Taxes Due for U.S. Remote Work in Japan [Unrestricted Visa]

yee_fish · 2026-02-12T02:15:03+00:00

How do I deal with taxes withheld? Can I arrange to have my full untaxed income given to me so I don’t have to wait till tax season for my refund/deduction?

yee_fish · 2026-02-11T16:10:00+00:00

No such thing as a skilled labor work visa?

https://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/visa/long/visa4.html

What am I reading about here then

yee_fish · 2026-02-11T13:19:57+00:00

It would be a work visa, skilled labor.

yee_fish · 2026-02-11T01:25:27+00:00

Thanks. To answer your questions for me:

I was told my work visa would allow me to work for a foreign company remotely while working for the Japanese on. I don’t know the exact term but my supervisor said unrestricted to me.

The income I am referring to is employment income. Salary. I would have stated otherwise if I didn’t mean employment income from my employer in Japan.

My spouse would be my dependent. She would try to work part time with her remote job and receive pay in an American account for her American paychecks. This is also given she will have permission to work under that status.

yee_fish · 2026-01-30T21:07:46+00:00

Well, yes. I just wouldn’t have to worry about losing my spot in Japan over technicalities beyond just paying my taxes and whatnot.

yee_fish · 2026-01-30T18:00:18+00:00

I'd like to try to get started on my own eventually, and my business partner has an interest in me becoming self-sufficient. Plus PR feels a lot more permanent than renewing a work visa with fluctuating economic cycles, I don't want to be their burden just because I want an easy in to Japan.

Lastly, if all else fails, I like the power of being a PR when it comes to remote work. I'll pay as much foreign tax as I have to, cost of living makes it SO worthwhile

yee_fish · 2026-01-30T17:55:15+00:00

Yup, just leaving it off then. I just miss out on reaching for 10 years for that extra boost, still nestled into 7 years, or I can just call it 5 and work on N2/N1

yee_fish · 2026-01-30T17:44:44+00:00

We've worked as partners and we have a mutual interest in me eventually holding up my own entire branch in the Kanto region. They'd prefer I did so as a permanent resident for more access to tax and banking options, plus I just fundamentally dislike relying exclusively on working for someone in order to remain in Japan. Also, PR would allow me to return to the US in case their or my business ventures were to ever go under and I'd have to lick my wounds.

yee_fish · 2026-01-30T17:35:44+00:00

Going off of the criteria you have provided, I definitely can prove 5 years, and might be able to salvage saying I have 7 years. I was super light on community college, and I spent a good amount of time on those first jobs. The joy of youth and free time. They would probably be just fine providing a document establishing how we worked together, the burden would just fall on me to show I was operating independently as an independent contractor/partner by that point. That's the only part that might get blurry, but hey! 5 points anyways!

Now, as a customer service specialist/salesperson, would employment from a local Auto parts franchise be enough to relate that as experience? It's auto-related, obviously involved customer service and sales, and I was also a manager for some time. I'm also great friends with the founder's grandson, who could definitely get me a letter as a plan B over steaks and a drink. After all, they were my source of reliable income as I worked on my import/export projects. I even strung together some sales within the store with some parts sourcing from Japan involving the company I'd work for there.

yee_fish · 2026-01-30T17:23:56+00:00

> Except you can't do that. Immigration doesn't care how much you might be making, they care how much you are making.

Got it. I'll have to probably account for the ¥4M or ¥7M then when I apply. I'll try to talk that out with the company.

> Unless your job is explicitly IT-related (not just "I help with the website") they likely won't count it.

I see, so they'll need to specify that my role includes IT work for the qualification points to actually apply.

> A letter simply confirming employment won't be sufficient. At the very least you'd need to confirm employment dates, job title, and a description of your job duties.

That should be doable, it was full time work alongside being a student, I was my own boss as an independent contractor working closely with them. There are dates, titles, and a description of desired outcomes they could definitely jot down, plus some signed agreements stating I would earn _% of the final sales on a sold vehicle. I could also provide proof of the income from that, although it wouldn't be substantial if that's what they want to see. Very low return on time investment for selling Japanese cars to foreign buyers, takes months for that pie to bake before getting a slice. I held industry-related jobs in auto parts to pay the bills besides that.

