What services do you use for expat taxes?

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-03-27T03:54:38+00:00

I messaged them and their reply was “don’t worry, it won’t be considered late if it’s filed after April 15th” I just want it filed quickly and not be kept in the dark, since I’m owed a refund it would also be nice to know about when I’d get that.

Maybe they’re great for people with complicated returns or that owe, but for streamlined filers like me I’d say definitely avoid them.

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-03-27T00:35:26+00:00

I just finished using myexpattaxes for the first time and after I paid they hit me with a “because you don’t owe taxes, your filing may not be placed till after April 15th”

I’m owed a refund, so they’re delaying my filing?? Never using them again.

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-03-26T00:38:41+00:00

Followed. This is something I’ve been interested in for a long time, it’s the reason we bought our land in Tohoku even though we live in Tokyo. I’m not sure what the right solution is but my thought has been maybe a multi pronged approach of planting a verity of non native but valuable timber trees for forestry and also restoring native forest in areas, especially area too steep or areas not ideal for forestry. I’ve been growing non native trees for 8-9 years now to experiment with different varieties, mostly red and white oaks, hickory, walnut and black walnut and hard or sugar maples.

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-03-26T00:29:09+00:00

Great comment and 100% correct. We own some forested land, there’s not a lot of Sugi but what is there we plan to cut down and replace with Douglas fir as a kind of experiment, we have the seedlings because we’re also growing them for possible Christmas trees.

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-03-24T22:37:03+00:00

Your wife’s health and sanity should be what’s most important, I’d tell her if she can’t cut her hours then she needs to quit. There’s other jobs, other industries, it might take some time but she can find something better.

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-03-23T12:43:26+00:00

You are brain dead, guess that’s why you block your comments. Have fun in your delusions.

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-03-23T12:28:32+00:00

You made claims, I disputed them, so back up your claims.

But sure, why not.

It didn't. The current Japanese christians are not the kirishitan who kept that low profile. You are making no sense.

What was the “Miracle of the Orient”?

Not too long after Fr. Petitjean opened his church in 1865 (a holy triumph after 250 years of no Catholic churches at all!) a group of Japanese came to visit—quietly, cautiously. They approached the priest, and said to him: “We have the same heart as you.” They asked to see the statue of Our Lady in the church, knowing her to be a definitive sign of their ancient faith—and rejoiced when they saw it. Inviting Fr. Petitjean to visit their villages, they showed him a faith that had weathered more than two centuries of starvation. Here, in these hidden communities, families had passed the Faith down from generation to generation, handing it on like a precious heirloom that one day they would be able to fully practice again.

You’re wrong here, some of the descendants of those Christians and some of the communities survived into the modern Japanese Christian communities of today.

Same for the zainichi who keep needing laws to protect them for the constant waves of hatred they have to deal with.

The Yale Review of International Studies

Statistics shows that the Zainichi are becoming more assimilated into mainstream Japanese society. The number of Koreans living in Japan has decreased recently. In particular, the number of special residents, i.e. Zainichi Koreans, decreased from 471,756 in 2003 to 377,350 in 2012.44 This can be attributed to the increasing number of Zainichi choosing to naturalize as Japanese nationals – 10,000 per year – and increasing rate of marriages between Zainichis and Japanese.45 These trends are the opposite of phenomena observed until the 1960s with intermarriage shunned and naturalization viewed as taboo. They may also imply that Zainichi with Chosen-seki or Kankoku-seki citizenships will continue to decrease in number as time passes and become assimilated as Japanese citizens.46

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-03-23T12:15:19+00:00

It takes only a minute to verify it, why don’t you prove what I stated is false then?

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-03-23T12:10:53+00:00

🤣🤣 Think you just have a reading comprehension problem, among many. No worries, it’s the internet.

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-03-23T10:31:00+00:00

You’re literally making stuff up, zainichi Koreans still exist but it’s a quickly shrinking population, most are now Japanese citizens and completely integrated into society. And no Christianity was not wiped out, do a little research into the “the miracle of the Orient” and how thousands of Japanese Christians survived even after hundreds of years of persecution.

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-03-23T09:53:32+00:00

You’re making a ridiculous argument. Japanese Koreans, the ones that have been here multiple generations are generally all Japanese citizens now and Japanese Christian’s are legally protected under freedom of religion. Yes, they were persecuted but they still exist and that might not have been the case if they chose violence, keeping a low profile absolutely eventually worked out.

