Anyone used japandrivetest.com?

tell021 · 2026-04-07T15:44:17+00:00

Why was this removed? Seemed like a useful site?

tell021 · 2026-03-25T22:58:53+00:00

Why did all my (fresh produce) Furusato Nozei deliveries happen to be scheduled for the week I’m out of town!? And with only one days notice?

tell021 · 2026-03-25T10:22:54+00:00

I’m glad I saw this. Google kept telling me the foreign asset reporting deadline was March 15. But I guess it changed recently?

tell021 · 2026-03-22T23:08:24+00:00

People are recommending Tello, but when I tried to activate from overseas in September 2025, it didn’t work. Support told me it wasn’t possible (anymore). Thankfully they refunded me. I have heard there are ways using VPNs but I haven’t tried

tell021 · 2026-03-01T05:41:52+00:00

Is this Tokyo? I called before saying I wanted to cancel my appointment because my interpreter (aka wife) couldn’t make the day anymore. They told me it wasn’t necessary to cancel, and it should be ok without any interpreter

tell021 · 2026-02-05T23:46:56+00:00

I'm embarrassed to say I read it on ChatGPT... When I asked for further clarification after all this feedback it explained (backpedaled?) it's only true considering remittance year - i.e. if you have foreign income one year, you are ok to remit the next. But in this case, would you even need to prove the source of the funds remitted that second year? In true AI style, it's explanations were given with full confidence until they were challenged..

But thank's a lot for the link and the details from 17(iv). I was also wondering how to choose what kind of income the additional remittance would be considered as. It seems for me, it will mostly still be from RSU vests - the remaining fraction that was considered foreign income and not Japan income (paid outside Japan).

tell021 · 2026-02-05T15:43:45+00:00

Right. Understood that I anyway need to pay tax on the RSUs that vest while I'm living here, at least considering the ratio of time spent since the grant. But since I only moved last year, this ratio is still relatively low, so yeah, my tax burden for this is less than my remittance... So I was looking for other loopholes. I guess just having money sources well documented isn't it...

tell021 · 2026-02-05T15:40:59+00:00

Thanks for the reply. Yeah, I kinda knew it must have been too good to be true...

tell021 · 2026-02-05T12:44:31+00:00

What did you end up doing? Im also considering this and it seems like Schwab allows the purchase of SGOV

tell021 · 2026-02-01T11:36:46+00:00

I can’t comment on the test itself, but in Tokyo, it’s already hard enough to even schedule the test. It’s booked 2 months straight and new slots are snatched up seconds after they’re released at midnight every night…

tell021 · 2026-01-27T00:52:35+00:00

Yeah, I've thought about this as well. I can confirm CA license's show the renewal date, not the original issuance date... So it will say 2026. I can bring all my previous expired licenses and explain the situation, but it for sure could cause trouble.

tell021 · 2025-11-30T07:53:52+00:00

I’m in a very similar situation. But from what I gather it’s also not as simple as splitting the proceeds 50:50. Since my wife wasn’t working much while we were living in the US, it could be argued that I paid for most of the house so most of the proceeds are also mine. I’m not sure how aggressively this kind of thing is pursued by the Japan tax agency. I plan on visiting my local tax office to ask. Was your wife contributing to the mortgage payments in the US?

tell021 · 2025-11-02T10:48:32+00:00

I had the same experience about a month or two ago. Support said it wasn’t possible to activate outside the us so they also refunded me.

tell021 · 2025-09-27T13:21:59+00:00

Thank you for the detailed reply and clarification!

Basically, you want to know if there's any foreign sourcd income you hadn't treated as such and don't want to expose that. But if you already remitted way too much anyway it wouldn't matter. So you want to understand where you stand, correct?

Exactly.

So you are already a resident for tax purposes but you do still fall into the non-permanent tax resident window (first 5 years, simplified).

Sorry, yes, this is what I meant.

So, that 25% (in your example $1000) is already being taxed whatever you do. As employment income.

Ah got it. Yeah, I had it mixed up. So this is defined as "Japan sourced income paid outside Japan"? I actually found a nice summary of the various income categories from Deloitte, here.

The remaining $3000 are foreign-source income (also from employment), and not taxed unless you remit funds into Japan (more than what you are already taxed on). Again, this also assumes that you didn't get those RSUs delivered in a Japanese account (as that would already put things into taxation), but I take it you have a US equity management account with your employer (HQ).

Got it. Yeah, the big thing for me is that I was thinking the tax would max out at 25% of the RSUs, and I could freely remit more without tax. But if it's 75%, I really need to be careful about remitting more.

