Job Discussion Forums

[Quibby84]

So I dont know if you have gotten them yet..but if this is your second year here then they are coming soon. Last month we got a HUGE bill (300,000 yen) and this month we got another one (300,000 yen) (health insurance). Granted, we had two people working last year. But for real...over 10% of our wages! You gotta be kidding me! If paying for gas or crazy food prices or expensive apartment wasnt enough!
Anyways, I am not that happy. I knew about the Health Insurance bill but the other one completely took me by surprise. I really wish it had been taken out of my check last year, or even this year...jeez! thats a lot of money!
I see why some foreigners run from the taxes...I thought they were just bad people..but now I understand.
So I guess my question is whether or not anything can be done about this...can I cancel the health insurance? We never use it (we import medicine from home since the medicine here doesnt work anyway). So can I get rid of it?
So expensive!
For those of you thinking about staying for a second year...prepare yourself for crazy taxes!
Ok..so..any ideas?

[Glenski]

I and others have tried to make it well-known that the second year of one's time here will see an increase in national health insurance payments, so this in itself should not have come as a surprise.

However, despite the expected tenfold or so increase, a figure of 300,000 yen/month (even for 2 people) is in excess. I am going to figure that either a major accounting blunder has been made, or we are not getting all of the story.

If it's the former, contact your ward office and consult someone. You should be paying roughly 1/5 of that figure for 2 people. Maybe even less. Depends on where you live and how much you make.

If it's the latter point, enlighten us, please.

[Glenski]

Sorry for a second post. Can't edit my posts through my firewall.

I would strongly urge you NOT to cancel your NHI. By law you are required to have it. And, if you ever decide to go back to using it, you will have to make up to 2 years of backpayments for the period you didn't have it.

It doesn't matter if you buy all medicine abroad. NHI covers you in Japan for things more than medicine. Car accidents, for one. Medicine doesn't work here? Hard to believe. It's often lower dosage, but doesn't work??????

Get another plan if you like, but remember what I wrote here about going back to NHI. Many foreign plans say they will pay for 100% of your bills, but you still have to pay all of them up front and wait a month or more to get reimbursed. That could be very costly.

[Grasshopper]

I think Quibby was saying that the 300000 was for the year...a similar thing happened to me when I was living in Ibaraki...luckily it was only 6 months! And it wasn't nearly that much, but with the price of taxes now, it could be if they hadn't been taken out for the year.

And I also find that most medicine here doesn't work. However, I still have my NHI through my employer, mostly because it's required. And well, it's nice to know I have it in case of an emergency.

I would not suggest canceling it.

G

[Apsara]

I have heard that it is virtually impossible to get out of NHI once you have signed up for it- I still don't have it, but as I go to the doctor about once every 5 years, so far this has not been an issue. I do have private insurance but only for major medical. So far I have never made a claim on it.

300,000 taxes for both of you? Not bad. I paid 340,000 just for myself last year. This year it's 280,000 as I earned a bit less last year due to taking a couple of months off. The ward/ city tax is around 8 percent of your salary these days, but since I only pay 3- 10% (depending on the job) in income tax I don't think I can complain too much. I would be paying around 40% total taxes if I lived in NZ.

OTC cold medicines, painkillers etc. here work fine for me, but maybe that's because I very rarely take them.

[Quibby84]

It was for the whole year. I expected the health insurance...but not the other citizenship tax.
So what if we leave before it is finished being paid for. Do we have to pay before we leave or what?

Yeah, the medicine doesnt work for us. We dont get sick much but last year my husband got pretty sick so he went to the doctor. They gave him like 14 little packets and he had to take two a day for seven days...at the end of the seven days..nothing...and they were a pain to take! (little pouches full of messy powder). He eventually just got better on his own..we decided to do that from now on...just get better naturally, or call mom in american for help (thats usually the best way to get better). We thought about having a baby here...but the monthly visits arent even covered! Even after paying 300,000 yen! So..sorry..I am a little aggravated right now at how much things cost.
And PLEASE take note about the citizenship tax, I have been reading forums forever and never knew anything about that....

[Apsara]

Scroll down a bit and you will see Nabby Adams' recent thread "city tax increases again". There were big discussions about it this time last year because of the sudden increase from about 3% to 8%.

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

Medicine DOES work here. It just may take a while to kick in.

Example: over-the-counter allergy medicine. The stuff I get here is weak, but works far better than the really powerful stuff I got in Canada. Because it's weak, you take it up to three times a day. So it makes everything okay (maybe not completely gone though, only maybe 85% or 90%) pretty much all day long. the Canadian stuff kicks in within an hour and BOOM no allergies at all. For a few hours. The Canadian twelve hour stuff lasts maybe six hours before your problems are just as bad as before you took it, the 24 hour stuff lasts maybe 8 hours.

