Getting a National Pension Payment Rebate When Leaving Japan as a “Lump-sum Withdrawal Payment”
Bone on Oct 25 2006 at 9:00 am | Filed under: Japan: Life
The Japanese Government has a system where foreigners leaving Japan, who have been paying into the pension system, can receive back a portion of these payments. This is known as a “National Pension Payment Rebate”, or a “Lump-sum Withdrawal Payment”. After all those hard years slugging it out working in the far east, you deserve to get back as much of that money as you possible can (it’s not like you are going to retire here right?). We have provided a “Dummies Guide” to getting as many of those hard earned yen that you have paid into this country’s convoluted pension scheme put back into your pocket where they belong, this is a must read for all foreigners thinking of leaving Japan soon, or have recently left Japan.
To set the ground rules, this is only applicable to foreigners actually leaving Japan “permanently”, and is a generous loophole. It is mandatory in Japan for all those employed to make monthly pension payments, and for full-time employees of companies it is automatically deducted from monthly salaries (as opposed to contractors who are required to make the payments themselves). However, how many of us will actually be in Japan long enough to receive a pension? (Yeah.. I thought so.)
Many people have heard that this rebate may exist, but due to the difficulties of understanding the Japanese bureaucratic system, as well as language difficulties, coupled with the fact that this is not widely publicized, we at stippy.com believe that the number of people exploiting this payback system is extremely low (which is exactly how the government wants to keep it mind you).
The Main Point:
Foreigners who have made monthly pension payments can receive back a portion of these payments once they have lost the right to receive such payments, and left Japan. The application for pay-back must be made within 2 years of leaving Japan.
* Note: There are two types of pension systems- the National Pension System （国民年金） and the Employee’s (or Corporate) Pension System （厚生年金）. You can receive rebates from either of these systems, however this article will focus just on the National Pension System. Also, this rebate system does not apply to mandatory health insurance, or other social security payments.
The Conditions for Application:
- You must not be a Japanese citizen (You probably wouldn’t be reading this if you were, but anyway..)
- You must have been enrolled in and have been making pension payments for more than 6 months
- Must not have an address in Japan (“Having an address” in Japan is often important for companies and Government agencies to do business with you – See comments below)
- Must have not already received any pension payments (including disability allowance)
Payment Amounts:
If your last pension payment was made before March 2007, your rebate amount will be according to the following table (click table to see a bigger version):
However, if your last payment was April 2007 or later, things get slightly tricky and the calculation is as follows (click image to see a bigger version):
* The reason for the two different calculations is that until March 2005, mandatory National Pension payments were fixed at 13,300 yen. However from April 2005 the rates were increased, and are planned to be increased each April for the foreseeable future. The current payment amount as of October 2006 is 13,860 yen per month.
The Process and the Tricky Parts (YOU MUST KNOW THIS BEFORE LEAVING JAPAN):
- You must apply from overseas. The application form is available only at your local city/ward office (市役所, shiyakusho or 区役所, kuyakusho), or online here. It can only be filled in by the applicant. You need to submit your pension booklet (showing pension payments, or the equivalent proof of pension payment issued by your company), a copy of your passport, and bank account details with the application form.
- The National Pension payment rebate is exempt of the 20% income withholding tax which applies to the Corporate Pension systems.
- Payment is made into the bank account of your choice. This account can be in Japan, or overseas, and will be made at the exchange rate of the day of payment for overseas accounts.
Further Notes:
Having an Address: Most companies and Government agencies will not do business with you unless you have a registered address. However, this is a loose concept and can work both for and against you.
For example, Japanese securities companies won’t give you a trading account unless you have an address in Japan. If you then leave Japan, all you need then is a friend who is happy to receive mail for you.
To receive your pension rebate, as long as you don’t own property here and don’t put forward any other address, you should be fine.
Aggregated Pension Schemes: Many countries have an Aggregated Pension Scheme Agreement with Japan. This means that applications may receive two countries pensions by summing the enrollment period in each country’s National Pension Systems. Such countries currently include the US and Germany. (France, Canada and Australia are in negotiation to start up similar agreements).
However if you receive a “National Pension System payment rebate”, then you will not be eligible for this. Receiving this payment effectively nullifies your enrollment in the system.
For further details, contact your local Ward Office. And good luck!
Other stippy.com articles possibly of interest:
307 Responses to “Getting a National Pension Payment Rebate When Leaving Japan as a “Lump-sum Withdrawal Payment””
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So does that mean we don’t get it all back? How much do we pay anyway? Does that mean that the refund is not set as a % of what we paid but at a fixed amount (so your rebate has nothing to do with what you actually paid).
In answer to those questions:
- You dont get it all back. Sorry.
- As far as I understand it, the amount everyone pays is fixed, irrelevant of income. And up until last year, it was 13,300yen/month. (Apparently if you send an angry spouse in though, the Pension Section of your local ward office may negotiate with you though.)
- The rebate is a certain percentage of this, which calculates to the above numbers. Thus, it is fixed. The variable, and what makes it increase, is the number of months you have paid it for.
That make sense?
Although it is commonly believed that it is mandatory to join the National Pension system, is there actually any punishment if you dont register with the National Pension system?
Or is it the same as paying NHK fees? Its “mandatory”, but no legal recourse against those who dont pay?
Actually taxman, you don’t need to pay it at all if you do the proper procedures.. See here:
http://www.sia.go.jp/top/gozonji/gozonji02.htm
But, this only works if you can prove that you can’t pay.
If you just didn’t pay even when you could, and you tried to get a “real job” after that, then you would look like a real dick at your new company, as they would find out that you havn’t been paying and it would leave a terrible first impression.
Other than that, I don’t think there is a fine for not paying. I think you just loose any chance of getting pension in Japan, or if you have an accident which leaves you incapacitated (in which case, you would get pension earlier).
I have spoken to the city office about this before, but one thing that seems a little unfair is the fact the rebate appears to be capped at 36 months of contributions. As someone who is staying here for the mid-long term, paying a pension is a bit of a gamble, because I will lose most of it if I decide to leave in 10-15 years. As long as it is not compulsory, I figure I am better off covering myself privately.
However, with the system falling to pieces, its probably only a matter of time before they kick my door down and take my money.
Sorrydaijin, I agree. Why should there be a 36 month cap? Is that some kind of hint as to how long you are welcome?
The more I look at this system, the more of crazy it seems to be. Without company contributions into an employee’s pension, the National Insurance payout is a pittance.
Believe it or not, if you pay into the system to 30 years, the amount you will receive once you meet the eligible age is… wait for it… a measly 580,000 yen a year! That comes to about 60,000 yen per month.
At the current rate of 13,860 yen/month, for 30 years= approx 5,000,000 yen total. And you get just over a 10th of that back per year.
Therefore, after 10 years of retirement you will be feeding from someone else’s contributions. And with the population feeding into the system Japan decreasing, there seems to be a fundamental problem with the numbers…
And at any rate, from the perspective of those paying into the pension system, why bother? And if there is no legal punishment for not joining, whats the point?
Did this system used to be a percentage of what you have actually paid? I heard several years ago that you get back almost all of what you paid into the scheme if you leave it within 3 years. If you leave after working more than 3 years, you get back three years worth.. Was that true, and things have changed? Or did my source not know wtf he was talking about..?
I worked in Japan for 5 years and then was transfered and still employed by a Japanese company (and therefore still paying my pension) while I was in the UK. I quit working for the company while I was in the UK. It was all VERY complicated and I’m not sure how it all worked, but my company pension gave me back some money (I guess about 40man + 30man), and then I was given some forms to fill in for the national pension. I had to send these to an address in Japan along with a copy of my exit stamp from Japan and proof of my bank details. Two months later, voila! 43man turned up in my bank account!
Hannah
Yeah, I heard about the 36 month cap as well. It raises the question of whether or not it’s worth the effort getting it back if you’ve been here for any longer than that. It seems like a lot of effort for a tiny fraction of what you’re paying in if you’ve been here for the better part of a decade.
I think if you’re going to be here medium term (longer than the three year cap, but less than the 25 years required to recieve pay outs on retirement) then you’re best bet is to give up on claiming the reimburesment and instead pray for an “aggregated pension scheme” between Japan and wherever you happen to be moving to next. At least that way you would get something a bit more substantial out of youre payments.
Regarding Taxman’s statement that “after 10 years of retirement you will be feeding from someone else’s contributions”, I think that’s the whole point of the system. The whole thing is a Ponzi Scheme thought up in the decades after WWII when the fertility rate was 3~4 per woman. Obviously with 高齢化 and 少子化 showing no signs of abating, this doesn’t apply anymore. Look for an increase is the age where you can begin recieving payouts, or a decrease in the allowance, or a combination of them if the pension scheme is to survive.
Hi Gold, I know I’m stretching the link on the pension scheme here but I have a question for you about the local ward office. A friend of mine recently left Japan in a hurry, leaving me with his scooter. I’d love to ride it around but have no idea how to register the thing. Any idea who I should be talking to? Do I need to pay anything to the national coffers for the pleasure?
I am one of those people who worked in Japan for a long time, received the lump-sum rebate after returning home, and now am BACK in Japan…what does the National Pension scheme do with me here this time? Once out always out? Do they start me over? Just curious. Love your website.
Returnee, welcome back to Japan…
At a guess, I reckon they will start you over. And especially so if you live in a different ward to last time. Each ward doesnt talk to each other, so if youre in a different one, theyll open a new file for you, and have no record of your past. Having said that, I think the fact that you moved away and claimed the rebate means that your file gets closed, so even if youre in the same ward they will open a new file. Hope this helps…
Returnee, you also want to look into how much income tax you’ve paid, when and to who. The tax laws for foreigners changed last year so it is much harder to be eligible for the low gaijin tax rate if you’ve lived in Japan during the past five years (even if you’ve had a blank)
I applied for my refund back in May 2007 (its now September) and I hear it takes 6 months, but I’ve started to think “I wonder if they even have my application…” – Is there any way of finding out if they are even got it and are processing it?
Also – I worked for 3 years on JET – then got another job for 6 months that didn’t pay in to the pension scheme – will that effect the amount I get refunded?
Its so confusing!
ExPat Japan Community
http://www.oldsushi.com
My husband’s and my pension payments were paid by his company last year when he was full-time. Now we’re both part-time, so no one is paying our pension payments currently. I got a form from the pension office in the mail (my husband didn’t get one as far as we know) which asked me to fill out the info so (I presume) they could start collecting pension money from me. I went in once to ask about it, but didn’t understand enough of what they were saying, so said I’d come back with a friend. Now after reading your helpful site, I wonder if I need to go back since the payments aren’t technically required…? If it’s required to pay (as it’s required to pay health insurance payments and income tax), then of course we will. I didn’t know about the 36 month cap, and since we’re semi long-term, I’d rather not pay for many years if we won’t get much of it back. Thanks!
Speaking from the experience of being someone who has both lived and worked in Japan for many years; then left Japan; then came back to work for many many many more years; then died and was reincarnated as an ant; worked my way up the ladder of existence and (through a multitude of wild rides on the endless cycle of birth and death) earnt enough good karma to make it back again as a human AND become the new leader of The LDP, I can tell you that the whole process needs a complete overhaul and that I and my colleagues will not rest until the job is done!!! Yessir! Fukuda-the-Builder, that’s what all the boys and girls call me. Can I fix it? Yes I can! To start with, I am going to throw out this whole messy money concept! Money can’t buy you love as Yoko Ono once screeched. How true! How true! I therefore propose that all those leaving Japan are paid a percentage of their pension back in onigiris. Delicious and healthy Japanese rice-balls. Now obviously, the type of rice-ball someone receives will depend on the number of years that the said person has worked. But…let me assure you all…the absolute MINIMUM-ROCK BOTTOM-BASIC RATE AU PACKET SERVICE will be TUNA AND MAYONAISSE. Now you can’t get fairer than that. Of course, those who choose to return to Japan will, upon having their fingerprints taken, have to repay the whole of their pension contribution that was not paid during their period of absence. Unfair??? Not at all. For, in this new ALL-LOVE-&-STICKY-KISS-KISS-LDP party of mine, we will allow the foreigner to repay their pension in a food substance of their own choosing! Yes!!! Oh, how the airports up and down our scared isles will exude the aroma of the world’s 2nd finest cuisine being hastily prepared by happy boys and girls wanting to return to the LAND OF LOVE. Happiness will be everywhere and I will make it a principle of mine that, once a week, I will address the nation on live TV and do some extreme eyebrow wriggling! JOY IS NOW HERE!!!