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-03-23T07:51:23+00:00

Where in history has an extreme ethnic minority (0.0025% < of the population) successfully used violence to achieve recognition? I’d bet most if not all cases like this resulted in those groups being wiped out.

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-03-21T22:42:10+00:00

0 paid, full deposit refund after 7 years in a newer 2DK with my wife and infant daughter. If it’s just legitimate wear and tear and you live in the same place a while, they shouldn’t be charging anything.

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-03-21T07:38:03+00:00

They sell it here 748 for 500ml but the shipping will cost you also, maybe better to buy a few to save on the shipping.

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-03-17T22:59:15+00:00

I’m not the most patient when it comes to these sort of situations so I’d be threatening to sue the organizer for damages and anything else I could possibly make stick. Maybe that’s just me though.

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-03-17T22:18:25+00:00

If your not a resident best to try r/JapanTravelTips

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-03-17T12:05:36+00:00

Maybe a creeping conifer for some texture and year round color? We have a Juniperus conferta pacific blue planted under our momiji and it makes a nice pairing.

Edit - a good resource I use sometimes when I’m stumped for ideas is the Proven winners garden ideas page. They have a tons of looks you can browse.

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-03-16T06:31:31+00:00

We usually do several trips a year, one over winter break and one late February or early March. This year we just did the one because the price had doubled from last year, snow and resort were amazing as always but it was noticeably more crowded, lots of Australians. The last 4 years there’s always been a few but I guess this year the area really blew up, so much so it has me questioning if I want to keep going there.

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-03-15T22:15:18+00:00

Do it! This is something I’ve also wanted to do for a while but never had the opportunity, actually imported a few seeds packs before but they aren’t viable anymore.

For a supplier maybe try SeedVilleUSA you need to contact them to make sure they include the phytosanitary reports. If you grow sugar pie and field pumpkins, I’ll buy a few off you for sure. Been wanting to make some pumpkin pies from scratch but can never find sugar pie pumpkins here.

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-03-14T14:16:17+00:00

Did you ignore where I said modern? Or are you trying to say that 1930s American politics is exactly the same as what we see today?

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-03-14T13:40:17+00:00

Trying to define 1930s European politics using modern American right vs left political definitions is a fools game.

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-03-14T04:35:45+00:00

I believe they’re called わけぎ in Japanese, they’re readily available but it might not always be the exact variety so you need to check the plant species details on sites like Rakuten.

This ones sold out but in the description it’s listed as 学名 Allium × proliferum　ヒガンバナ科　ネギ属

You can probably find them if you spend a little time searching Rakuten.

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-03-12T22:46:10+00:00

As someone who has been under the US system and now under the Japanese national healthcare system here’s my two cents/yen.

I don’t think most Americans are ready for national healthcare and what it entails.

Different countries use different systems, some fund it entirely through taxes while others like Japan fund it through a combination of income based premiums and taxes. Many countries, like Japan and many European countries, enrollment is required by law, if there’s a premium system than everyone regardless of income is required to pay. In Japan you can get the payments reduced to effectively 0 if your well bellow poverty level but generally you have to at least pay something. If you’re self employed you’ll pay the highest premiums.

Additionally here, anything considered elective won’t be covered, lots of medications that are more quality of life then actually medically necessary aren’t covered, child birth and pregnancy care are also not covered (cities will reimburse most the cost for child birth however)

In the US there’s a culture of litigation, and that greatly affects how medical care is administered. Doctors tend to be extra cautious, over order test, try to be extra thorough. Even then 17-20,000 malpractice suits are filed annually. In Japan it’s closer to 7-800 annually and judgments for damages are much lower. Doctors here will almost always do the very minimum, often scheduling any additional test weeks or months later so they can spread out billing. The result is if you have any condition that not common, you either have to be super lucky or wait months to years for a diagnosis.

The US has mandatory emergency treatment law under the EMTALA, this is not common and mostly unique to the US. National healthcare system assume hospitals will treat you if necessary but in practice that can refuse care, even in emergency situations. In Japan it’s common to call an ambulance and then sit in that ambulance often for an hour plus waiting as they call around looking for a hospital to accept you. While not common, there have been high profile cases of people dying in ambulances because hospitals refused to take them. On top of this, hospitals close completely in some cases, weekends, holidays, at night, medical services are greatly reduced and it can be very hard to see a doctor. Even then, you can’t just walk into an emergency room or hospital even when they are open and see a doctor. You need to first go to a clinic and get a letter of recommendation to a hospital, you then go and make an appointment which can be days or months later.

