Taxation for foreign residents continues to be a topic of interest. Reader C writes:
I've read a number of your Japan Times articles on taxes but have noticed that there's one big topic you seem not to have covered so far: Japanese taxation of overseas income for foreign residents of Japan.
In talking with other foreign residents, many of whom have been in Japan for years, I'm regularly surprised that so many seem unaware of the requirement to declare their foreign income in Japan. The fact is that foreigners who have lived in Japan for five years or more owe Japanese tax on their worldwide income, including overseas bank interest, stock dividends, mutual fund capital gains, rental income, translation work, writing, proofreading, programming, consulting, etc., whether or not they bring those overseas earnings into Japan.