Julie,
Thanks for your post. From what it sounds like, your husband has quit/finished his job, and you are both now part-time? So you are both filing tax returns as sole traders? Once you file a tax return as a sole trader, they health and pension people start billing you from the next year based on your previous years income. If your husband was paying through the company, then maybe this is why his hasnt arrived- maybe it will next year.
As for whether you need to join the program and pay it, well “technically” you do. But please keep in mind that things such as income tax are taxes, whereas pension, health insurance, and NHK fees are not taxes. Therefore you cannot actually have assets seized, or be sent to jail for not paying them (as far as I know). This is an important difference. So “technically” you are “required” to pay, but technically there is nothing enforceable they can do if you dont. In the case of health insurance, they can take away your health card, but in the case of pension, I guess you just wont get paid after 65. Or was is 60?…(Id be interested to hear if anyone knows otherwise on this..)
Will ever get anything back if you pay them, well thats anyones guess I suppose. Given the increasing age of the population, the decreasing numbers of working age Japanese, and the potential decline of the Japanese economy due to the rise of other surrounding countries and its lack of innovation, I wouldnt count on the economy being robust enough. But Im a cynic too.
I got my pension refund a few months ago, but the tax refund seems to be taking just as long as the first stage… I’m beginning to suspect my tax representative has stolen my cash
Just kidding, but does anyone know how long the tax refund should take after submitting all of the appropriate documents?
For the life of me, I can’t see how aggregation and harmonization between Japan and US will ever help Americans who have worked a long time in Japan in terms of social security. It’s the last ten years of your employment before retirement in the US that is going to determine your social security. Any Americans out there figured this out?
Recently, the US and Japanese government passed something called the “Totalization Agreement.” This, as I understand it, allows either Japanese or U.S. citizens to count their work in the home country as years toward retirement in the new country. Supposedly, this would allow someone to work, say, in the USA for five years, then spend twenty years in Japan, and actually receive a Japanese pension. It is supposed to work for Japanese citizens in the USA as well. It is also evidently possible to receive both a US and a Japanese pension, though receiving a second pension may lower the payment on the first pension.
That much I found on the Internet, but I’d really like specifics, if anyone has them. How does one apply, where one apply, who is eligible, etc. Anybody out there know about this? Like many, I don’t much care for paying into a pension for many years, and only getting three years’ worth back. If I pay into a pension plan, it should be possible to receive a pension.
Thanks
Apologies if this question has already been addressed, but can someone please help me with the following?
I have paid into the Japanese pension system for 3 years now (2005-2007) but don’t plan to stay in Japan for 25 years (in order to receive a regular pension at age 65). Since there is no benefit for me continuing to pay into the pension system more than 3 years, then I’d like to know if I can stop paying into it? And if so, how? And can I do it on my own without my company knowing?
Related to that, here’s another question. If I somehow manage to stop the pension deductions (with or without my company’s help) and stay another few years here in Japan, then when I eventually go back (let’s say in 2010), then can I still get the 3 years lump sum amount back (i.e. the 2005-2007 portion)? Or do I forfeit that lump sum because I quit the pension system in 2008?
Thanks a ton to anyone who can help me out!
Once youve signed up and begin paying, its very difficult to get out as you have to convince someone to de-register you. One option is explaining that you have realised that you may not get a visa for the next 25 years, and thus dont have the right to be in Japan, and therefore no responsibility to pay into the system.
Or, the easiest way, is to move Kus. And dont register in the new ku.
About the totalization agreement between US and Japan. It sounds nice, but at least two obstacles stand in the way:
1. I need to get the retirement insurance office in Japan to accept my documentation of my work record in the US with the retirement office.
2. I need to document my work record in the US prior to coming to Japan.
I do have a social security record from the US. Will report back how this goes.
I would bet the people at the local office will jump when they see me, see my social security record in English, and then wonder what totalization agreement I’m talking about.
Still, being able to add 10 years of employment to my total years will help. But wait, what if it is part-time work?
Thanks Bone. But even if I move to a different KU won\’t I still need to get de-registered? My pension deductions are automotically taken off my paycheck each month. Thank you
I’m pondering the same situation myself… I was with AEON from 2006-2007, when they were still on part-time schedules (thus, no pension or insurance the first year), and then moved into a company which uses the shakai hoken. The national pension office already sent me a bill requiring me to pay for the few weeks I was technically unemployed (backpayments, of course), and I’m planning a move to Tokyo next month (June 2008).
When I move to Tokyo, I think I will most likely ignore the bill from the national pension scheme, skip the national pension and insurance window when I change my address, and continue enrolling in the shakai hoken for health care, ignoring pension entirely… think the national pension system’s paperwork will catch up to me when I apply for a lump-sum withdrawal next year? Can you even get a withdrawal for both the national and employee’s pension, if you’ve paid into both systems (if I’m cornered for some reason)?
Hi, I worked in Japan for five years but left five years ago. I didn’t know I could claim my payments back. Is there any hope for me applying now?
Nope – you must apply within two years of leaving Japan.
I left Japan in March 2007 and i send the claim form and all the documents in Jan 2008.But i haven\’t got any money back till now.So can anyone tell me how much time it takes to get the money back and also whome should i contact as i don\’t know Japanese.
I paid 5 months into the pension system, then took a Leave of Absence due to a family emergency, during which time my were not made.
Now I am in the process of resigning, and will stay at home, but I want to pay one more month into the system.
Would that make me eligible for a six-month lump sum refund?
I was able to claim my pension refund and this time am hoping to get a refund on the 20% tax imposed to it. The thing is, I failed to nominate a tax agent before leaving Japan. I understand this is a requirement to claim the tax refund. Given so, how do I claim the tax refund? Can I nominate a tax agent now?
How long did it take you to receive the refund?
If i remember it right, it took around 4 months to get the pension refund.
hi!
I applied for a pension refund last may, 2008. it’s now September and I am not still getting my refund.
Aside from checking on my bank account for the balance, does the pension agency in Japan inform us of the delivery of the refund?
also, I failed to nominate a tax agent when I was still there. Can I nominate one still even if I’m already in my hometown?
thanks!
I need some guidance, please. I will be 60 in October. I work at a private high school in Wakayama. Have been here for 20 years. I will not receive the big kahuna bucks the “J” teachers receive on retirement. How many pensions will I get? The private teachers mutual aid society said I would be getting about 40,000 a month! Like how do I buy food? Also I have 17 yrs. eployment in the USA. I was told I can get the 40,000 at age 60 if I want. Is there any other pension I am able to get? HELP. thank you.
hi, is this 6 months in total or 6 months at each company.
i have paid these for 24 months in total but for 6 months in my current company. I am planning to leave tokyo now. will i get this refund?
What I want to know is… what’s the exact procedure for checking up on your refund? Right now, I can’t even confirm my letter was received.
Hi Turner,
According to the lump-sum application form, the phone number of the Social Insurance Operation Center is 81-3-6700-1165. It notes to speak Japanese.
Why not give them a call to ask and leave a comment here with their reply?
Hi Florante,
According to the lump-sum application form you can file a “notification of tax agent” when you make a claim for a tax refund if you forgot to do it before you left Japan.
Hi,
I was told by the SIA that I needed to go to my local ward office to cancel my gaijin card AND tell them that I want to cancel my national pension.
Do I really need to do this in order to get this lump sum payment or can I just keep my gaijin card and still get my lump sum payment?
Thank you.
DS
I though that immigration takes your Gaijin Card off you when you physically leave the country. This sounds strange to me.
interesting… so, should I not bother going into the ward office? to be honest i owe some local inhabitant tax that I’m not willing to pay but I don’t want to forego my lump sum payment. What I’d like to do ultimately is to leave Japan and just send my form in and get the lump sum payment directly deposited into my bank account.
any thoughts?
hello there,
first, dave, i wish i could help you…but i just have a question as well.
i lived/worked/paid taxes in japan between 2004-(june)2007. i have received part(i think) of my lump sum, and am working on getting the rest of my money back.
intially, i sent my blue book with my bank stamp and a form filled out. that form was, as i recall(though it was almost a year ago), relatively simple. the second form that i have received from japan is sending me around the bend. i have been sent my blue book back along with the second form. the form requires that i calculate “1/4 contribution-exempt months(3/4)”, “half contribution-exempt months (1/2)” and “3/4 contribution-exempt months(1/4)” … i have no idea what they are looking for here, or how to figure this one out. i have read through the manual and asked around, and no one seems able to help me. i am in desperation.
any thoughts on the matter would be hugely appreciated!
…anyone?
thanks!
Thanks for that followup number, Dies, but it was deposited a few days after that. Four months’ time.
What I need to know now is, what additional paperwork or instructions do I need to send to my “authorized taxpayer” in Japan along with the withdrawal receipt to receive the full refund?
To register your tax representative you and that person have to fill in the form downloadable from the following URL, and mail it in two-fold to the tax office of the prefecture where you lived in Japan when you emigrated.
http://www.nta.go.jp/tetsuzuki/shinsei/annai/shinkoku/annai/07.htm
The tax representative needs to take your withdrawal receipt to any tax office (in person) to do the paperwork. From what I have understood so far that person does not need to bring anything else.
That said, I only just sent in my withdrawal application, so I am not speaking from experience, could be wrong..
Right, but what of the paperwork your representative has to present to the tax office? Should I try and get a copy of the forms he/she needs and send them along with the receipt, or can they only be filled out in person?
Hello,
I’m trying to fill out the form to get my pension refund, and I cannot figure out the difference between these 4 numbers. I’m guessing I don’t need the Seaman’s Insurance one, but are all the other numbers the same? Can I just fill out the “Basic Pension number” and assume they will be able to figure out the rest?
Basic Pension number
基礎年金番号
―
Employees’ Pension Insurance registration number
厚生年金保険の記号番号
―
Employees’ Pension Insurance （Seamen’s Insurance）registration number
厚生年金保険（船員保険）の記号番号
―
National Pension registration number
国民年金の記号番号
I was a salariman for a large Japanese company so I had an Employees’ Pension Insurance, not a National Pension. I asked our soumu’s department and they said that since some date in the past the numbers for the Employees’ Pension Insurance and the Basic Pension number are the same.
So I filled in the number on my pension book in the first two rows and left the other two blank.
I mailed my application earlier this month so ask me in half a year or so if I could get my money back successfully this way
I worked in Japan for 3 years, always for the same company at the same office location. My question relates to filling out the “history” portion of the application for the lump-sum pension refund. Will I make an entry twice in the chart – once for the National Pension and again for the Emploees’ Pension? The information for each entry will only be slighty different. I feel as though I need to make 2 entries because of the Note at the bottom of the chart indicating that for the National Pension – “fill in only the address of the place you lived”. For the Employee Pension entry I would record the office address. I would record the sames dates for both.
Any information would be greatly appreciated. I also suggest adding samples of filled out forms to aid people.
I worked in Japan for 3 years, always for the same company at the same office location. My question relates to filling out the \”history\” portion of the application for the lump-sum pension refund. Will I make an entry twice in the chart – once for the National Pension and again for the Emploees\’ Pension? The information for each entry will only be slighty different. I feel as though I need to make 2 entries because of the Note at the bottom of the chart indicating that for the National Pension – \”fill in only the address of the place you lived\”. For the Employee Pension entry I would record the office address. I would record the sames dates for both.
Any information would be greatly appreciated. I also suggest adding samples of filled out forms to aid people.
Hello everyone,
I have a question about the pension refund and returning to Japan after filing for it. I applied for the pension refund after returning home but now I am planning to return to Japan to work again. I previously worked for two years in Japan. I will return to Japan in early April. That would make it 7 months since leaving. Will it have any affect on me getting my pension refund and/or tax return. I still haven’t received the lump-sum payment. Also, will I be able to claim a pension one/two/three years from this April?
Hi again,
For your reference, last week I received a letter from the Social Insurance Operation Center that the money was transferred to my Australian account. A few days later I got a letter from my bank that the money had been received.
So it took 4-5 months from application to receiving back the payments.
They withheld 20% in income tax. My next step is to try to get that back too..
Hi
I worked in Japan for 2 years – 1 year on JET and 1 year in Tokyo for an IT company.
My question is – if I paid into the government pension in year 1 and and different pension in year 2 do I get 2 full years rebate or will I only qualify for one of them?
Thanks
Appreciate the info!
Here’s my question:
When I left Japan in this March, I didn’t know whether I’d be returning or not, so I didn’t hand in my alien card or get my visa canceled at the airport. I know now that I won’t be returning, and I’d like to know how to take care of these procedures. Simple, right?
Can someone advise me?
