Complex international tax,
sorted by situation.
Setting up a business in Japan? Company formation, Business Manager visa applications, bookkeeping, tax and payroll, all in English. See company set-up services →
Six situations come up again and again for foreign professionals in Japan: equity compensation, leaving the country, the non-permanent resident rule, inheritance and gifts from family abroad, what gift tax actually costs, and transfers made before the family moves here. Find yours below, or open the topic map further down, which lays all of them out as five starting points.
Tax and immigration services in Japan, in English
ESPERANZA CONSULTING GROUP is based in Tokyo and works with foreign nationals, internationally mobile families and foreign-owned companies. We work in English, Chinese and Japanese.
Most of our clients are foreign nationals in Japan, or the companies that employ them. You do not need any Japanese: we prepare the Japanese forms, file them, deal with the tax office, and explain each step to you in English. Everyone on our team speaks English and has lived and worked outside Japan for years.
Tax returns and tax advice. Esperanza Consulting International Tax & Accounting Office, a tax accountant's office in Nishi-Shinjuku, Tokyo (not a tax accountant corporation), provides Japanese tax return preparation and tax advice. The office is led by its representative tax accountant, Junya Yamaguchi, a licensed zeirishi and Japanese certified public accountant who previously handled international engagements at EY, Deloitte and PwC China, in Japan and in China, and is a member of the Tokyo Certified Public Tax Accountants' Association. The representative leads every engagement and signs every return and written opinion, supported by our English-speaking team.
Immigration applications. Our registered gyoseishoshi (administrative scrivener) prepares and submits applications to Japan's immigration authorities, having completed the notification required to submit applications on clients' behalf.
Areas we cover. Japanese tax on RSUs and other equity awards, tax planning when moving to or leaving Japan, non-permanent resident taxation, cross-border inheritance and gift tax, and company formation support.
Fees and how to start. See filing categories and fees. Briefly describe your situation using the contact form and select "English" under "Preferred language". Once we have the information needed to define the scope, we provide a written quote. There is no charge for the quote.
Six Japan tax situations foreign professionals run into
RSU, ESPP & Stock Options
Each has its own taxable moment: RSUs are taxed as salary when they vest; options when you exercise, not when they vest; ESPP on the purchase discount. Japanese tax-qualified options (Special Taxation Measures Act Art. 29-2) are not taxed at grant or exercise; the gain is taxed when you sell, subject to conditions including an annual cap on the total exercise price. Options granted by a foreign parent cannot qualify, because the relief covers only options issued by a Japanese kabushiki kaisha under a Companies Act Art. 238(2) resolution. Sale is taxed separately in every case, with foreign exchange doing part of the work. For grants from an overseas parent, which carry no Japanese withholding, the ¥200,000 filing exemption does not apply.
Exit Tax
Hold ¥100 million or more in securities and leave Japan after more than 5 countable years of residence, and unrealized gains can be taxed on the way out. Years on a standard work visa usually do not count. Your visa history can keep you out of scope entirely.
Non-Permanent Resident Tax
Your foreign income is taxed only if it is paid in Japan or remitted here, except gains on shares and other securities acquired while you are a non-permanent resident (such as RSU shares that vest here), which are taxed on sale whether or not you remit the money. And remittance is broader than a bank transfer, with an ordering rule that decides how much counts.
Inheritance & Gift Tax
A gift of assets held outside Japan can fall outside Japanese gift tax while you are a "temporary resident". It is a defined term, not a feeling: an Appendix 1 status of residence (the work statuses, and also Dependent or Student) plus 10 years or less of Japan domicile (the base of your life, not a registered address) in the past 15. Permanent residents never qualify, and the giver's own status matters just as much as yours.
Gift Tax: Rates and Deadline
Japan taxes the person who receives a gift. ¥1,100,000 is exempt each year, the rest is taxed in slices from 10% to 55%, and the return is due between 1 February and 15 March of the following year. The deadline moves forward to your departure date only if, between 1 January and 15 March of that following year, you stop having both a domicile and a residence in Japan without having notified a tax agent.
Gifts Before You Move
How much Japan can tax a gift depends on each recipient's category, and a category can change on the date that person's base of life moves. Nationality, not just the visa, is part of the test.
Not sure which applies, or more than one does? Reach out through the contact page. Tell us briefly what is going on and we will point you to the right answer.
Every question on this site, and where it starts
Three residence tests. Three different clocks.
Japan decides what it can reach by asking where you live, but it asks three times, over three different windows, and one of them counts your work-visa years in the opposite direction.
The numbers look alike, and they are not the same test. You can stop being a non-permanent resident, still be a temporary resident for gift tax, and count zero years for the exit tax, all on the same day.
The test: no Japanese nationality, and 5 years or less of domicile or residence in Japan within the last 10 (Income Tax Act Art. 2(1)(iv)).
A different test: a status of residence listed in Appendix 1 of the Immigration Control Act, and 10 years or less of domicile within the last 15 (Inheritance Tax Act Art. 1-3(3)(i), Art. 1-4(3)(i)).
A third test, counting the opposite way: more than 5 years in the last 10. Periods held on any Appendix 1 status of residence are excluded from that count (Enforcement Order Art. 170(3)(i)): not only the work statuses, but Dependent, Student and Designated Activities as well.
