Job Discussion Forums

[Nabby Adams]

Just got this years tax bill. From June Osaka city ward are asking me for....well, taking it straight our of my pay to be precise, 34400 yen each and every month.
Was outraged when it went up from 8k to 24k a year or two ago, but it seems the sodomization didn't stop there.

What are others paying this year?

[Nabby Adams]

Is the local tax these days only paid by workers? For example if I left my job but continued living in Japan to study or whatever would I still have to pay the 34k? Or is it dependent on income?

[markle]

Couple things going on here.
1. Osaka is/was going bankrupt so the young new governor is busy cutting services, ALTs bye bye, and apparently upping taxes.

2. City taxes are based on the previous year's income. this might explain the previous jump, although all city taxes went up alot last year.

As for the other question, as I noted taxes are based on income from the previous year. So if you are not making an income you will have a very low city tax bill next year. Might hurt a bit this year.

[Apsara]

Nabby Adams, did your tax rate actually go up or did you earn more in 2007 than you did in 2006?

I earned slightly less last year than I did in 2006 so my taxes are lower this time, but I am earning considerably more this year so will be walloped next year- at least this time I know it's coming and will be able to put money aside for it, unlike last year where it was kind of sprung on us.

[Hoser]

My taxes stayed almost the same from last year. But when I first got here they went from about 12,000 to 20-something thousand and then finally up to about 44,000.

By the way I have a question from when to when do these taxes cover exactly? Is it from Feb of last year to Feb of this year? Or is it Feb of the year before to Feb of last year? Because my taxes are exactly the same as last year but Nova went down in October so I sure as hell didn't make as much as I did the year before!

[Hoser]

[Apsara]

The tax year here is Jan 1 to Dec 31.

I paid 340,000 yen in ward taxes myself last year, this year it's 280,000, i.e. 8 percent of last year's income. I'm not sure how much it varies from area to area but Nabby Adams' taxes sound about right if he's earning about 5 million yen a year.

I pay quarterly. Luckily this year I got a rebate of 230,000, which covers most of that

[Hoser]

Oooh. How does one go about getting this rebate?

[Apsara]

I get a rebate because for two of my jobs (proofreading and yoga teaching) I am on an itaku (consultant's) contract. I save all the receipts for expenses related to my income- transport, clothing, books, cellphone, yoga training and workshop fees, food eaten during breaks from work etc., make a spreadsheet and take it with me to the tax office once a year where they help me fill out the tax return. Then 6 weeks later I get a healthy rebate.

I'm not sure who is entitled to claim expenses and/or get a rebate- I know that people on itaku contracts are, which includes Gaba teachers, but I don't know who else.

[tokyo story]

I also get a rebate.

Could probably get a bigger one if I followed Apsara's example, but I've never actually provided any receipts. The tax office simply asked me to estimate my expenses.

The only thing I don't like about it is that it makes your income appear lower than it really is, which can be a pain if you're dealing with housing agencies, who can't get their head around freelance employment to begin with... and of course the rebate goes to the city office

[Apsara]

I've never been asked to provide the actual receipts either, just to total up my expenses and hold onto my receipts in case they want to check (unlikely). It does all end up going to the city office, but it's still better than no rebate!