As far as I know and have read, you can exit the country every 3 years, stay in your home country for a few months while you apply for a new visa to come back. This would allow you to get all your payments. When you enter again, you just start off fresh again.
I returned during June 2006, I wanted not to claim National Insurance ( More than 2 years )
Pl let me know can I get the lumpsum refund after applying
Thankx Vjsan
Just wondering if anyone has had success in phoning the S.I.A. telephone line? I gave it a try tonight and had no luck. I also though don’t speak fluent Japanese.
It has 4 months now since I sent my forms in and I’m getting a little restless.
I submitted my application back in December and still haven’t heard back yet. I getting worried that I won’t get my money back.
jennifer,
They’ve changed all their offices and phone numbers:( They’re toll free numbers and just like all bureaucracies, YOU CAN”T CALL THE NUMBER FROM OVERSEAS! Isn’t that hilarious!
But you’ll be getting it in a few days (The Good News:) as 41/2 months seems to be the norm. I sent my stuff at the beginning of April and yes, I’m so antsy right now I’m spraying myself with insect killer. I was told by the local pension office that 5-6 months was the time frame, but the reality is better. 4 months and a week or so is the average report comin off this blog:) But the pension office also told me I should get 900,000 yen whereas the chart here says 244,000 or so:(
The waiting is certainly the hardest part.
Mike
Dave……….your money aint comin.
Also, one slip-up I’ve noted on this blog: You must apply within 2 years of leaving the last company you paid pension contributions to. NOT WITHIN 2 YEARS OF LEAVING JAPAN.
A very big difference.
Mike
Thank you Mike,
I hope that you’re right. And yes, waiting is the worst part.
mike why would you say my money isn’t coming? i’ve got a friend in japan who speaks japanese who has called in and apparently they’re looking into it. will find out next week of the status. i’d be surprised if they didn’t pay the lump sum back.
Because July 2009 minus December 2008 equals 7+ months. Your friend will really need to look into it in detail.
Dies, or anyone out there.. I’m still confuse on the process. I have been working in Japan since May 2006. I will be leaving Japan by end of Aug 2009. So would really like to know what I should do before I leave Japan so that I can get my money back. From the instruction in this website, I must do the following. Pls correct me if my understanding is wrong.
1) Nominate a tax agent to the local ward office while I’m still in Japan
2) Send my application once I leave Japan.
3) Wait for my Pension refund
4) Apply for 20% tax refund after i got my pension refund
Questions:
1) For my pension refund I must fill in the bank account detail of my home country or bank in Japan?
2) Must I cancel my alien registration in the local ward before I leave Japan or simply just hand in the card at the immigration when I leave in Aug?
3) Must I cancel my visa at the immigration when I leave? If yes where in the airport should I do this?
4) Where can I get the blue book (Pension Handbook)? When I request from my company they only give me a few piece of paper indication my annual salary and the tax paid. Is this the blue book?
5) Where can I find my Employee’s Pension Insurance registration number?
Really need some help….
Thanks
You’ve certainly made this mor complicated than it is with those lists;)
If you don’t have the blue book, they’re ok with that.
Yes, you hand in your gaijin card when you exit the airport in Japan (your visa will be terminated by the immigration officer you give the gaijin card to).
Once back home, all you need on the application is the pension number (the blue book is extra stuff that the bureau-heads like to get back, but don’t require). You can use a Japanese bank account or one back home. IF you use one back home, you’ll need the teller to stamp it with a bank rubber stamp of some kind (I don’t think the Japanese government will get too picky as to what stamp, as long as the bank stamps with something official-looking – usually a round stamp resembling a notary stamp). Don’t change your address or your bank branch’s address before u get the money.
Hello.
I have recently applied for my refund, but am curious, is one eligible for a refund from both the Employee’s and the National Pension plans if one contributed to both over the course of their stay in Japan?
Thank you,
Julie
No. And if you go to your LOCAL pension office, they won’t know that.
You can only get the national. 244,000yen minus 20% (for 3-year or more workers).
After I quit the company sent me the blue book (yes, it’s actually blue). I sent it in with my application, and they sent it back after I received the money.
Even though I received my money back in March this year, my tax agent apparently cannot fill in the tax form yet to get the 20% back. Was told to wait until the end of the current financial year.
Ah, about leaving Japan (not directly related to pension), the ward sent me a letter after I left Japan that I am still supposed to pay jyuuminzei. Apparently everybody is paying that over the previous year, so your first year in Japan you did not pay, but after you leave you are still supposed to pay until the end of the year. It was quite a significant amount (more than 450.000 JPY!). I paid as I don’t want to get in trouble if I ever go back to Japan, but I imagine many people don’t know about this.
dies.. where can i get my blue book?
Jonathan, have you asked your company’s HR department?
I don’t know what your chances are without it (as long as you can find your registration number(s) elsewhere), but Mike seems to think they’re okay without it and all his other answers were correct.
Jonathan, have you asked your company’s HR department?
I don’t know what your chances are without it (as long as you can find your registration number(s) elsewhere), but Mike seems to think they\’re okay without it and all his other answers were correct.
Mike and Dies,
Thanks a lot for your information.
Are you guys on the National Pension Scheme or the Corporate Pension Scheme?
I think I was on the corporate scheme.
konnichiwa,ileft japan last march 31,2009,after that i filed the lumpsum withdrawal payments and forwraded the blue book indicating my basic pension number in view to this i would like to know when i can claim my refund i sent the following documents last april 14,2009
You should be getting it late this month or early September:)
A friend once told me that you can also claim a rebate of up to Y1mil from the national health insurance scheme as well but I can’t seem to find anything about that
[...] Useful forum with more information [...]
i have already received confirmation that my lumpsum is approved but the question is when and how i have already send them all the documents they needed and also i spending mo0ney just to call them (national pension Japan).i already gave them my back acount number here in the philippines,,please help me regarding this and my contact number is 639266808236,,tnx and more power.
how can i claim the lumpsum withdrawal entitlement,untill now i havent receive it yet.i send my documents last april 24 2009
You’re almost there, Recy:) Just a few more weeks. Don’t change your personal info with your bank until you get your money (your address, your bank branch address). I’d guess your money will arrive in 2 to 3 weeks.
By the way. You can go to Japan anytime you like before you get your pension, as long as you don’t get a gaijin card there;)
tnx mike you give me hope,tnx for the time effort,,god speed
Hello,
I’m trying to fill out the form to get my pension refund, and I cannot figure out the difference between these 4 numbers. I’m guessing I don’t need the Seaman’s Insurance one, but are all the other numbers the same? Can I just fill out the “Basic Pension number” and assume they will be able to figure out the rest?
Basic Pension number
基礎年金番号
―
Employees’ Pension Insurance registration number
厚生年金保険の記号番号
―
Employees’ Pension Insurance （Seamen’s Insurance）registration number
厚生年金保険（船員保険）の記号番号
―
National Pension registration number
国民年金の記号番号
Yeah. If it’s the lump sum payment that you want, you just put that Basic Pension Number down:)
Another trivia question (that I don’t know the answer to): If you come back to Japan as a tourist, you’re fine. I know that. But what if, as a tourist, I go register an address (hotel, friend’s house, whatever) and get a gaijin card. That’s as a tourist. No working visas, marriages or business of any kind involved).
You couldn’t get a foreign registration card on a tourist visa. Not if they are doing their job properly at the city hall or ward office that handles the registration. All they have to do is look in your passport and see what visa you have.
>>Hello,
I’m trying to fill out the form to get my pension refund, and I cannot figure out the difference between these 4 numbers. I’m guessing I don’t need the Seaman’s Insurance one, but are all the other numbers the same? Can I just fill out the “Basic Pension number” and assume they will be able to figure out the rest?<<
Kosei and Kokumin are separate. Some people, like myself, have paid into both.
Perhaps the first number refers to a unified account. This would be useful for people like myself who have paid into more than one scheme.
Actually, you can. Ive gotten one from Shibuya Kuyakusho before on a tourist visa. I told just told them that by work visa was about to start being processed and Im going to be here for a while and would rather be registered. (Which was basically true.) It was easy. And the reason, if I remember rightly, why I wanted it, was so I could get a phone…
Gaijin cards are issued to tourists, BUT would that negate your lump sum pension claim?
I’m thinking my question would confuse the bureaucrats at the pension fund central “nerve center”.
Do you even NEED to register if you’re applying for a work visa in Japan? Surely not.
I would bet they are more strict now. Here in Fukui I am sure they would have wanted proof your work visa was applied for.
Elsewhere I have read that even foreigners on tourist visas have applied for and got the alien registration card–all they needed was an address. However, this card and process is really meant for resident aliens who are going to be here longer than 90 days. So it seems that there is a difference in interpretations at the local level–not surprising.
I forgot to surrender my alien card before, will it disqualify me for applying for the refund?
Not turning your alien card in at immigration upon leaving the country means you had a re-entry visa , and immigration assumed you never gave up your visa. If your visa has expired since you left, then you’re actually breaking the law, and getting your pension is a no-brainer as far as that goes. You’re required by law to turn that card in if you’re not returning.
Not turning your alien card in at immigration upon leaving the country means you had a re-entry visa , and immigration assumed you never gave up your visa. If your visa has expired since you left, then you\’re actually breaking the law, and getting your pension is a no-brainer as far as that goes. You\’re required by law to turn that card in if you\’re not returning.
So, do you have an idea where I can send my alien card? I have no plans of going back to Japan anymore. I left Japan October last year and now I am in the US already. I just want to file for the lumpsum, I have worked very hard before.
If your visa expired, it’s too late.
You seem to use Japanese English. Maybe call Immigration for the friend you’re enquiring for as that’s an odd situation (not turning in their alien registration card).
Yeah it’s kinda odd. I was even planning of sending the alien card together with my application, maybe they will accept it and if not then there’s nothing more that I can do. Thank you for the past reply.
Don’t send the alien registration with your application! 2 different bureaucracies. The alien registration belongs to immigration. If your visa is still active, send the alien card to Otemachi (Immigration) with a letter of apology or something. Your pension application obviously goes to the pension office.
Ah ok. I found Japan Immigration Website awhile ago, I will call them on monday.
I wonder what it means for your jyuuminzei if you didn’t hand in your gajin card. If you don’t hand it in, means you’re still registered in the ward you lived, doesn’t it? As we are supposed to pay this tax over the previous year, we still owe it over the year after we left Japan. Or over the year after you handed in your gajin card?
I was late changing addresses once (over the New Year Holidays) and was charged the full 150,000 yen for the year’s local tax. All because I thought I’d change my address come February. If you don’t turn in your alien card, expect exhorbitant taxes depending on your departure dates.
In my case, I was not able to surrender my alien card upon exit but when I have decided not to return to Japan, I have told my employer about it and so maybe they informed the local office.
Hi,
I left Japan on June 30th, 2009. I was working in Shiki from December 2007 to June 2009.
After my return, immediately i applied for Pension refund from India on July 2009 and i got confirmation that my application along with blue book had reached the pension office on July end.
Its going to over 6 months by this month end. Till now i had not received my money.
Should i call and ask for the status. Would the pension office staffs speak little english to reply me?
I applied in April and didn’t get mine until November. Some people get caught in red tape, some get their’s speedily. Yours is probably near done according to the law of averages.
Thank you Mike..for your reply. Is there any way to communicate with them in english about my pension refund status.
Not that I know of. Just go to your local Shakai Hoken Jimusho 社会保険事務所. It usually has the city (or ward in Tokyo) name before the other kanji. They may or may not have an English speaker on hand.
Hello Mike
I cant believe it…I got my pension money from japan today.
I got remiitted from US dollar to my local currency.
Thank you for all your information
Good stuff:) Don’t spend it all at once, and for goodness’ sake, don’t switch it back into yen. The yen went to dollars, then into your currency. If it went back to yen, you’d have about half of what you started with;) You can do alot with that in India, to be sure:)
I am presently in India only after my return from Japan. Thanks for all you support.
Hello,
I’m trying to fill out the form to get my pension refund, and I cannot figure out the difference between these 4 numbers. I’m guessing I don’t need the Seaman’s Insurance one, but are all the other numbers the same? Can I just fill out the “Basic Pension number” and assume they will be able to figure out the rest?
Basic Pension number
基礎年金番号
―
Employees’ Pension Insurance registration number
厚生年金保険の記号番号
―
Employees’ Pension Insurance （Seamen’s Insurance）registration number
厚生年金保険（船員保険）の記号番号
―
National Pension registration number
国民年金の記号番号
hello,
Help me
i have only Basic Pension number,
Basic Pension number
基礎年金番号
I cannot figure out these three how do i know
please help me…
Employees’ Pension Insurance registration number
厚生年金保険の記号番号
―
Employees’ Pension Insurance （Seamen’s Insurance）registration number
厚生年金保険（船員保険）の記号番号
―
※Please complete the form using the Roman alphabet.(Please print in capital letters.)Only complete the spaces in the broad-bordered boxes.
