Hi japanlife! I'm living and working full-time in Japan. I have a regular salaried job here (my company handles withholding for that), but I also earn freelance income on the side that gets paid into my home country's bank accounts. I'm realizing I need to get my tax situation sorted out properly, and I'm looking for advice.
My situation:
- My main job's salary (Japanese company) goes to my Japanese bank account and taxes are handled by my employer
- I started to do freelance work on the side for two clients, both pay into accounts outside Japan (one into a local bank, one into Wise)
- Combined freelance income is roughly 98k yen/ month from one client, plus variable earnings from the other
- I only recently started so I've been made aware that I need to report this freelance income on a Japanese tax return (確定申告) if I am earning while in Japan
I'm seriously considering hiring an English-speaking tax accountant in Japan to help me sort this out properly. I want to avoid any legal issues and I don't have enough confidence to this all on my own.
If anyone has recommendations (ideally someone experienced with expat/foreign resident tax situations), I'd really appreciate it.
Also open to hearing from anyone who's been in a similar situation.. how did you handle it?
Thanks!