What to Do If Taxation and Tax Payment Certificates Are Unavailable at Renewal
- I hold the status “Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services.” I’m preparing to file a renewal, but when I asked my ward office about the resident tax Taxation Certificate and Tax Payment Certificate listed on the Immigration website, they said they cannot issue them. What should I do?
- When renewing under “Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services,” if the employer falls under Category 3 or Category 4, the Immigration Services Agency generally requires submission of the most recent fiscal year’s resident tax Taxation Certificate and Tax Payment Certificate. The ISA website also notes: “If you have just arrived in Japan or, due to a move, your municipal office cannot issue the certificates, please contact the nearest Regional Immigration Services Bureau.” Below is how we typically handle such cases in practice.
For a municipal office to issue the current fiscal year’s resident tax certificates, it is a prerequisite that the individual had a resident or domicile registration in Japan on January 1 of the previous year, regardless of which city/ward has jurisdiction. Therefore, at the time of renewal, there are cases where the certificates simply do not exist and thus cannot be issued (e.g., recent entry to Japan or mid-year relocation).
In such cases, we usually advise submitting copies of the employee’s wage ledger (payroll register) covering the period from arrival in Japan through the time of application. In our experience, the income-related information immigration seeks to confirm via resident tax certificates can, in almost all respects, be verified from the wage ledger as well. Please note that employers are required to retain wage ledgers for five years (Labor Standards Act, Article 109).
Related Service Page:
Extension of Period of Stay (Renewal)
This is the procedure required when a foreign national wishes to remain in Japan beyond the current period of stay in order to continue the same authorized activities.
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