（記入はアルファベットの大文字でお願いします。） 太わく内のみ記入してください。
National Pension registration number
国民年金の記号番号
Thanks:
You only need the basic pension number.
Hello Mike,
Thanks for help.
I left Japan on Dec 7th, 2008. I was working in Saora Inc.
After my return, i did not applied for Pension refund.
can i apply now?
I am presently in India.
Hey guys, thanks for this thread, it has put me at ease.
I’ve worked in Japan for 2 years. Sent in my application in early August. Still waiting for it to arrive in my bank account. So it has been nearly 5 months so far.
Is there anything I can do to check that they’ve received the application?
Cheers.
Hello. I worked in Japan for 2 years. After I finished I applied for my pension refund (still waiting). I went home for 2 months and then cam back to Japan as a student. I got that letter in the mail telling me that my previous job has ended and to please make the payments yourself (it used to be taken out of my paycheck automatically). Do i still have to pay now that I’m a student and not employed? I would like to work in Japan again after I finish school. I taught that they would just start me up on a new pension if I become employed again.
When you came back and got your gaijin card before procuring your student visa, all of your claims to any sort of pension went down the drain.
Magnus. From what you’ve said, yours will be in your account in a couple more months. Once you’ve hit the 5-month mark, it means they’re taking you into overtime. Extra time to insure you’re not coming back to Japan right after leaving (ahole bureau-heads is why).
I got my student visa when I when back home. I used that visa to get back into Japan. Does that change anything? I then got my new gaijin card once I was back in Japan.
So I did get my student visa before my card.
Right. You’re not allowed to have a registered address in Japan before you get that pension. That was clear in the paper the Pension office gave you. (That was in the application package).
Ok, but since I moved and got a new address in a different prefecture, would they know if I was back in Japan? Also, I used my American address on the application form.
Yes.
So what do you think will happen to my pension? I left Japan on 8/2009, sent my pension app from America, came back to Japan on 10/2009 under a new address and visa. I was expecting to get my pension around 6 months later (02/2010). Would they contact me if their was a problem?
Just thought I’d add my story to the pile. I mailed off my pension refund application the first week of July ’09, international priority mail to make sure it got there quickly because I left my job in Japan in August ’07. Since then my mom has been diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and I plan to use the pension money to move across the country to be with her. It’s very, very hard waiting and I’m starting to lose my mind because I’ve hit the six-month mark now. And I need to be with my mom.
A friend living in Japan called the pension office with my info and they told him I would get the money “January at the earliest”. So it’s good to know they have my application, but puzzling that it is taking a minimum of six months rather than the four and a half month average.
If/when I get the money I’ll post here so that there can be another length of time example for people to see.
Student: No, they won’t contact you. If they have a question due to a problem on the original application, they might post a snail mail question (in documented bureaucratic fashion), but no, no questions. You’ve registered and address in Japan before getting your pension: no go.
Katie: I applied for mine in April and got the money in November. THERE IS NO DECIDED TIME FRAME. Don’t expect it by a certain time. But I’ve never heard of anyone having to wait more than 9 months.
I left Japan 7-18-9, filed my application 8-6-09, called yesterday to find out when I would get my payment and was notified that I would receive a letter informing me of the amount and when I would receive the money between March and April 2010. In contrast my co-worker who returned from Japan 10-08 received his payment within two months.
I read on Big Daikon that some refunds take longer because they’re trying to make sure you don’t have plans to move back into the country. When I left Japan it was kind of sudden and I didn’t get a chance to empty out/cancel my bank account. I wonder if I got some sort of red flag in their system for that. Who knows? Still waiting, but thanks Mike and Alice–I am not so freaked out about being at six months now.
Mike:
Sigh. Thanks for the reply.
Any thoughts why they take people “into overtime” in the first place? Is there some criteria?
HI,
Pls help us know how to get 20% tax back which will deduct on pension amount. Do anybody know any Tax agent in Japan?
How do I even know if I have money to claim? I worked for NOVA and Altia Central. Would these companies have contributed? If so, how would I know my pension number?
Thanks!!!
NOVA didn’t and Altia probably not, but if you don’t remember receiving anything resembling a blue bank deposit book, you’re probably not paying into it. Most English schools DO NOT have the national pension plan.
Katie, I received a letter back from Japan yesterday notifying me that my lump sum payment will be deposited on 2-15-10, maybe calling to check on the status speeds up the process? Best of luck in getting your payment soon!
Now I’m super worried because I sent mine a month before yours, Alice. Really starting to believe it will never come.
You’ve got to remember that the National Pension is a huge bureaucracy. Everyone’s comes at different times due to a million+ weird guidelines that we will never know.
Most people get theirs long after they’ve given up worrying about it. Sometimes I think the government has a worry monitor in all pensioners; “Ah, they don’t expect it anymore. Let’s shower them with more money than they thought they’d get.”
I have question. My company gave me 2 blue books ( One for me & one for my wife). Now I am in preparation to apply for lumpsum. Do I need to send 2 applications and both the pension books? (My wife didn’t work while she was in Japan). Please help me with the info.
If she didn’t pay into it (i.e. no job) then no, she need not apply for the 0yen she will get;)
Hey guys, it’s Katie again, and I have a (bad) update.
I got a letter in the mail yesterday that was from the pension agency. I was SO EXCITED–it was finally coming!! Then I opened it up and read the title of the letter: “Inadequacies in the Claim for Lump-sum Withdrawal Payment.” The letter then says this:
“You submitted to us a claim for lump-sum withdrawal pament, but we cannot proceed with its examination because there are certain inadequacies as described in the items encircled below. We return your incomplete claim to you. Please correct the inadequacies and submit a complete claim to us. Please be sure to include this document in the new file you will submit.”
Then there’s a big list and the thing that’s circled is “Attach a copy of your passport or a stamp of departure affixed when you left Japan last.”
I am angry and confused. First of all, I SENT the passport photocopy already showing my departure stamp. Why it took them EIGHT MONTHS to apparently lose it and then accuse me of not sending it is beyond me.
Second of all, I don’t understand the wording of the letter. It says I submitted an incomplete claim and that I would need to submit a “complete claim”. But they didn’t return my bank documents or my pension book (only my original application sheet), so how am I supposed to submit the “complete claim” again? Should I just mail them the passport copy and assume they have all the other documents there in a file?
Finally, there is a phone number at the bottom of the letter. It says “For inquiries from overseas, call the Social Insurance Operation Center at +81-3-6700-1165.” It doesn’t say “Japanese only”. Does this mean I can call and ask all these questions in English? I don’t have a way to make international calls right now or else I would just call it and try.
Geeze… I feel like an idiot.
I just pulled up a scan of the passport that I’d sent them, and apparently I sent them the page showing my re-entry permit and the departure stamps from trips I took while in Japan–not my final departure stamp and my 3-year visa.
This is surely what caused the delay… and it’s all my fault.
I still wish they’d mailed me a letter like this a little sooner, or even told my friend when he called back in December instead of saying I’d get my money after January.
I have to drive two hours to go back to my bank and get the certified bank stamp. I guess, to be safe, I’ll just submit everything again sans the pension book and just hope for the best.
Hi,
I’ve recieved my lump sump payment after 6 months. I found that they have deducted Tax of the tune of 20%. Is there any way by which I can try to get back portion of tax deducted after refunc processing? In the first place I did not complete the formalities outlined to save on IT deduction while leaving Japan. Is their a possible course correction now?
Thank you your reply in advance.
Blessings
Hi Burhan
Apparently it is possible.I am not sure of the procedure but it seems while claiming for the 20% tax you can designate your tax agent. May be you can ask your friend or colleague to submit the tax return along with the “Tax agent notification” form(you can send by post).
cheers
satish
Hi Satish,
Thank you for your reply. I will follow your advise and see if that works. I will post an update accordingly.
Cheers.
Burhan
If I assign my foreigner friend to be my tax agent, would it be hard for him to fill-up the tax refund form?
So, Satish you got a lump sum…that means only 3 years right? Any Canadian out there get all their pension back minus 20% national tax? Has the law changed yet to provide more nationalities with the same refund plan as Americans?
I’m Canadian and got mine after only 3 years. I think it depends on job situations, taxes owed in Japan, etc. My Kiwi mate got his after only 3 as well.
Tom
Pretty sure mine was minus 20%
So, my Canadian friend worked about 6 years for a school board in Yamanashi Ken. He asked for 3 years of his pension in cash and received it while in Yamanashi Ken. He has arranged for a local resident to apply for his 20% tax rebate and have it processed. I’m not sure yet which country or when he will receive this rebate. But he is entitled to it.
He also had the option of having the Japanese government transfer all his years of pension to the Canadian government pension program, except for the 20% Japan national tax. Again he would have to get a local to arrange this through a tax office in his home city. Apparently the government doesn’t deal with individual’s foreign banks and prefers to send refunds to the foreigner’s home government.
You might want to ask at the pension office if there is anything that could jeopardize receiving part or all of your pension. There are all kinds of rumors about this, and I worry as I just applied for unemployment insurance benefits. These are different departments. But crazy things happen here, so I want to ask myself.
By the way, I have no idea and highly doubt that getting full pension would be subject to outstanding taxes. You can always ask on http://www.gaijinpot.com.
Hi,
I applied for lumsum refund of my pension amount on April17,2010. I would like to know that when i will get my pension amount. I paid under the national employee pension scheme for the period of 2007 to 2009.
Thanks in advance.
Regards
N.Muthukumar
Anytime between this summer and next spring. There is no specifically decided time frame. So yeah, August to March. Sometime in there.
I finally got my lump sum minus tax after 6months!!
Now can anyone pls teach me how I can apply to get back my 20% that was deducted as tax?
Thank you for your reply. I will follow your advise and see if that works. I will post an update accordingly.
Cheers.
Hello!
My name is Anil.I’m from India.
I worked for mitsubhishi electric from Oct 2007 till Dec 2008 ( approximately 14 months).
My gross salary is 300,000 yen.
How much employer insurance amount of money I’ll get .
I have submitted the relevant documents by post from india.
How many months it will take to get money into my indian account.
kindly send me the required information.
Regards
Anil
anildba9@yahoo.com
Hi Concern
My name is Vijaysan
I left Japan during June 2006
I thought of taking opportunity after sometimes to come back to japn and continue,
But I fell Sick and my priority went to my health ,
Later I could not think of returning back to Japan because of Bad Recession in IT Globally,
Now it is more than 2 Years, I really wanted Japan Govt to consider my case of special because of global recession to help me our for allowing to Claim the lumpsum refund.
Kindly assist me how to initiate , I have all the blue book and app form,
If I do not claim the refund let me know how I will get back the hard earned money refunded,
In case after 2 or 3 Years if I come and work again will that amount be continued after making contributions
Kindly help
Regards
Vijaysan
Hi Concern
My name is Vijaysan
I left Japan during June 2006
I thought of taking opportunity after sometimes to come back to japn and continue,
But I fell Sick and my priority went to my health ,
Later I could not think of returning back to Japan because of Bad Recession in IT Globally,
Now it is more than 2 Years, I really wanted Japan Govt to consider my case of special because of global recession to help me our for allowing to Claim the lumpsum refund.
Kindly assist me how to initiate , I have all the blue book and app form,
If I do not claim the refund let me know how I will get back the hard earned money refunded,
In case after 2 or 3 Years if I come and work again will that amount be continued after making contributions
Kindly help
Regards
Vijaysan
I have not surrendered my alien card when I left Japan. That page of my passport with my last departure in Japan enough for filling the refund?
Yeah, you messed up big time. Gotta get that card back to the Immigration guys or yer still residing in Japan.
Should I include my alien card when applying for the refund will help? Is there other way to solve this?
My question relates to leaving Japan and wanting a pension refund but still owning a house here. I’ve been here in Japan for 6 years and paid pension payments for most of that time. I’ve also bought a house here and had hoped to stay here forever, but my application for permanent residency has just been denied (most likely because I have changed jobs and do not work for a Japanese company). Given that I have better job prospects outside of Japan, and now doubt that I will ever be able to get permanent residency, I feel there is no reason to continue my residency without a break, I’m going to leave Japan and just use the house as a vacation home. I may come back on a 3-yearwork visa in the future (?). Anyway, since I really am leaving Japan (for a year at least) and exiting from “the system” why would it be that I cannot get the 3-year pension refund just because I still own the house? Owning the house does not seem to have any bearing on whether I am a resident, and that should be what matters, right?
