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[may be going]

Hi all,

My grandmother recently passed away and left some funds to the grandkids. The way that she structured them is to give the grandkids (including me) a monthly payment (stipend). It would be paid into our accounts each month.

After some thoughts about where I should have the money sent, I thought perhaps a bank in Japan might be the best bet. I've been here 9 years and don't see myself leaving in the near future.

If I open an account with, say, Citibank, or Shinsei Bank, and have the money sent there, how would that affect my income status and tax in Japan? Would the government/relevant authorities even know about it?

If anyone has any info. on this, or can point me to websites that do, I'd be most appreciative.

Cheers

[teacher4life]

As long as you keep the money out of Japan, Japanese tax authorities will never know about it. Having been there 9 years, you CAN be taxed by Japan on assets earned abroad in principle, though in reality sonce that money can be concealed Japan is powerless to take it from you.

UNLESS YOU DO SOMETHING CRAZY LIKE HAVE THE MONEY SENT TO JAPAN!

Do not let Abe and the filthy Japanese government take a single dollar of your money. Keep it abroad and think of it as diversifying.

[may be going]

thanks for your response. i looked into it and indeed it does seem like the govt. would want a piece of it, which isn't surprising. the problem for me is that as my grandmother was english, and spent her entire life in england, the fund for the grandkids is set up in england.

for my cousins, who also live in england, the money will be transferred within the uk. for me, as i'm australian (my parents emigrated before i was born and still live in oz) i need the money transferred somewhere. i don't have a UK bank account, as i have never lived thre.

if the money is sent to australia, it would likely cause me more problems than benefits, with my situation at the moment. so my real conundrum is if i get it sent to japan, do i declare it, or just get it sent to a bank entirely separate to that which is related to my job, don't declare it, and hope the govt. don't put 2 and 2 together?

a penny for your thoughts......

[surendra]

Can a family member open a bank account for you in England or keep your monthly amounts?

Transferring money EVERY month will kill your money. Transfer fees, currency conversion, and depending on when you spend this money, poor Yen (but of course it will get better/normalize in the long run).

You could consider keeping the money more liquid and maybe have a cousin keep your money and mail you checks or something.

good luck

[may be going]

sadly, my cousins are of similar age to me and are all in positions where extra income would be more hindrance than help, based on the way they've structured their finances. it's a ridiculous situation isn't whereby you have to come up with genius schemes just so that you can keep the majority of money that your family wants to leave you.

if it's sent to oz, it will be ripped from me coz of my finances there. if it's kept in uk, it will likely hammer my cousins. thus, i have to look into getting it sent to japan, where fees, rates, and perhaps the japanese govt. will all do their bit to decrease its worth.

after talking to different people, and listening to people here and elsewhere, i think i will set up an account in japan, get it sent here and let it sit here until the exchange rate improves.........i can't really see a better option atm, despite the japan option not being particularly palatable.

[teacher4life]

Every time you have money wired into Japan, you are going to have to write on a piece of paper the reason/explanation for the money. Then, 3-5 years from now you ar going to have a nightmare.

I strongly advise you to keep the money out of Japan.

Open an account in your own name in Switzerland. You don't have to be a millionaire drug dealer or rare arts smuggler to do that! Most Swiss banks will even let you keep the money in terms of the (major) currency of your choice.

Google "open Swiss bank account".

Good luck!

[may be going]

interesting. thanks.....though i haven't heard from anyone thus far about the explanation necessary for every incoming transfer. do you have any personal experiences or links to that info?

i will look into the swiss thing. cheers