# Stranded, unemployed in Japan the entire 2020. Should I pay residence tax before I le



## sworod

I used to have a job in Japan, and I abide all the rules/laws, paid all kind of taxes. I lost my job since the beginning of Jan 2020, and I was unemployed until now. I wanted to come back to my country, but all airlines was closed, and I was stranded in Japan since then. This month, I found a new job, and will relocate to another country.

Before I leave, the local tax office informed me that I owned them 100000 yen residence tax. I came to talk with them, pleaded my case; and they said that they will reduce my bill by 50%.

But today, they called me again, and inform me that "since you will be employed in another country, we will not reduce your tax anymore. You have to pay 100%. We will send a bill to your tax representative (who lived in Japan) in Dec 2020"

I think if I told them that "i return to my country because i have no more money and i cant find a job here" instead of "i will relocate to another country because I found a new job", I would've got my tax reduced.

I don't think I will ever come back to Japan again. Thus I would like to ask a few questions:

Should I pay this residence tax?

If I do not pay, will it affect the amount of nenkin I will get? Will I be able to get my nenkin back?

If I do not pay, will my tax representative (my close friend) be affected? How will that friend be affected? I should've not brought my friend as my tax representative when I met the tax office because if I just said "i do not have any tax representative, i have no more money left now", then they would conclude my case that day, instead of dragging it until December (the time they assume I can pay my tax).

This experience made me realized that tax officers are no "friends". Its is kinda painful but funny at the same time xD


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