I called the Pension Office last night. It has been seven months to the day that they received in my paperwork. They said there is nothing wrong with the paperwork and apologized and asked that I wait a bit longer.
I am wondering, how long between receiving the notification of payment and actual wire has everyone experienced? Also, what day of the month have you noticed the wires to be? I am guessing that it is on a monthly payment schedule, and these benchmarks may alleve some of the worry we all seem to share.
Thank you,
Julie
“confused” san. If you read on the gaijin card, you’ll notice that it belongs to the Justice Ministry, not the Social Welfare & Insurance bureaucrats. I think you’ve messed up royally, as everyone has to give their card back when leaving Japan permanently. You need to get that card to Immigration. Immigration Immigration.
Shelley,
if you’ve reported and paid taxes on the land, obviously you’re still tied to Japan. OWNING LAND does tend to bind a tie to you and the country it’s in;)
But, thanks to the bureaucratic bafoonery of a system Japan has, you may be ok. Don’t draw attention to it and you may just get pension money back. Keep in mind, the pension can roll into your home country’s social security plan, BUT APPLY WITHIN 2 YEARS OF YOUR LAST PAYMENT INTO THE PENSION SYSTEM OR NO MONEY COMES TO YOU.
Julie,
The answer to your question lies in countless posts above. Some people get it in 4 or so months, but most get it between 5 and 10 months. Mine was 9, I think. Hold your water;) And think about how you’ll spend it:)
Mike,
Hi. I have read the posts, I was just trying to see if there was a pattern as to the day of the month that the money is wired from Japan so I (and perhaps others) can just chill and look at their accounts on that time of the month.
Julie
2 Questions:
1) how will applying for/receiving a lump sum payment affect my ability to get a work/spouse visa to enter japan in the future? I am just completing my second 5+year stay in working in Japan first 93-98, this time 2005-2010. but this is the first time I plan to apply for the lumpsum… and it is from the 3rd system for government employees, as I worked this time a faculty of a national university (the first stay I was not a regular contributor). Right now I have no specific plans to return, but may like to at some future date (maybe 3-10 years later)
as I still have many personal and business relationships here.
2) although I just finished my employment here as a professor, my visa status as professor is shown as valid until January. I have taken a new position in the US with a university that has a branch in Japan. I am wondering whether I should keep my gaijin card and visa open upon leaving, as there is a chance I may be able to do some work with this Japan branch.
btw… I have found this thread to be the most useful and informative place on the web for this topic…
After you’ve received your money, you can do whatever you want visa-wise. You just can’t receive national pension benefits again.
I finally got my return. It took 7 months. I was very worried.
Now I am waiting for my tax return, having sent in the Entitlement part.
is having japan bank account(s) with address (basically my current registered address / my friends home) in Japan considered having Japan address for lumpsum purposes, if I discontinue my status of residence and turn in my gaijin card? should I change this to overseas address?
No one I know had problems. I had 4 bank accounts in Japan. Got my money.
Mike,
Thanks for the quick, clear replies
Hi there,
Thanks for the info on the site. I left Japan in December 2009 and am about to go back there for a holiday and will hand in my gaijin card and cancel my visa when I leave. BUT..I haven’t paid the last of my town tax. Obviously I don’t want to pay for it when I’m not in the country but will this effect my pension refund? Will they be able to follow it up?
Thanks
Every person I know who didn’t pay the town tax STILL got there pension money.
I have filed my national pension form before 20 days.
In general, in how many days does a person receives his pension amount?
I was in Japan for 2.5 years and did the lump sum withdrawl of my pension. Again I came back to Japan with same last time Visa for the same company and contributing to pesion.
Will I be able to do the lumpsum withdrawal again after I exit Japan as I did already once and came with same Visa?
Your help is verymuch appreciated.
Thanks
Mallik
no
Hi Mike,
Thank you very much for answering. Is my old visa making me not eligible or pension is supposed to be withdrawn only once? I am worried
, a big amount is going towards that pension. Is there anyway to get the eligibility?
Please clarify.
Thanks
Mallik
You get the lumpsum one time only.
I have a quick question. I’ve got all my information good and ready, but I was wondering if my application for refund might be processed faster if I fill out my forms mostly in Japanese? What do you think?
Hi,
I applied my pension is going to complete around 7 months,
but didn’t get any reply from there.
is there any way to know my status?
please help me………
Thanks
Rajeshwar
Star, anytime anything can be filled out in Japanese it is better, but you’re dealing with a gargantuan bureaucracy. The only part that can really be filled out in Japanese is your last employer and resident information. Did that. 10 months for me now.
Rajeshwar, you need to call them every month, not that that will speed things along, but it helps. I have called every month since two months after my documentation was received by the pension office. Everything was fine, in order, no problem, just taking them awhile to determine the amount. Then, a month ago, low and behold my passport copy showing my date of departure turned up missing. They said they sent a letter, but I did not receive that. I am now writing a letter to them including not only that one page of my passport, but the information page.
They have actually called me twice after calling them. I have found that their initial response on the phone is garnered after a peak at a computer screen perhaps, and then they do the real investigative work into your case after you have hung up and will actually call you back with more information.
If you speak Japanese, some of them have a really hard time believing you are the applicant, but for the most part, they are as polite and apologetic as pie!
Julie
HI
My Name is Anil, I’m from India.
I worked in Japan from Oct 2007 to Jan 2009.
After coming to India in Jan 2009, I applied PF in the month of April 2010.
It is Almost 4 and half months, I didn’t receive any communication as on date.
If anybody having information , kindly update
Regards
Anil
Hi,
I worked in Japan 96-98 and 06-08, I think I just missed the 2 year deadline by 4 months, although my gaijin card was only cancelled this May when I innocently visited (had 3 year visa). Maybe worth trying anyway?
I had assumed I could get some slivers of pension payments when I reach retirement age regardless of where I reside. Is that not true?
Thanks
Hannes
Like you said, you went past the deadline by 4 months. An unfortunate reality called reality. No, you are no longer eligible.
Also, just working in Japan doesn’t make you eligible. You have to be enrolled in the national pension fund. Very rare for a company to put you in that scheme.
OK thanks for advice. Apparently I did unwittingly apply for a refund thanks to my wife-to-be for the first stint 10 years ago. Funny that it is roughly the same amount as 10 years later on four times the salary. Anyway this wouldn’t be funding an early retirement.
I had been assuming that when I turn 65 I would show up at the pension office with pension book and bank account details and they would start paying me some pocket money, is that not the case? I have contributed to pension plans in several countries and if they just swallowed up my money that wouldn’t seem fair..
im crissanlyn i have a question? i worked in japan for almost 3yrs nov2006 til august2009 but then this is my prblem about my lumpsum .my documents that to insurance was void so they returned to me the documents after 6 months they back to me my documents told me my documents are incomplete,then i passed it again now almost 6 months now, my question is its possible to get my lumpsum how long can i wait
thank you i hope u can help me!!!!!
Restfecfully yours,
Crissanlyn Fernandez Po
Hi Concern
I could not apply for refund of lumpsum withdrawl, due to health reason and ……….
kindly let me know how to get the refund
Japan govt should now take new ammendment that they can withdraw any time since it is hard earned contrubuted or deducted amount
Pl take this to PM or President of Japan who should honestly refund irrespective of lapse years
Pl help
Regards]
Vijay
hie guys.
i hope someone here can help me out.
i have been working in japan from aug 06 and will go back to the uk in aug 11 after 5 years. i have been paying into the national pension all 5 years.
when i leave japan in august i am planning to stay in the uk for a month or so (to make use of my free flight home and see family etc) and then come back to japan to work again on the same visa, so i wont give my gaijin card in at immigration but i wont be living in the same town when i come back.
my concern is that i dont think my new employer will enroll me in the national pension scheme so if i work for them for 2 years or more does this mean i lose my entitlement to the lump sum?
if so, is there some way for me to pay into the national pension privately? i really dont want to lose the lump sum so if this means cancelling my gaijin card and staying in the uk longer and then coming back to japan on a different visa i might be willing to do that too.
any advice would be greatly appreciated.
thank you
You’ve got to forfeit that gaijin card and get a new visa before those 2 years are up.
Hello. Thanks for this post and all the comments, it’s very helpful.
I have a couple questions (getting ready to send off my form, want to make sure everything’s right seeing how vague it is >.<)
First, at the very beginning, should I write my name in Katakana, since it's in katakana in the pension book, or does it matter?
Second, I was in Japan for 3 years as a JET, the whole time in the same place, but my town merged with a city this April (I was there till August). Now the former town hall is still a branch office of the city, and I'm pretty sure all my pre-merger records are in cold storage there. So the question is do I write the address of the old town, or the new city?
And last question, for work period should I write month/year, or exact dates?
Thanks
Hey folks,
I saw on here that someone else received the “Inadequacies in the Claim for Lump-Sum Withdrawal Payment” form that I did, and I had a question about it.
I received the “Inadequacies” form back in April, after having sent my original claim back in August of last year. The problem with my original form had to do with the fact that I didn’t have a proper bank stamp, because my bank isn’t local and doesn’t HAVE a stamp. I gathered together a bunch of documents and sent the whole thing back to Tokyo in May (four months ago), and am hoping the bank documents were adequate this time.
I still haven’t gotten my money, but I have this vague memory of there being a number on some part of the “Inadequacies” form that was for English-speakers. Has anybody else gotten this form, or know of the number, or have any advice for me on whether I will ever get my money?
Thanks very much.
Just a follow-up on my “Inadequacies” form situation…
I ended up just sending the passport page I was missing the first time along with all the documents they sent me. I mailed this 2-24-10.
Happy to report that on 8-13-10, I got my refund! YAY!
If anyone else ever gets the dreaded Inadequacies in the Claim for Lump-sum Withdrawal Payment mailing, here are some things to keep in mind:
1. It doesn’t matter if your response to the “Inadequacies” form would put you past your deadline for applying for the lump sum. All that matters is that your initial application met the deadline. For example, my deadline for applying was August 7, 2009, because I left Japan August 7, 2007. I was worried that the Social Insurance Office would disqualify my application because I had to send them additional documents after that deadline. It didn’t matter, as it turns out.
2. Ignore the strange wording of the letter that makes it sound like you have to resubmit an entirely new application. Just give them the missing/clarifying documents and return it with everything they sent you. They kept your pension book and bank documents.
3. Be patient and have faith. My timeline went like this:
7-14-09: Sent application
2-18-10: Got “Inadequacies in the Claim for Lump-sum Withdrawal Payment” letter
2-24-10: Resubmitted missing part of original application
8-13-10: Got lump-sum payment
4. My bank did not have a stamp. I just had someone at my branch type up something on letterhead with the information the pension agency requested. I taped a voided check to the bottom of the letter. My check had an old address on it, and this being Japan I was dealing with, figured that would screw things up, so I just blacked the address out with a marker. There were no problems with my bank information, surprisingly.
Hope this helps someone in the future.
Hello everybody,
I just received and mailed back a “Request for Lump Sum withdrawal payment (Inquiry)” from the Public Relations Group Japan Pension Service.
Does anyone know if this is normal? I sent it back in but I thought it was so weird.
Just wondering if I am being set up to get rejected or if this will delay my claim even more. I sent my claim in in July 2010 and just got this new form this month (Oct 2010).
Thank you,
Chuckles
I guess consider yourself lucky? I just got the same thing in the mail last Thursday, and yesterday was my ONE YEAR anniversary of them having received all of my paperwork. It has been a (typical) red tape nightmare with the Japanese pension machine.
@Julie Ueno – Thanks for that comment. I guess it is easy to forget the paperwork nightmares of living in Japan. I hope the process goes smoothly for you. At least now I know that they do have my money and they probably just want to collect as much interest as possible before giving it back to me.
@chuckles — what is this new form you sent back to Japan Pension Service? I worry about my claim. I already sent all the documents needed for this lumpsum refund. And if there is new form, i think it will take time again to received the money. I sent my claim last July 2010 also but not received any notification as of the moment.
Thanks.
@Mitchell – Any additional form will probably add extra time to your claim. Just be on the look out for any mail from Japan.
The form is literally called “Request for Lump Sum withdrawal payment (Inquiry)”. The pension service wanted to make sure that I “really” wanted my money. If anyone gets this form you should just remember to circle option 2, sign the form, date it and mail it back ASAP.