Two annual filings, one 30 June deadline. Only one of them excludes a non-permanent resident.
Each guide is written from the statute, with the article and paragraph shown, and is reviewed when the law changes.
Japan tax return fees for foreign residents: roughly what it costs
| Tier | Fee (excl. 10% consumption tax) | Typical situation |
|---|---|---|
| A | ¥160,000〜 (excl. tax) | Domestic salary and deductions only |
| B | ¥200,000 continuing / ¥230,000 first engagement (excl. tax) | Equity vesting from one overseas issuer (no sales), with ordinary domestic deductions |
| Bespoke | Quoted in writing | Multiple issuers, ESPP purchases, sales of award shares, overseas-work apportionment, foreign tax credits, non-permanent residents with remittances, departure year, prior-year corrections, income or awards above ¥50 million |
Tiers A and B are fixed fees for continuing engagements; a first engagement is 15% more. Tier B is ¥200,000 for a continuing engagement or ¥230,000 for a first engagement (15% more), excluding consumption tax. It covers equity vesting from one overseas issuer with no sales, together with ordinary domestic deductions. A second issuer, ESPP purchases, any sale of award shares, overseas-work apportionment, a foreign tax credit or a remittance calculation are quoted individually, in writing, before any work begins. Exit tax and inheritance/gift work are also quoted individually in writing. Each guide above has the detail for its own situation. These fees are for individual tax returns. For company formation and ongoing accounting services for companies, see Setting up in Japan.
Company set-up, visa and accounting for foreign companies and founders
For foreign companies establishing a Japanese subsidiary or branch, and foreign entrepreneurs starting a business in Japan, we handle the company formation, the Business Manager visa application and the accounting and tax that follow. Each step is done by our representative, Junya Yamaguchi, under the relevant licence: zeirishi for tax, gyoseishoshi for the visa application and certified public accountant for the incorporation registration. None of it is passed to a partner office, and all client communication is in English. We work alongside your advisers abroad on their part; it is the Japanese-law work that stays in our hands.
Full package from ¥2,000,000 plus consumption tax: company formation, the Business Manager visa application including the expert review of the business plan, and bookkeeping for the first financial year together with the accounts and tax returns for that year, as one fixed fee quoted in writing.
The Business Manager visa requirements from 16 October 2025 (¥30 million capital, one full-time employee, Japanese language, experience or education, an expert-checked business plan, an office), the processing times and the transitional rules are set out on the dedicated page.
Your Japan tax return, handled in English by a licensed tax accountant
In Japan, preparing tax returns, and giving tax consultations on how the tax is calculated, for other people as a business is reserved to licensed tax accountants (zeirishi) and tax accountant corporations; lawyers may also do this after notifying the Regional Taxation Bureau. You can always prepare and file your own return. At our office, the interview, the calculation and the filing are led in English by our representative tax accountant (zeirishi), Junya Yamaguchi.
The same tax accountant is also a registered gyoseishoshi, so tax filings and residence-status applications can be handled in the same office, with one point of contact.
Our work centres on industries where expatriate executives are common (multinational manufacturers, international hotel groups, resources and infrastructure, and global BPO), supporting professionals at major foreign-owned companies through direct individual engagements, with no vendor registration required on the employer's side.
Common questions
I'm not sure which of these situations applies to me, or more than one might.
Do you handle the filing yourselves, or just advise?
How much does this cost?
Can I get a straight answer before committing to anything?
Can you handle the Business Manager visa and the company's accounting and tax together, in English?
Can you support a foreign company setting up a subsidiary in Japan?
What you actually receive
The steps below describe individual tax matters. For company set-up, visa applications and ongoing accounting, see Setting up in Japan.
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A written questionnaire. After your first message we send a short set of questions: residence and visa history for each person, the jurisdictions involved, what is held where, and the dates that matter. Nothing is quoted before we have the facts.
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One call, in English, if the facts need it. Used to confirm the timeline and the assumptions, not to sell.
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Written advice, signed by a licensed tax accountant. You receive the analysis in writing, as a tax opinion letter signed by the licensed tax accountant (zeirishi) who handled your matter. A tax return or other follow-up work is included only where our written proposal says so; otherwise it is quoted separately.
Fees are fixed and quoted in writing before any work begins, and they follow the scope once the facts are known.
Tell us what's going on
Pick the closest guide above for the detail, or just reach out directly. Briefly describe your situation and we will point you to the right answer.
Ask about your situation → Book a spot consultation →
▶ Need someone to actually file it? Japan tax return filing for foreign employees
Tell us which of these is your situation
Tell us what you are trying to decide, which countries are involved, and by when. A licensed tax accountant will reply directly, in English, and confidentially.
Are colleagues at your company in the same position? We take on groups of employees under separate individual engagements, so there is no vendor registration, no procurement cycle and no credit check on your employer, however many people are involved. Just say how many in the message below.
Setting up a company in Japan? Choose “Company set-up / Business Manager visa” and tell us about your planned business, your target start date and whether you need ongoing bookkeeping and payroll services.
Tax services: Esperanza Consulting International Tax & Accounting Office, a member of the Tokyo Certified Public Tax Accountants’ Association