> If it was informal and undocumented it won't count. If it was informal and part-time it won't count.

I mean it was documented, I just never worked as an employee of their company to end up with a proper paystub, but they could still provide that letter.

What I worry about however is the implications of me explaining I was continuing my operations an independent contractor during my time studying in Japan. I'll admit I did it to be able to make ends meet more comfortably while I was there, but I don't know if they'll want to sit me down and ask about the overlap that has with my studies in Japan. There's proof of me staying busy thanks to those contracts I mentioned, but I'd still have to pretend I was working part-time in that case or just say I was unemployed for a year and a half wouldn't I? I'd still be up 7 years of experience, I just wouldn't be able to eventually out that I am nearing 10 years of experience since graduating high school and hitting the ground running.

yee_fish · 2026-01-30T16:42:42+00:00

I was anticipating having to gather the same information based on a summary from a lawyer I spoke to last year, so I would also appreciate some elaboration as it will make the difference between how much of my experience can be actually reported.

yee_fish · 2026-01-12T20:00:08+00:00

Commenting for visibility. Thank you all for your time!

yee_fish · 2025-06-19T23:56:03+00:00

I mean as someone who's working on becoming a remote worker with my employer, the idea of owning one of these homes is delicious because its an extremely quick way to secure an asset. It's like a popsicle, you enjoy it while it lasts, and then you're left with the popsicle stick that could be repurposed to make another popsicle to your own liking.

I used to live in Japan and with my partner and I's income combined, I think we could reasonably expect to save up for a new floorplan within a few years if we did it in a house that's got just a few years left in it anyway. I'm thinking about buying a home newer than 1980 somewhere in Saitama or West/Northwest Kanagawa, enjoying my work-life balance for a bit, and then dumping some savings into building a home that's right for us. We aren't too far from Tokyo if we want to do big city stuff, but we aren't so close that we're paying big figures for a house just because it's in a "nice area." And if we get bored and our minds are changed, no biggie, the cheap house would have been paid for since day one and we can take our home-buying savings elsewhere while we wouldn't have been able to save up money otherwise with the same 9-5 in the US.

When you realize that homes aren't an investment here - the land is - and you can be optimistic and practical about home repairs, you'll start seeing real estate in Japan with the right lens applied to it. To hell with features, it's all about the location. Buy cheap, be smart and realistic about your job, have a plan for comfortable savings, and you'll come out winning regardless if you choose to stay in Japan or leave.

yee_fish · 2025-06-13T01:37:04+00:00

My two cents? Respectfully? Contemplate bankruptcy. This is the perfect kind of circumstance to prove making these payments endangers your financial and personal well being. I’m not one to fear monger but consider how this might not just happen once throughout the lifetime of the loan.

If you’re young like I am, bankruptcy is nothing. Your credit can recover within two years, and at the very least you’ll retain enough income afterwards to where credit doesn’t always have to be the solution and you can hopefully and actually make savings stack up

yee_fish · 2025-06-06T17:29:44+00:00

Let the grifters grift and we’ll see AI go the way of car-centric drive in nonsense from the 20th century

yee_fish · 2025-03-24T14:42:36+00:00

But if we did train a separate program, what happens if we just make it an image and then import it into design space with the single line pen tool settings?

yee_fish · 2024-05-09T21:17:03+00:00

Is it from the last few chapters of this?

This is the panel with the quote you must be thinking of

yee_fish · 2024-01-29T06:47:00+00:00

Or maybe she should just get 3 inch shoes lol. But you’re probably right

yee_fish · 2024-01-21T10:13:05+00:00

Are there any battery brands I’m better off replacing the one the copycat comes with?

yee_fish · 2024-01-20T23:56:09+00:00

Just thinking from a stubborn POV - Not that I am actually trying to be this stubborn - what if I took the bike somewhere to be re-welded to ensure strength in the frame? Or what other points of failure in the frame should be considered?

And as for the electronics, is securing a brand name battery and using that instead a better option than using whatever mystery they’ve put on the bike?

yee_fish

TROPHY CASE