Hi,
I applied my pension is going to complete around 9 months,
but didn’t get any reply from there.
is there any way to know my status?
could you please provide me email id.
please help me………
Thanks,
Rajeshwar
Good day guys,i had a problem with my lump sum payment.I already received the notice for lump-sum payment last Sept. 15, but until now i don`t have the money yet.The problem is the account that i submitted was already closed because the bank transffered to another place.Then my account was transffered to another branch and they altered my privious account with new one.Can you give me some advice how to fix it,I`m trying to call their office but i can`t connect.I`m here in the Philippines.Hope you can give some advice.
@charzkie – Sorry to hear about your trouble. This sounds like a very difficult situation to fix on your own. I can’t really think of any advice to give you except to contact a rep in Japan and to find one if you do not have one. I am sure someone on this board can point you to someone reputable.
The only problem I see is that you would have to pay for this service. I assume you will need to do quite a bit of paper work to solve a problem like this.
Please keep us posted.
@chuckles-thanks for the answer,you`re right I really need to contact some people in Japan but I don`t know who. I also tried to asked the bank but they can`t give me a concrete answer.I`m already confused.
Hi,
I speak to them, they are saying you are worked in Japan only 5 months.
But i worked in Japan from March 2008 to December 2008,
i don’t understand what i have to do…
could you please advice me what i have to do?
Guys, update in the problem that I encountered. I decided to bring my problem to the head office where I had an account. In just two days they already fixed it with out any paper work or anything in my part. They said to me as long as an amount was paid through an account that is already close, they can trace it once a claimant surfaced.Hopefully it can help this with others who will encounter this. Just contact the head office because they had a greater access with their database.
I understand that 20% tax deduction from lumsum can be claimed. Does anyone know how long does it take to get and if 100% of the deduction refunded?
-Looking forward to anyones reply, Thanks!
@leo – This is a good question that I would like to know too. I would assume that any government would try to short change you a bit but that’s just my opinion. I am sure that someone can answer this question.
I am glad to see most people got their refund but am wondering if anyone would let me know about how much they got???
Thanks
@ leo – From what I read from the web, it takes only a week for you to receive the tax refund once you apply for it. You need a friend in Japan who had an active bank account where they can put the money. They are not allowing foreign bank account and yes they give it back 100%.But I haven`t experience it yet.
Hi all.
How soon after returning the “Request for Lump Sum withdrawal payment (Inquiry)” were you all paid? Anyone here with that experience???
Julie
@Julie Ueno – - Thank you for posting this. As you know I am in the exact same situation and I am worried. I am applying to JD/MBA programs right now and I am literally slobbering for this cash. I can afford school but in New York City “Rent Is Too Damn High”
If anyone can answer Julie Ueno’s question please do.
@Chuckles
@charzkie
Thanks for your opinion. . . Donno when are the samurais gonna pay pay.
Hi,
I have worked for 4 years in Japan and now planning to return to India. On my retrun to India, I wish to withdraw my pension fund as Lumpsum amount. Can someone please tell me me what is the amount I may get refunded.
Monthly pension amount (from Employee) – around 47,000 yen
Monthly pension amount (from Employer) – around 47,000 yen
Total monthly contribution – (47000 + 47000 = 94000)
Total contributed months (Dec-06 ~ Nov-10) – 48 months
Thanks very much for your time and help!
Aman
fyi, about surrendering the gaijin card, i have friends who did not surrendered their gaijin cards upon exiting Japan, but still got their pension refund without any problems. and one of them still used his visa and his un-surrendered gaijin card to re-enter japan, after 1 yr of getting back his pension for 1 yr. and also, aside from instructing us to file for pension refund application (and give us the necessary forms and requirements for the refund), our HR also instructed us not to surrender them to the immigration for we could still come back to japan for future assignments. though my re-entry visa will expire on mar 2011. and i don’t think i will be coming back there because im planning to move to a different company.
i am anxious though of what Mark is saying here. because it has been 4 months since i applied for the pension refund and yes, just like most of you, i am not sure if they got my application form together with the blue book.
i will be waiting for 2 more months or call them now to confirm if they received my application.
If you want to be sure they got your application, just send it registered mail. I did this 4 weeks ago, tracked it via FedEx and can see that it was delivered. From reading this site it sounds like I will get my money within about 4 months…
@Recently departed Japan – Just fyi I am on month 5 so expect 5-6. 4 is on the really short end.
yey! i’ve got mine on the 5th month. and i was surprised, that the amount i got is a lot bigger than what i expected. i am now starting to process for the tax refund (20%).
Some people 9 months. It just depends on the bureaucratic ebb and flow.
And yet others such as myself, 14 months and counting!
@Julie – sorry to hear that! i will let you know when i get mine. hopefully this month!
hey there, i just have a couple of questions about the application:
first, when I’m filling out bank info, it only asks me for my bank’s address and my personal account number, but should I also include my bank’s routing number and SWIFT code for the international transfer, or will they just take care of that on their end? also, if i should write it, should i just write all of that info where it says “account number”?
second, just to make sure, i don’t need to send in the blue pension book, right? i just need to write the Basic Pension number on the application?
thanks for all this info, this is a killer thread.
Hey all you waiting for your refund, I am reposting this.
How soon after returning the “Request for Lump Sum withdrawal payment (Inquiry)” were you all paid? Anyone here with that experience???
I know it is in our nature to post and inquire when we are all wondering and waiting, but for the benefit of all here, please post when you know something. It gives those of us who have been waiting FOREVER some hope!
Julie
Hi Julie (and everybody),
I returned from Japan in early August 2009, and sent out my request just about a month later (early September 2009). In mid-April of 2010 I got the dreaded “Inadequacies in the Claim for Lump-Sum Withdrawal Payment” form, which I filled out and sent back in very early June. Mid-November (just a couple weeks ago) I got my money, deposited in my account, and the form telling me all about it right about the same time.
I haven’t filled out the bit to get my taxes back yet, but hopefully soon. All told, fifteen months to get my money.
Thanks for posting, Tracy.
It seems we may be in the same cycle.
I personally feel the inadequacy form is a farce or a means of delaying payment, or just to check if we are still out there waiting. Does one no good to argue the point, let alone ask why. Just gotta go through the motions I guess.
Charles and I seem to be on the same cycle, too, so hopefully next week…
I will call the office again Monday morning to see if I can get an update. It will be 14 months then.
Julie
Hi, All.
I just wanted to post an update.
Being as it is the eve of my 14 month of waiting, I called the pension center to check the status of my refund.
They have FINALLY made a monetary determination AND date for deposit into my account.
The amount is twice as much as I figured it to be, and the date of deposit is January 14, 2011. The written notification will not reach here until around that time apparently.
I do not know the reasoning behind it, but it will have taken me 15 months almost to the day by the time I receive it, so all others, don’t give up, and continue to share. Perhaps we can put a method to this madness afterall.
I will keep you posted as to whether or not I actually get what I am supposed when I am supposed to.
Julie
Hi All,
My refund just hit my account! It is a tiny bit more than expected.
My initial paperwork was filed on July 8th so this is about 5 months.
It seems that the 14th/15th might be a magic date for the payment.
Now to file for my tax witholding. I wonder when that letter will arrive.
I can’t say how happy I am right now!
So to recap 5 months and the payment landed on the 15th.
I am happy to answer any questions but I can’t imagine why I got my
refund so fast as compared to other people.
-Chuckles
@ Chuckles,
Good for you!!!
I wonder what the difference in timing is for everyone. I wonder if it is the payout amount. Like I said, I am getting twice what I calculated, so obviously payment amounts vary from the scale they have published.
I also agree with you, the 15th of the month seems to be the date. Mine is January 14 because the 15th falls on a Saturday.
Don’t spend it all in one place!
Julie
@ Julie – Thanks!
I was actually surprised to get mine so fast after so many horror stories I have heard and seen. The most amazing thing is that my refund came so fast after that weird form you and I got, “Request for Lump Sum withdrawal payment (Inquiry)”. It looks like this form might actually be the “your money is here and it’s coming soon” form.
Because of how long I worked in Japan I think my amount is larger than most so I have to think that, amount, doesn’t matter much in terms of time frame. I would assume that the gov wants to hang on to larger sums as long as possible. Sadly, I am now convinced that it’s a crap shoot. Maybe calling as you did helps. In the US I know that calling would not help at all but maybe Japan is different.
I will keep posting on this board and I wish the best to everybody.
-Chuckles
I have blogged the complete process together with the list of forms to download here in my blog post.
http://daddyparentingtips.blogspot.com/2010/11/tip-228-withdraw-japan-pension-lump-sum.html
However, I have yet to receive my 20% tax. I designated an old Japanese friend to go to the tax office and unfortunately, he just accepted whatever the officer told him. The officer said that he has to come back next year to do the tax refund. However, according to some of the comments on this blog, the tax refund can be immediate and there is no need to wait for the following year. I guess even officers in the NTA can get confused. What should we do in such cases?
Hello guys,
I mailed my application October last year and then same month of this year, i got a letter from them telling me to informed the place I lived that I left Japan already ( this happened because I also did not surrender my alien card) and at the same time, a little correction in my application. I then informed them right away and then 2 weeks after that ( first week of November) I also sent my corrected application.
Now I have a question. I am planning to call their office to follow up but my Japanese is very limited. Do you think they will understand me if I speak in English?
Hi Lucy,
I think they will try to find someone who can help you. Considering that this section probably deals with tons of gaijins they should have one person who can help you out.
I say go for it and call them.
The forms clearly say “Japanese only” for the phone number. Please do not call and just assume someone on the other end will know functional English. That notice is there for a reason and it’s presumptive and obtuse to assume otherwise.
You are better off using your limited Japanese or having a friend in Japan call for you. Prepare in advance what you need to say. Explain that Japanese is very difficult for you and hopefully they will drop the phone keigo.
Hi Lucy,
Don’t be discouraged. Just go for it. They may have someone that speaks English. The warning on the form is just to try to get people to not call.
What’s the worst that can happen? Don’t let warning get in your way. It’s your money and you have a right to ask questions!
Go for it!
Great site. One question from the claim form.
Among many other requirements, it requests copies of passport pages showing (1) date of final departure from Japan (2) name (3) DOB (4) nationality (5) signature and (6) resident status
Numbers (1) through (5) no problem, but is (6) looking for evidence of (a) CURRENT residence (ie outside of Japan), or (b) copy of the page showing residence status while in Japan ?
I can think why they would want evidence of non residence in Japan, but can’t think of any reason residence status in Japan would make any difference too them.
Can anyone confirm which residence status needs to be evidenced ? (current or past)
@ Pongo,
They want to see what visa you had last stamped in your passport for permission to reside in Japan, whether it was tourist visa, student, or permanent resident or whatever.
Julie
I never claimed my pension and I left Japan in Summer, 2008. I know you can only claim it within 2 years, so by now it’s over the time limit (it’s Winter 2010). However, I visited Japan in the Spring of 2010. I was wondering if it would renew the two year limit to claim the pension. I assume not, but was hoping.
Ex-Pat: did you give your gaijin card back? I left more than 2 years ago also, but never “officially” left (i.e. I didnt return my gaijin card). So, I think in their eyes, I have never left, and should be able to claim it any time I suppose. Not sure. Anyone have any ideas?
@Blue: Thanks for the quick response. I gave my gaijin card back to them when I went back for a visit in Spring 2010. I think if I just show them the exit date of my “final” departure, which is Spring 2010, then I can still claim it.
By my reasoning, if you’re owed significant money, it might be worth it to go to Japan for vacation and then leave again just for the exit stamp. I worked as a JET for 2 years and can probably claim around 5,000 USD.
Not sure if this works. I’m going to try and I’ll let everyone know how it goes.
Just to share experiences, I applied for the refund 28 Oct, and just received the “inadequacy” form back 30 Dec (fairly quickly based on above).
All was in order except I designated a Japan bank account and the info provided was as follows:
“…..regarding a bank account..if a person would designate a bank in Japan…transfer can only be made to an account where the account holder name is registered in katakana, because the system uses the name written in katakana for its convenience….”
So just need to fill in the bank part with my katakana name registered with the bank and attach a document confirming my katakana name (this probably assumes I won’t write the katakana that well, which they are probably right about). Bankbook has the katakana name inside, so easy enough.
It goes on to give the process if I want the refund to go to a non Japanese bank, which implies the katakana name is not needed with a foreign account (different system one assumes), so I guess the bottom line is that if using a Japan bank account, make sure you include your katakana name and a copy of the bank book (or some other document) verifying it.
Hello
I guess this is an impossible case but I am desperate so it’s worth a try anyway.
