult than they need to be by forgetting to follow these important steps.

 

Conclusion

Whether you are moving across the country or just across town, there are ways to keep the move simple and relatively painless, even considering the language barrier. New residents need not be deterred by the bureaucracy so long as they check the necessary boxes early.

All photos sourced from uplash.com

 

Year-end Tax Adjustments in Japan

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Filing taxes can be a daunting procedure, especially in a foreign country. However, this is not necessarily a burdensome task as most companies handle their employees’ year-end tax adjustment process (年末調整).

Nenmatsu Chosei (年末調整)

Your main employer automatically withholds income tax from your monthly salary. Your final annual tax due, however, is affected by items such as salary from a previous job you had over the year, the dependents you declare, insurance premiums, or special exemptions for spouses. Then, depending on if the final annual tax due is smaller or larger than the withheld tax amount, tax may either be refunded or payable.

Around November, your company will ask you to fill out some paperwork and declare any data related to the above items so they can calculate your final annual tax due. Then, they will be able to determine your total income and issue your income tax certificate (源泉徴収票) at the end of the year.

Regular employees typically do nenmatsu chosei (年末調整) with their employer. On the other hand, part-time employees have the option of doing nenmatsu chosei (年末調整) or kakutei shinkoku (確定申告).

Kakutei Shinkoku (確定申告)

Kakutei shinkoku (確定申告) is for self-employed individuals and those wishing to file for tax adjustments by themselves. This is also required in the following cases:

  • You leave Japan before the year ends
  • You work for a company not based in Japan
  • Your earn more than 20 million yen per year
  • You have more than one employer
  • You receive other annual income exceeding 200,000 yen

The tax filing period for this is between February and March. You can complete the procedure at the tax office or online.

You will need to prepare statements of all your income earned for the year, receipts for tax deductible items (social insurance, life insurance, medical fees), as well as remittance slips and other supporting documents for dependents.

 

For more information, please visit the official website of the National Tax Agency
https://www.nta.go.jp/english/index.htm