2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16
Probably good to live in a country with the highest standard of living in the world. Here you only need to study, work and enjoy life, not worrying about the future. But is everything so simple? The well-being of a country depends on many factors, and one of them is the tax system. In Japan, it is very different from those that exist in other countries.
NNU - National Tax Administration
The current taxation system in Japan was formed back in 1950. Since then, only a few organizational and legislative changes have been made to it, but in general it has remained the same as before.
Taxes in Japan are monitored by the National Tax Administration, which is a structural subdivision of the Ministry of Finance. The National Revenue Office is usually responsible for assessing taxes, collecting them and suppressing cases of non-payment of all private and public departments. Also charges indirect fees and taxes, such as consumption tax, alcohol, tobacco, gasoline, etc.e. In general, NNU manages all taxes in all spheres of human activity, with the exception of customs duties and shipping fees.
Features of the political system
Japan is a unitary state, which is divided into 47 prefectures and about 2,000 municipalities. Each prefecture is headed by a prefect who has his own legislative and administrative apparatus. Despite the fact that Japan is a unitary state, there is a long tradition of local government autonomy. In 1947, the country adopted the Constitution, which enshrined the principles of local self-government.
Local authorities had great powers, in particular, they could set taxes on their own and were not limited in their own rule-making. However, if local authorities intend to introduce a new tax that is not provided for by law, they must obtain approval from the Minister of the Interior. A new tax cannot be established if it violates the basic requirements. The tax system in Japan is characterized by a low tax burden and wide tax opportunities for local authorities.
Tax groups
In addition to the nationwide taxes in Japan, citizens make other deductions. There are also local (prefectural and municipal) taxes. So, what taxes do people in Japan pay?
The group of national taxes includes taxes:
- to live in the prefecture,
- taxes from businesses,
- to purchase property,
- partial tobacco excise,
- vehicle taxes,
- to spectacular events,
- for the use of natural resources.
Local taxes in Japan usually include the following:
- for accommodation,
- property,
- on land ownership,
- for light vehicles,
- on urban development.
They are collected by local authorities, which have their own tax offices, independent of national ones.
Structure of tax bureaus
Taxes in Japan are serious business: with a population of 127 million people, the National Tax Administration employs more than 56,000 employees. The central office and the regional tax bureau have the same functional structure. There are departments for taxation, inspections and criminal investigation of tax evasion incidents.
68% of employees pay income, corporate and consumer taxes. 15% of the employees of the tax system collect taxes, 17% manage the work. The Japanese tax system is characterized by a "division of labor":
- regional bureaus control the correctness of tax payments by large companies,
- tax inspections monitor small and medium-sized businesses.
Benefits
Also in Japan there is a preferential system for taxation. You can get a tax rebate for various reasons:
- To make taxation fair for different categories of citizens, the state has introduced a special discount that reduces taxable income. Such a discount can be used by employees who sell their labor. The discount is equal to the amount of the personal expense.
- Business income can be divided according to tax purposes. When filling out the declaration, it is allowed to deduct the cost of preparing the declaration from income, but not more than 100 thousand yen.
- Revenues such as the difference in rent for government-provided housing can be received by working people or entrepreneurs.
- Japan encourages families in which two spouses work and receive approximately the same income. If someone works alone, then the family bears a heavier tax burden.
Types of taxes
Today there are about 50 taxes in Japan. The main tax revenues to the state treasury are income and taxes from legal entities. As for income tax in Japan, it is levied on all income that a person receives: it does not matter if they are official or not.
The Japanese are also required to pay inheritance tax, which they receive after the death of a friend or relative who made a will in their name. The Land of the Rising Sun also has a gift tax in addition to the inheritance tax.
Consumption tax is 3% of the price of a good or service. It is considered indirect, as it is included in the price of the goods and paid by the buyer. Consumption tax does not apply to the purchase or sale of land, utility bills, school admission fees, hospital visits, and burial fees. However, there are several other types of indirect taxes that are not covered, for example, the cost of alcoholic beverages includes a 44% tax.
Transport and lodging taxes
There is also a local consumption tax in Japan for the fact that a person lives in a hotel or uses catering establishments. If the cost of a daily stay in a hotel exceeds 10,000 yen, or if a person spends more than 5,000 yen for dinner in a restaurant, then a tax of 3% will be charged. There is also a tax per person for visiting hot springs and using the golf course.
Every driver must pay a car tax in Japan, which consists of a consumption tax on the purchase, on the purchase of a car, on gasoline, on the car itself and on its weight.
The most important is the right of residence tax. They are levied on the income of citizens and companies for the previous year. Moreover, even those who are now unemployed, but had incomes last year, must pay it. By the way, a person must himself calculate his income, the amount of tax and report this information to the local tax office. During calculations, all income must be divided into 10 types: deposits, share ownership, real estate, entrepreneurial activity, salary and others. Each of these types is calculated in its own way, and all information must be submittedmanagement no later than March 15. If you are late with the submission of information, then the amount of tax will increase by 15%.
Other countries
Compared to other countries, taxes in Japan for 2018 are much higher. In the US, the maximum tax rate is 28%, while in Japan (even after tax reforms that simplified the tax scale and lowered the percentage) it is 65%.
Corporate taxes are 37% for standard firms and 28% for small businesses. Firm owners must enter income information on a special form and submit it to the tax office no later than 2 months after the end of the company's financial year.
In ordinary people, taxes are calculated from the salary. If there is no additional income, the declaration can be omitted. However, the annual income must not exceed 15 million yen.
In Japan, of course, there is no corruption and people will never look at someone else's, but not every person who independently submits a declaration can be trusted. Therefore, the tax authorities from time to time make random checks on the correctness of filling out the declaration. Particularly malicious non-payers are inspected - such inspections can be carried out only by a court decision. After such decisions, firms are searched, seizure of account books and measures are taken to find out the real financial situation of the firm.
Bets
There are three types of rates in Japanese law:
- national,
- prefectural,
- municipal.
Each of these rates is differentiated by the amount of taxes that a citizen receives, and changes at certain intervals. Such intervals for national taxes are from 10 to 50%, prefectural - 3-5% and municipal - 2-13%. For each citizen, interest rates are different and depend on his income.
The maximum interest rate is charged to those who receive excess income. If a Japanese earns more than 50 million yen in a year, then he must donate half of this amount to the benefit of the state. The minimum rates are given only for poor citizens whose monthly income is less than 275 thousand yen.
Despite the fact that income tax in Japan and other contributions to the state treasury are quite substantial, residents do not think to complain. Salaries in Japan allow you to pay even such taxes. Paying such taxes, the Japanese also manage to save money for a rainy day.
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