Job Discussion Forums

[Maitoshi]

[stumptowny]

[quote="Maitoshi"][quote="stumptowny"]Maitoshi, yeah.. the 5 year mark is suspect. of the long termers, some were contacted. most not. and that was with various reported income levels and/or world wide assets

kzjohn. that old thread is what I am mostly referring to. read it all and the take away was, there is no consistency in enforcement. only ideas about why some were targeted. the theme was, watch out after 5 years, don't know why, but just watch out. that and high wage earners / biz owners seemed to be the targets. I don't recall jonny esl teacher making 250 a month getting bothered.

"stay under the radar"... yes! don't give them reason to flag you. never transfer large amounts back home, keep a lower income, take care of your taxes etc. all this IS legal.

if you want to evade taxes, that's your issue.. good luck with that.[/quote]

Sure it's legal as far as the U.S. is concerned. Do you mean to say you're paying the taxes on it in Japan, too?[/quote]

paid everything, yup...

if there are changes or other aspects of the japanese tax code they want more money for, they need to inform people when 1) they arrive and 2) through their companies (who complete taxes for them) of all changes effecting aliens, not after 5 years and with massive retroactive penalties. that's where #4 comes in. no family, goodbye japan.

the onus is on the government to be transparent with all tax information for aliens who have their companies completing their taxes for them. if you are self-employed, it's on you and your preparer. if japan argue. I leave japan, japan get no money. buh bye

have any of you received information about worldwide assets from your employer who prepares your taxes? or from your local city office? or in the mail when you get your other taxes? It's utterly sickening that they are jacking foreigners who are essentially getting triple taxed.. and not telling anyone about this while they are peacefully spending their earned money in the japanese economy. it's robbery. a convenient omission when its time to collect the big bucks from aliens who never knew anything about this whatsoever.. "sorry alien person, we don't tell anyone about this until its time to get the big bucks.."

If I get audited at any point, I am going to listen to what is said, ask questions as to why I was never informed of this, then royally ream the NTA before leaving japan.... for those of you stuck here, I promise, I will do that much...

[kzjohn]

[teacheratlarge]

Stumpy,

Deja vous anyone?

We had this same conversation some time last year. Several people I know had to pay up on funds obtained from estates left to them as well as capital gains. I agree with you, the tax system is messy for people whose money 'lives' in different places. Basically, the newer tax department for overseas income in Japan doesn't care where you made it, you pay taxes above whatever you paid elsewhere up to the Japanese rate. By the way, the old saw, "Nobody told me!!" won't buy you much sympathy, and certainly won't allow you much reaming room after paying the penalties.

[jkozera]

back to the original topic....
I read a lot of "why don't you go to China?"
From what I have read here and based off of what I hear from people I meet in person who have taught in Japan, are all you current teachers afraid of a newer, younger face? maybe trying to deter people from going over there so you don't get sacked for a fresh face?
I guess when I started this thread I was hoping for some realist reasons why people are shooting down prospective teachers and I have been getting that reasoning I have come up with.

[nightsintodreams]

I can't work it out either mate. The pay is lower and it is more competitive but there are still plenty of jobs going here.

Many of the long termers came to Japan 10-20 years ago or even longer. When they first came here any white piece of flesh could get a good salary for walking into a room half hung over and saying some random stuff in English (or at least that's the impression I've gotten from people who talk about the good old days). Many of them are in unhappy relationships now and have just coasted along for 20 years, so are unable to find any decent work and just come on here to complain.

I'm not going to go into my individual situation too much, but I've been here five years and am earning more than enough money. I didn't jump into a serious relationship with the first J-girl that came along either.

I went to China recently and met some TEFL teachers there, they were all asking me about Japan and seemed to be under the impression that it was a much better place to be than China. The grass is always greener on the other side and all that.

There are good things about working in Japan and a lot of bad things, but people generally come onto forums to complain.

If you want to come to Japan then come to Japan.

Oh... and no I'm not afraid of a new face. You'll more than likely be taking one of the crappy entry level jobs as an Eikaiwa teacher or working for 230,000 yen at a dispatch company anyway. You'll probably stay one or two years, learn a bit of Japanese, sleep with some gaijin hunters and then go home thinking you're an expert on Japan, write a blog about how weird and zany Japan is and impress people at parties with your ability to say "Where is the post office?" in an Asian language.

[Maitoshi]

Or he might get hitched early on, stay longer than he planned and get stuck here, too! Careful! It's a sticky trap!

[Maitoshi]

Plenty or work here, though, if you aren't too picky about pay or work. Still a lot better than what many of the natives make.

[Maitoshi]

Regarding new faces: we all look alike to many of them and they are crap at telling our age. Come on over and vent all your frustrations here with the rest of us so you can be upbeat and energetic for your students.

[mitsui]

I say go to China since I know two teachers there who are doing well.
I only recommend working at a university there, but not any university.

The cost of living is lower and you can make money with private teaching.

[rxk22]

[mitsui]

People get limited contracts and live as migrant laborers.
Schools are going to close and the birthrate is low.

I collected unemployment insurance this spring.
That, after my contract ended.

I lost my job in 2009 as the enrollment had dropped by 30%.
All foreigners I worked with had to leave.
The part-timer had his pay cut by 50%.
The tuition was over a million a year, and most parents can't afford it.
Japanese part-timers lost their jobs.
Even the secretaries had three year contracts.
Teachers around 60 were asked to take early retirement.

Sure people could prefer to live here instead of Korea or China, but China is growing.

[mitsui]

My friend is over 50, unemployed, living in Kanto.
He used to make a lot of money and worked 6 days a week.
His wife works, but only part-time at two jobs or more.
I wonder how long his marriage will last.

Business English classes used to pay 7,000 per hour. Now if you could get 3,500 per hour, you would have to take it.

[steki47]

[Maitoshi]