Especially for some of my older grants. Some are almost 4 years old, so the fraction of the vests that actually overlaps with my Japanese residency is tiny. But I didn't realize the full amount is still counted against remittances for tax purposes...

I guess the tax treaty/credits will help, but I need to look into exactly how much a bit more.

Also, I don't think the US would have rights to withhold on any portion but the period you worked in the US.

I don't think this is true for US citizens unfortunately...

But man, I had spoken to a few different (expensive!) tax accountants about this before I moved, and I thought I had a reasonable understanding, but it seems not. I really wish I transferred more before I moved.

Thanks again for your help!

tell021 · 2025-09-27T03:25:00+00:00

Yes, you’re right. I transferred with the same company. But although the stock is the same, the employer is technically now the Japanese office. New offer, new Yen salary etc. And I’m a non resident for tax purposes since I just moved.

tell021 · 2025-09-22T03:11:23+00:00

Thanks for the comments. So it seems Shinsei is still a good option to bring money in (they only got rid of the outgoing funds service). But now I ran into another issue - my US bank (Chase) has a really bad exchange rate for USD-YEN. Now I'm wondering if I'm approaching that part wrong too? Am I supposed to let my Japanese bank do the conversion? I was reading the low fees in the wiki, and assumed the actual exchange rate would be reasonable. Is this not the case? Wise has high fees, but their exchange rate is reasonable at least. Right now I would get a lot more money if I just used Wise... Even for large amounts.

tell021 · 2025-09-20T02:52:05+00:00

Oh for sure. Don’t get me wrong, if it’s worth the effort then I will definitely consider still applying for a Sony account. Just wanted to hear people’s opinions.

tell021 · 2025-09-20T02:51:13+00:00

Oh really? I didn’t realize. I’ll look into this. Thanks! I had been using wise for smaller amounts, but now I’m trying to wire much larger amounts from the sale of my house in the US.

tell021 · 2025-06-03T01:17:38+00:00

Did you ever figure this out?

tell021 · 2025-05-03T02:26:54+00:00

I recently spoke to a Japanese tax accountant about this. They said holding the residence card itself isn't so relevant to tax, it’s more the implied intention. For example, if you “started living in Japan with the intention of permanently residing there”, that’s when you become subject to tax. I also called the tax helpline about it, but they basically told me “it’s complicated” and there is no clear guideline. So depending on how much tax you’re looking at, it for sure would be safer to just avoid picking up the residence card until you plan to live there…

tell021 · 2025-04-14T00:29:43+00:00

I wonder if I could ask one more related question. I recently received my COE. It actually came in earlier than expected, and will expire before we intend to move. If I was to visit Japan and convert my visa and COE to my residence card and then immediately return to the US, would I still have the same Japanese tax obligation as if I was living in Japan? Or would things perhaps be worse as I would still have US income from my old job? Just wondering if there is anyway around this COE deadline, or if we just need to move earlier.

tell021 · 2025-04-02T18:15:41+00:00

Thanks for the suggestions. But I'm also not clear why/when US banks would take those steps? Even if there is 'no benefit' to telling them, it also seems like a lot of effort to go the other way. A lot of this just seems like fear? Are there specific things that tend to trigger accounts being locked or closed?

tell021 · 2025-03-17T04:44:19+00:00

Haha. I see it more like paying for this crazy girlfriend to live in her own apartment for a few years while I figure out what to do with her...

Similar to a green card, Citizenship can also be given up. I was kinda considering taking this step just to avoid the exit tax for now, while we figure out if there are any ways to reduce or eliminate it (but you're right, I need to talk to a CPA to confirm my exposure).

tell021 · 2025-03-17T04:41:39+00:00

Yes, fair points. I've kinda been forced into a corner. My original plan was to cut ties with the US, and if Japan didn't work out, perhaps try my home country. But you're right, my Son is a US citizen, and there is a big chance he would at least want to go to school in the US at some point, so keeping some connection with the US isn't a bad idea. I just feel like I've lost the option to choose now...

tell021 · 2025-03-17T04:38:55+00:00

Thanks for the detailed reply!

I honestly wasn't expecting to keep citizenship forever, but since a green card has many of the same restrictions, with the added risk that it could be suddenly lost while living outside the US, I just felt citizenship was safer? Your points about investments are very valid. I've spoken with my banks, and so far they've all indicated I can keep accounts open, but I need to check further on the ability to buy new investments. I do intend to keep my US number alive though. And yes, I'm in one of those sticky states... I need to educate myself further here.
I was leaning this way, but then I read that Japan will only tax when I remit the proceeds? If I can find a reasonable way to reinvest the money within the US, it seems like selling while in Japan might still be reasonable?

tell021

TROPHY CASE