I worked for almost 11 years in Japan and left in 1997, intending to come back to Japan soon after. I started working with Sony in Germany in 1999 and forgot about returning to Japan or applying for the lump sum refund. I have been working freelance since 2006 and my pension prospects are minimal. Reality – I am going to be poor when I retire. I have a good Japanese friend over there who is a company owner. Do you think there is any way he can help me to get my pension payment refund after such a long time? I worked for his company for about 2.5 years and he definitely registered everything properly. I have all the relevant papers back in England.
Please give me hope!
Hazel
@Ex-pat (30 Dec. 2010) I’m interested to hear how your attempt to get the refund with the vacation exit stamp goes.
This is a great site, with lots of helpful information. I’m still a little confused, though. I worked in Japan from 1995-97, teaching for the YMCA. After I returned to the US, I filed for the return of my pension contributions. I don’t recall which pension plan it was, national or employee’s. Probably national?
I’ve recently accepted a position at a private university in another city, and, presumably, will again be paying into a pension plan. I don’t know yet whether it will be the national or the employee’s plan. Are large private employers more likely to put you in the employee’s plan?
Will my receiving the pension payout 14 years ago prevent me from getting another payout when I leave several years from now? Will they actually be able to connect my two sets of payments? Will it matter if I’m paying into two different systems (i.e., the national plan the first time, and the employee’s plan the second time)?
Thank you.
Hello again guys.
To those who have called the office to follow up their application for pension refund, I would like to know what they asked you? What information they need to know? I am asking these because I will be asking a friend of mine who speaks japanese fluently to call the office on behalf of me to follow up mine.
Thanks.
@ All,
After 15 long months, I FINALLY got it!!!
Good luck to you all who are waiting, and thank you for this site! It was a sanity-saver!
Julie
@Julie
WOW! Congratulations! So what are you going to do with it!!?
I put mine in Chase bank and got $125 account credit. Sorry to
promote a bank here but I just felt like it was the least I could
do to get some equalizer on the interest for how long I waited
to get my cash.
Now the race is on for the 20% TAX!
Hi,
I worked in Japan for 4 yrs and left 10 yrs ago, and received the lump payment. I have all the documentation still and I belive that there is a pension I can claim and one I would like to claim. Any advice as to what value it may be and how to go about getting it?
regards Edward
Hi,
I worked in Japan for 4 years about 10yrs ago, I left and received the lump pension payback. I was informed at the time that the remaining monies in the pension fund would entitle me to some pension,however small it may be. Is it possible to claim this?Is it worth claiming it? How would you go about claiming it?
I have all the documents, books ect, the job was for the Japanese government so I presume all the info I have is correct.
rwdards Edward
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I finally got my lumpsum after 6months of waiting. =)
I WILL BE GLAD TO DO BUSINESS WITH JAPANESE INVESTMENT CONSULTANTS AND FOREX BROKER FOR OIL BUSINESS.
SUNDAY
I have paid pension in Japan for a total of over 36 months. However, on my 36th month, my employer screwed up and didnt charge the pension on my last paycheck with them. I started a new job in my 37th month and continued paying pension.
So, I paid 35 months, then skipped a month, then continued and have paid 36-plus months of pension by now.
Is it okay that a month was skipped, or will I be grouped in the 35-month re-payment?
Thank you so much for any advice – it’s really hard to find the answer online.
@ryry – This really is a tough and strange situation and I am not sure anyone would have any idea. I can only guess. You need to ask a lawyer or a government rep. Sorry and good luck.
What happens if I get the refund having left Japan and then sometime in the future I have the need to return to work in Japan?
Wud like to know How long does the tax refund take?
I just got my 20% tax refund as well. That makes the whole process 7 months.
5 months to get refund + 2 months for the 20% tax!
I never thought I would see that cash but here it is.
I simply can’t believe it!
I hope everyone get their refunds fast!
Keep posting guys. I am hooked on following this thread.
plsssssssssss pakilagay lng yong adress N ational Pension and Employees Pension Isurance jan sa japan na wla kasi yong address ko
Ok. I’m leaving Japan at the end of May, and I am currently in the process of finishing my job. I have been here 4 years now. My first job I never received a book of any types. And have yet to hear of receiving one from my company at the moment. I’m pretty sure I’ve been paying into the pension. Also about taxes…I kinda moved all over the place, so I lived in one place for 3 months and left the -ku and they wanted me to pay all the money for the year, but I didn’t and tried filling taxes last year but never got any money back or forms and just kept getting the bills. So long story short. I have a lot of city taxes.
But when I leave and give back my gaijin card will they ask for the tax money? and will I still be able to get the pension money. I’m from Canada. if that changes anything.
Thanks.
Just received a notice letter from the Pension Office, they will be depositing my money sometime this March. It took me about 9 months to process everything, including sending them back the corrected form and terminating my residency there because I did not surrender my alien card when I left Japan.
I submitted my documents about a month ago. I confirmed through tracking my international EMS that it got delivered. But my problem is I think I forgot to include the “resident status” part of my passport when I submitted my documents. This is because I renewed and got a new machine-readable passport at Osaka consulate office, before I went home to my country, and I think I misplaced my old/non-renewed passport (with my previous visa stamped in there). Will there be a problem with this? Will they just assume that I had a working visa since I renewed my passport in Japan and not in my home country? All the other needed document that I submitted from a passport (DOB, name, signature, date of last departure, etc.) were in the new passport. (except the previous visa)
BTW I have worked in Japan for 5 years, and just expatriated July last year. Any feedbacks/answers would be awesome.
Hi All,
I sent my application last Aug 2010 and they sent it back to me in Oct of the same year because of some inadequacies. I re-sent it after a few days. Until now, I haven’t received any update on it. With all the disasters happening in Japan, do you think it’ll affect the processing of my refund and will further delay it?
I appreciate your response.
Thanks,
Lee Anne
To share experiences, I just received my refund, here was the process timeline:
28 Oct 2010: Mailed application
30 Dec 2010: Received notice of “inadequacy” in the application
– I specified a local bank account without providing the katakana name registered with the bank
7 Jan 2011: the details requested sent
15 April 2011: Refund received
So less than 6 months, which included a hiccup with having to provide some information missing in the original application. Not bad (and I think suggests no delays caused by the earthquake and surrounding issues).
Now applying for the tax refund…..
Bok,
I also forgot to include the Japan resident status part of my passport (actually, I thought that meant proving residence outside of Japan, so did that instead). But when I got my notice of inadequacy back in Dec, it didn’t mention the absence of the Japan residency part of the passport being missing. However, I made sure to include that part when I resubmitted the missing information they requested (and to confirm an earlier posting, needed only to send the missing information on the re-submission, not everything).
I would send it anyway just in case it helps avoid any delay and say something like “please add to my submission” (along with all the standard apologies) making sure they can easily locate the main application to add it to.
But they overlooked the omission in mine and might do so with yours too – no guarantees though as each case can be different (as the different process times seem to suggest).
Hello Guys,
Does anyone of you know if this website is legit? I got my pension refund already but planning to claim my tax as well and I have nobody in Japan as my representative, so I am planning to use this website’s service.
http://www.najapan.com/TAX_myservice.html
Any inputs will be appreciated.
Thanks AJ. If you don’t mind me asking, how much is your refund? You dont need to answer, but since we are all pretty anonymous here, I guess it wont hurt if you will
I am on my two months waiting but still no update whatsoever (inadequacy notice etc.)
I really hope that I can receive the money within 6 months or less because I really need the it urgently.
Will update you guys for any development.
Bok, total refund was a little over 2 million before tax deduction (so 1.65 million after tax deduction). That was for 50 covered months.
I have been living in Japan for 9 years. The first three years were on the JET Programme and I paid into the pension scheme for 36 months straight. Then I took a job at a local board of education, but that contract was 11 months per year. My pension payments were deducted from my salary for those 11 months, but I have not been paying for the one month that I am not employed. I get letters from the pension office requesting me to pay for that month, but I ignore them as I feel I should not have to pay for a month when I have no salary. This has been going on for 6 years now, and they send me letters but that’s about it.
My concern is: when I move away from Japan and attempt to collect the reimbursement, will my not having paid my pension for that one month per year affect my application? Note that I DID pay year round for the first 36 months.
Would appreciate any help. Thanks!
Thanks AJ!
Are you sure that was for 50 covered months? From what folks here are saying and from what I read, you can only get 3-year max worth of pension refund.
That’s some pretty huge sum though. Don’t spend it in one place
.
bok, I was reading from the piece of paper they sent me and the entry said “50 covered months”, but your right it might be capped at 36 for refunds such that it means “50 covered months, but only 36 count”, not sure (ie might have been the same amount if it said 40 covered months, 50, 60 etc). And the wife spent it already…….
Sorry to post again, but before it gets lost in the thread, I’d really be grateful if someone knows anything about this:
I have been living in Japan for 9 years. The first three years were on the JET Programme and I paid into the pension scheme for 36 months straight. Then I took a job at a local board of education, but that contract was 11 months per year. My pension payments were deducted from my salary for those 11 months, but I have not been paying for the one month that I am not employed. I get letters from the pension office requesting me to pay for that month, but I ignore them as I feel I should not have to pay for a month when I have no salary. This has been going on for 6 years now, and they send me letters but that’s about it.
My concern is: when I move away from Japan and attempt to collect the reimbursement, will my not having paid my pension for that one month per year affect my application? Note that I DID pay year round for the first 36 months.
Would appreciate any help. Thanks!
Information on the Japanese National Pension system for 2011 can be found here:
http://www.nenkin.go.jp/english/pdf/1.pdf
The Lump-sum Withdrawal Payment for those leaving Japan whose last payment will be 2011, and who have been paying into the system for 36 months or more is ¥270,360.
It will be the same amount whether you have been paying for 36 months, 72 months or 120 months.
To answer Kirk, it’s based on the number of contribution-paid months, not consecutive paid months. Your payments total; 3 x 12 + 6 x 11 = 102 months, so you get the so-called full amount.
However, I am confused by this statement:
“To apply for it you need to satisfy the following conditions; you have contributed to the National Pension system for at least six months in total (excluding your insured periods as the Category II or the Category III insured person)”
and earlier it defines the categories:
“If you are employed to work at a company, factory and such workplaces, and are covered by employees pension insurance systems including the Employees’ Pension Insurance system, you are a Category II insured person.”
This seems to mean that if you have employees pension through your company you are not eligable to apply for the lump-sum withdrawal.
Can anyone shed some light on this?
OK. I dug around and found a bit more info.
The National Pension System lump-sum payment is for those who are not full-time employees. And yes, the 3-year cap seems to be because of the JET program. It should also be noted that the lump-sum payment under the national pension is not taxed.
If you are in an employee pension system (as you should be if you are full-time), then you still get a lump-sum payment, but it is based on a convoluted calculation using the contrbution percentage from 2 years prior. Generally it means you get back upto the last 3 years worth of premiums.
Please see this document for details:
http://www.nenkin.go.jp/main/individual_02/pdf/english.pdf
This would explain why AJ received a higher lump-sum amount than has been discussed before, and why his lump-sum was taxed.
Well. It’s not quite that simple.
Doing the maths, and taking into account the contribution rate is halved, and given there are 2 methods for calculating the lump-sum for employee pension (and I don’t know which one is used when), it ends up that the amount you get, assuming 36 months of full-time employment, is about 3 times your average standard remuneration.
Your Average Standard Remuneration is the sum of all your salary and bonus payments, before tax, since you joined the employee pension system, divided by the number of months you have been in that system.
Gets confusing if you have been with the same company since April 2003, due to pension law changes, but generally speaking you get about 0.5 months pay for every 6 months of employment, upto a max of 3 years, minus tax.
Hi, I have just received back a letter inquiry from the pension service. Basically I have contributed for 82 months (7yrs) and they want me to confirm that I am willing to give up my rights to a pension in Japan considering the long time I was there. They also mention that ‘if certain requirements are met’ I can combine the Japanese and Irish pension for the future. Does anyone have any advice on this?? Could it ever be worth it long term for me to combine rather than take the capped 36month payout?
Thanks!
I’ve recently returned to the states from Japan and I’m trying to apply for the lump-sum withdrawal but ran into some questions.
1. What is the pension handbook? I don’t seem to have it and I don’t think I ever did.
2. On the form it’s asking for 4 different pension numbers. The top one is Basic Pension Number. Is that the only one I need? And How can I find my pension number?
3. If I was working in Japan for only one year what is the total amount of refund I can expect to receive from this? I can’t really understand the formula given.
Any help on this would be much appreciated!! Thanks!
@Caroline
If there is a reciprocal agreement between your Irish and Japanese pension plans, then the payments you have made in Japan can be used towards your Irish pension so that it’s payout would be higher, as it would include those Japan payments. My suggestion is to talk to the Irish embassy about it.