So the Japanese stuff is way WAY better, unless OD-ing on allergy medicine is your idea of awesome. (plus, because the Japanese medicine is weaker, and doesn't last as long, you can still take one in the morning and be able to drink alcohol without the same side effects as if you took a Canadian allergy tablet and then drank later- it makes the alcohol hit you SUPER ULTRA hard- like double the amount, with the added bonus of the wickedest hangover ever- even if you don't switch drinks [like starting off on rum and switching to scotch- always a bad idea]).

[Nagoya_Gal]

I also agree that you should probably keep your NHI. I have been to the doctor and hospital a few times in Japan, and have taken medicine on occasion - medicine that worked for me. As well, I got a sliver once, from wooden chopsticks, that went deep into my finger. I had to go to a clinic to have it removed, and thank goodness I had NHI then. I wasn't expecting something as minor as that. I think, and others may agree, that having NHI makes things a lot less complicated, should you have to have medical treatment.

[GIR]

I was actually wondering about taxes, since I hadn't received anything in the mail...

Since it's my first year here, am I not expected to pay anything? Beyond what my employers have been deducting, of course. I'm not on NHI, and I'm working several part-time jobs as opposed to a single full-time job (don't know if that matters or not).

[chinagirl]

Past the first year of residency, you are required by law to have insurance - either NHI or private through your company or school.

Where are you from? The figure that you are stating works to about 12,500 yen per person monthly. That's not too bad. It would be about the same for me back home, I'm sure. My town sends me the NHI bill in 10 tickets that I can pay at the combini.

When my husband needed minor surgery after an accident our total responsibility was not even a few hundred dollars US, including follow up Dr. visits. That included an overnight stay in a very good hospital.

The first year is a bargain, for sure. But coming from a country where healthcare for all is not a guarantee, I am happy to pay my part.

[Glenski]

[quote="Quibby84"]It was for the whole year. I expected the health insurance...but not the other citizenship tax. /quote]What the heck is "citizenship tax"? Can you be clearer about this? You're not a citizen here.

[Quibby84]

Geez Glenski...no need to be angry
I heard that the doctors visits (when you are preg.) were about 10,000 each. Well maybe not the times that you just say hi, but the blood test and all the other junk they do will add up. Maybe more if you get an ultrasound. We have been to the dentist and the price was basically the same, so I expect gyno stuff to be the same as well.
around 10,000 a month plus the 25,000 for health insurance, plus the 25,000 for citizenship tax. PLUS I am the only one working full-time now...it really takes a huge chunk out. My husband is going to Japanese school. I just wish it didnt just all come at once. I also wish that you paid as you went because then it would be based on your salary at that time...not the year before...

By the way, I REALLY dont understand the citizenship tax thing..I am not a citizen..it doesnt really make sense...does no one else get that? My boss (a japanese man) said that it was Citizenship tax, when I told him that I wasnt a citizen he acted like that didnt matter. Maybe it was a mistake...maybe that is why I wasnt told about it coming...

By the way, you have to admit that the powder thing is pretty weird, especially when you could just take a pill...

[southofreality]

Supposedly, enrollment in a public health insurance scheme is mandatory for those living in Japan for a year or more. The Tokyo Metropolitan government website used to say clearly that it was mandatory, but I think the site has been updated and I haven't checked it out lately. Yokohama's city website, however, clearly says that it is mandatory.
http://www.city.yokohama.jp/ne/life/en/national_health.html

There is a lot of disagreement about whether private health insurance is acceptable or not, but If you try to cancel your NHI (kokumin kenko hoken) at your local city, town, or ward office, you'll be asked to show proof of enrollment in another health insurance scheme. There have been many reports that depending on the office location, you may or may not be allowed to get off NHI without proof of enrollment in another form of public health insurance, like Shakai Hoken.

[Apsara]

Quibby, it isn't actually "citizenship tax", your boss hasn't translated completely accurately. The Japanese word is "juuminzei", which can also be translated as "resident's tax". In this case "resident" doesn't mean you have to have to have permanent resident status in Japan, it just means you need to be a resident of Japan for tax purposes, which anyone working here is.

Most people actually call it ward tax (if you live in one of the wards of a bigger city) or city tax, as you are paying the tax to your ward or city, although part of the tax also goes to the prefectural government.

If you don't pay the tax for a certain amount of time, they actually have the power to seize money from your bank account if you are still in Japan, and they do exercise this power. If you leave Japan permanently you have pretty much escaped it, but if you ever want to come back to live they will come after you and add hefty lateness fines.

I got taken by surprise by the large increase in my taxes last year and had to be quite frugal for a while to be able to afford to pay it all. It should be in quarterly installments- are they asking for you to pay in a lump sum? That would be odd.

PS, don't mind Glenski- you know he always answers like that