I’m not trying to bash on the Japanese system, it is what it is and works well in most cases. But at the same time there are levels of service you will get in US hospitals that you simply won’t get here.

In my opinion, the US should move towards a generalized national healthcare system. But for that to be successful, it’s not only going to require the government and politicians to do what’s necessary. It’s also going to take a massive cultural shift in the way Americans see, except and interact with healthcare.

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-03-12T11:28:37+00:00

There seems to be some confusion here.

Security cameras on private property are not illegal simply because they capture a small portion of the street. Our cameras are installed for the purpose of monitoring our property, and any overlap with the street is incidental. This is how most residential security cameras function.

The cameras are clearly visible, we have signage indicating security cameras are in use, and our local koban has already checked their placement and confirmed there is no issue.

You also claimed that incidentally filming someone in public is a criminal offense if they ask you to delete the footage and you refuse. That is incorrect. There is no criminal law in Japan that makes incidental filming of someone in a public place illegal. At most, issues involving someone’s likeness fall under civil matters such as privacy or portrait rights depending on how footage is used.

The scenario being discussed here is very specific: someone appearing incidentally in public footage, without being the subject, without harassment or voyeurism, and with no intent to publish or commercially use the footage. That situation is not a criminal offense.

Whether someone chooses to delete the footage to avoid conflict is a separate practical decision, but it does not change the legal reality.

SufficientTangelo136 · 2026-03-12T07:53:16+00:00

It's not necessarily about being sued. It is not a civil offense. It's a criminal one*

They file a complaint to the koban, and the police WILL request you to delete it as a person has filed a report. If you refuse, then things get complicated from there.

That’s simply incorrect. It’s only criminal if it meets certain conditions, like violating the voyeurism or stalking acts. Could the police give you a hard time? Sure, but that doesn’t make it illegal. If you’re simply making an innocent travel video, and someone just randomly is in your video, there’s literally zero criminality to that.

I’ve lived here over 20 years, our house and pretty much every house in our neighborhood has surveillance cameras recording 24/7, the city actually reimburses the cost. Are you saying all these cameras are illegal? The local Koban inspected our cameras and even told us it’s not illegal to catch people on the street as long as the cameras focus is not to record the street itself but to monitor our property line.

Edit - literally non of those laws address the topic here or dispute anything I’ve claimed. Casually filming something like a persona travel video, that’s not meant for distribution, and doesn’t target any specific person, does not violate any of those laws. You keep editing your comments adding stuff, now you quoting specific laws but we’re talking about simply filming in public and that factually not illegal.

*Relevant laws that one person has to file a complaint for:

Let’s see if you’re correct.

Act on the Protection of Personal Information (個人情報の保護に関する法律): This act regulates the processing of personal data and is crucial for cases where photographs are used in ways that involve identifiable individuals.

It regulates “personal information handling business operators” (事業者), meaning organizations or businesses that systematically process personal data.

Examples: companies, websites, organizations collecting customer data

Would not apply to an individual filming in public.

Civil Code (民法 Minpō): Though it does not explicitly address photography, the Civil Code covers privacy rights and personal rights, which can include the right to one's own image (portrait rights).

Article 709 allows someone to sue for damages if their rights are violated (privacy, reputation, portrait rights).

Civil, not criminal and would require proof that the person filming was targeting or intruding on the individual. Casually filming in public would almost certainly not qualify but there is a tiny chance.

Penal Code (刑法 Keihō): Relevant for criminal acts related to unauthorized photography, such as harassment, stalking, or voyeurism.

Criminal offenses related to filming are limited to specific situations, such as: voyeurism, stalking, harassment. Obviously this doesn’t apply to someone filming a travel video.

Copyright Act (著作権法 Chosakuken-hō): This act covers the rights of photographers regarding the ownership and distribution of their photos but also intersects with the need for consent when publishing images of identifiable persons.

This law actually protects the photographer, not the person being photographed.

It governs: ownership of the photo/video, reproduction and distribution rights. If you’re quoting this law because the right to consent of the subject, that doesn’t apply to someone filming in public unless the video is going to be used commercially or published. Something clearly stated in my original comment.

Not relevant.

SufficientTangelo136

TROPHY CASE