@Ash
The pension handbook is something your full-time employer should give you when you leave. It is a record of the pension payments you have made. You could also inquire at your old ward office, but really all the information on the forms should come from your employer. You need the basic registration number and the registration number of the pension scheme you belong to, either national or employee. As for amount: For part-time workers not enrolled in an employee pension scheme but part of the national pension scheme, if your last contribution was between 2010/04 and 2011/03, and you had 12 months of contributions, you should get 90,600 Yen untaxed. For full-time employees enrolled in an employee pension scheme whose last payment was between September 2010 and August 2011, and had 12 months of contributions, you would get 0.9 months of your standard monthly remuneration, minus tax.
My last pay stub was in 2007 and I am still here and about to leave. After reading all these posts I didn’t think I was eligible for a refund or pension transfer to my home country. But when I went to the ward office to make sure, they told me the deadline was 2 years within leaving Japan, NOT 2 years after the last pay in, as incorrectly stated above. Always get a second opinion!
Guys,
Can you help me fill up this form (Shotokuzi/Shohizei No Nozeikanrinin No Todokedesho ). I am going to send this form to my friend in Japan for the tax refund but I don’t know how to read Japanese characters. I will appreciate it very much.
Thank you,
Lucy
Oh here is the form. Sorry i forgot.
http://www.jetprogramme.org/e/former/pension/tax.html
@Lucy
That form should of been submitted before you left, at the tax office where you were a resident, and I don’t know if they will allow you to declare a tax representitive once you’ve handed over your residence card.
It would be best to have your friend help you fill it in, since they will need to take it, along with the original notice of payment, to the tax office to file for the refund. If they don’t speak/read/write Japanese, they are going to have a lot of problems.
Andy, it is allowed to declare a tax representative after leaving Japan if you forgot to do it while still there. Anyway, the form posted above, I only need help in the part where I need to fill in before sending it.
Thanks for your reply.
Useful discussion here.
My situation:
2001-2004 worked on JET for 3 years paid pension
2004-2011 worked for Interac, no pension
I left in March 2011, can I claim for the pension I paid on JET – the form says you can claim within two years of leaving japan, not two years within final pension payment. I sent the forms last month, so how long do you think it will take??? Appreciate any help or advice, I’m sure there are people who are in similar situation.
Hey everyone. So I got my pension lump-sum payment no problem, and am now trying to get the 20% tax refund. I assigned my supervisor to be my tax agent before I left Japan, but he’s away from work with an injury (and is a complete flake so probably wasn’t the best choice for a tax agent). Can I possibly chance my tax agent even though I’m not working in Japan anymore? If so, is it difficult, or just a matter of having someone refile the “Notification of Tax Agent” form? Thanks in advance!
whoop, my comment before should say “Can I possibly *change my tax agent even though I’m not working in Japan anymore?”
I’m leaving japan but will continue working for my japanese employer on a home basis. I guess I will be taxed by my home country instead of Japan, but does anybody know what happens about my japanese pension payments? can I apply for the pension refund? and stop paying pension contributions every month?
Hi everyone,
I got my lump-sum pension pay back, and now looking into tax refund.
My question: is it mandatory to assign a tax representative for the tax refund?
Does it require Japanese bank account or Japanese address for this application?
Can I apply myself for the tax refund in the tax office when I go to Japan for short visit twice a year? I still have my Japanese bank account, but have no Japanese address already of course.
Thanks for answering.
I have the same question as Mark. If I am transferred and work in a different country, but for my Japanese employer, what are my pension obligations and payments? can I get the withdrawal payment or should I later try to get a Japanese pension?
I notably like and agree with this approach to writing: “The reality is that any writing is only one person’s very skewed model of the story.” Not solely do readers need to take that to coronary heart, however as writers, we’d do ourselves a favor by embracing that more totally and openly.
I would be interested in knowing the answer to Ryan’s question too, as I will be in a similar situation next year!
Hi,
Thank you for the very insightful information. I have a slightly different question: if I do want to receive the pensions when I get to 65 (or whenever is the retirement age in Japan), how long do I have to work in Japan in order to enter the system? And how much do I receive in accordance to how much / how long I work?
-Thanks
To Mon and others,
Received notice that lump sum would be sent 15th Aug…yay!
For 3-year JET amount was just over 900,000
Timeline was;
sent forms May1st
received notice of payment Aug11th
so 3&1/2months
Will update on actual date paid as said it could take a few days. Now time for getting the taxed part back. Good luck all,
Ryan
Hi Ryan,
I worked on the ITER site before you arrived and received my monies quickly. I do have a question though.#
The monies received were a part of the pension that was paid in, I was given to understand that there would be a small amount payed out monthly by the Japanese government on reaching 65rys old.
Do you know if this is correct? Do you have any contact names addresses that I could use to contact the peopel at ITER, Iberaki?
I sent off a request 2 weeks before the disaster this year and I am not sure if it arrived ,so any info would be usefull.
Edward Junger
hello everyone. i’d like to know if someone here has successfully nominated a tax representative after leaving japan. i just received my lump sum notice, however, i did not nominate a tax representative when i left japan. thanks!
also, do you have any feedbacks regarding the service provided by taxback.com? im thinking of trying that to get the the remaining 20%. thanks!
To all,
Pension refund was received promptly on the 15th Aug – it seems that the 15th of the month is the magic day for payments for all you still waiting.
They seem to convert it in Japan and send it in your local currency which usually means a better exchange rate and also i wasnt charged anything by my bank for receiving it.
Now I have to apply for the refund of the taxed 20%. Anyone have experience of how long this takes. I already sent the docs to my tax rep so is it a 1-2 month wait or longer???
Thanks for the information, Ryan!!
Hope I can get the same good deal next year!
Hi all.. I do not have the blue pension book. I’ve already tried contacting my former employer in Japan and I am unable to get this blue book. So, do I absolutely need to send this blue book in with my forms in order to receive the lump-sum? Has anyone out there tried to do so without the book? Any help on this will be much appreciated!!
Yes, you can mail in the Tax Representative Declaration form after you’ve left Japan, so I don’t see any problem with doing that to change the Tax Representative either.
When you quit your job in Japan, your employer should of sent you your welfare pension book and the employment insurance certificate. If they didn’t, try contacting the Japan Pension Service on 03-5344-1100. Expect them only to talk Japanese.
If you take the lump-sum payment, you will not be entitled to any future pension payments based on work used to calculate your lump-sum. Also, they recently changed the law so that you only need to contribute for 10 years before you can claim pension benefits upon reaching retirement age. It used to be 25 years.
If your transfering out of Japan, but will continue to work for the same Japanese company, check with their payroll department about whether you will remain in the Japanese pension system or if your pension contributions in Japan will get transfered to a pension scheme in the country you are moving to.
Whoops. Incorrect information. I just checked to be sure, but the law change for reducing the number of years of contributions wasn’t put into effect by the new Japanese government, so it’s still 25 years. Not 10.
And the pension is not a lot. According to the JPS website – http://www.nenkin.go.jp/english/np.html – if you have been fully contributing into the national pension scheme for 40 years, you get 788,900 Yen a year at age 65.
Yes. You read right. I’m not missing a digit, and I did say per year. A pitiful amount really.
However, for those in the employee pension scheme, there is the basic part, and then the part that is calculated based on your average monthly remuneration, and both include payments for dependents, etc.
Basically, it’s impossible to say with any accuracy what your yearly pension would be at age 65, and there is also the old-age payments made between 60 and 65 – or it is 60 at the moment. They intend to increase that age.
@Andy: How can I declare a tax representative after leaving japan? Thanks a lot.
http://www.nta.go.jp/tetsuzuki/shinsei/annai/shinkoku/pdf/07.pdf
@jen
Have a trusted friend or family member who is in Japan and understands Japanese download the above form, complete it, and post it to the tax office of your old ward.
You then send that person the approval for lump sum payment letter, which they take to the tax office and complete a tax income form. The returned tax is paid into their bank account, and then you have them transfer that money to you.
Please note that this only applies if you received the lump sum payment from Employees’ Pension. If you got it from National Pension then you didn’t pay tax on it anyway.
[...] http://www.stippy.com/japan-life/refund-get-back-your-national-pension-payments-when-you-leave-japan… [...]
I have a question. I was on the JET program and left after three years in July 2010. My work visa was canceled and I went on a tourist visa. I came back to Japan and received a new work visa in November of 2010. Will this effect my two year window for requesting back the pension money?
@There and back again
Since you are back in Japan working, you cannot claim for your lump sum payment anyways.
Please note condition #3:
“Persons who do not have a place of residence in Japan (only those that had a proper visa on or after November 9, 1994 and then left Japan)”
Just make sure your new employer has your old pension details and they should continue the payments. When you do finally leave Japan for good, then you can claim on more than 3 years worth of pension premiums.
Not that that would make much of a difference.
@Andy
Thank you for your reply. I think my new employer has those details but I’ll have to check.
Another question. If I take up permanent residency here there is no chance of being able to request the pension as well unless I cancel the residency? Is that correct?
I am returned from Japan to my home country and applied for getting back the pension. will anybody tell me that generally how much time it takes to get the pension back.
From what I am reading here, all I can say is this. The Japanese pension system is the most flawed and most unjust and unscrupulous system ever. Even the Koreans can do better than Japan. When I was in Korea, I payed US$1000 a year for my pension deducted from my monthly salary. I spent 3 years in Korea so my pension multiplied to the value of US$3000. Even better, they matched it. I payed US$3000 over 3 years, and I took out the value of US$6000 of my pension in Korea.
I just started working here in Japan since the past 3 and a half months. I am only paying income tax, I have no pension. I cannot afford to spend a long time in my life in Japan like this. If I am going to pay a certain amount of yen per month for my pension, and I cannot get back all I put in, nor ccould I invest that much money in my pension here in Japan, I guess I should go back to Canada or return to South Korea. Because this makes me wonder whether or not I am wasting my time in Japan. If I get old and remain penniless because of the lack of pension working here in Japan, I might as well be dead.
The Japanese pension system is the most unscrupulous pension system ever! I guess the Yakuza is to blamse for this right?
@There and back again
Being a permanent resident just means not having to go visit immigration every 3 years to renew your visa, and you’re already considered a permanent tax resident if you’ve worked in Japan more than a year – but don’t get the 2 confused.
Yes, you would have to relinquish your residency in order to claim the lump sum withdrawal, as you cannot be resident in Japan, which you would be as a permanent resident even if you’ve been out of the country 5 years.
@Sheldon
The Japanese pension system is tailored for Japanese, so to them it does not seem so, umm, unfair? haphazard? ridiculous? unscrupulous?
As was posted waaaaay up near the top, while the monthly payment is small, it continues until you die – which for the Japanese could be another 40 years after retirement!
But no-one ever expects people to live off just the national pension – in any country – that’s why most have additional pension plans – which kind of got screwed up by the wall street crash, with their 401k’s ended up being essentially worthless.
@Everyone
At the end of the day, if you feel you will need, say, 500000 Yen a month at retirement to live in the style you’re accustomed to, you best get saving. Government bonds are usually a good choice – safe but no big returns.
And yeah, if you haven’t sorted out your long term pension and retirement plans by the time you’re 20, you’re starting late and need to get a move on, or you’ll find those monthly payments are gonna get big.
I have done all the applications and I got the approval letter from the pension people today, it took about 4 months to process, I’m glad its almost over. The refund is post dated for the 13th of January, it says I will receive payment several days after this date. Does anyone have any idea how long the bank account transfer usually takes? I’m in the UK…
For those hoping to get your pension without paying local tax: yes, it is possible and yes, it can be deposited directly to your U.S. bank account. Just send in the standard papers.
Hello,
Does anybody know where there is official documentation showing you can only receive the lump sum withdrawal once? Either Japanese or English is okay.
Hello there…
I’m hoping someone here can help me. Any Canadians here?
I’m Canadian. Worked 5 years in Japan under the JET Programme. Went back home to Canada for good 2 years ago… I received both pension lump sum and withholding tax refund last year…. I understand that both of these are income that are UN-taxed in Japan (correct??), and therefore I have to claim the pension lump sum as “foreign lump sum pension benefits” (taxable income)… and then since I received refund of the withholding tax, I can claim this as “foreign income-other”. I can’t really claim this pension as tax-exempt (Japan-Canada treat) because I never paid taxes on my pension in Japan (wrong??)
Is the above accurate?
I’d like to be sure before I pay the Canadian government over a thousand dollars worth of income tax owing
this is totally my fault really….
Please help
Thank you so much in advance….