# leaving japan, resident tax



## helloworld232

I'm planning on leaving japan next year in May 2015. I'm aware that I need to pay my full year resident tax for my stay from Jan 1, 2014 -Dec 31,2015.

But how about my stay in Japan from Jan 1, 2015 to May 2015? do I still need to pay the* full year* amount for 2015 year, when I leave?


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## larabell

Resident's Tax is a percentage of your taxable income from the prior year. So in 2016 you would owe whatever you would have owed if you had remained in Japan since the amount will be based on your income during 2015, as reported on your tax return either in December (if your employer does the adjustment) or by 15 March (if you file your own return).

The tax payable on your income from 1 Jan 2016 to whenever you leave would be used to compute your Resident's Tax for 2017. It's always a year behind. Your 2017 Resident's Tax will likely be a lot lower than previous years because you will have only earned 5/12 of your usual annual income during 2016.

Usually, the Resident's Tax for any given year is divided roughly by 12 and deducted from your monthly salary. But since you won't be here in 2017, I believe the entire amount is due as a single payment sometime around May of the year following when you earned the income. Technically, you're supposed to designate a "tax representative" who would receive the bill but I assume many ex-pats don't bother (YMMV, of course).


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