Departing Japan: Tax & Money Checklist

3–6 months before departure

• Decide your tax representative: Must be a Japan resident — typically a friend, colleague, or paid service (¥30,000–¥100,000). They handle correspondence with the tax office for years after you leave.
• Check Exit Tax exposure: If you held a domicile in Japan ≥5 years out of the past 10 AND your covered financial assets exceed ¥100M, deemed-sale tax (Article 60-2) applies. See our Exit Tax calculator.
• Plan NISA disposition: NISA accounts must be closed when you become a non-resident. Either sell (taking gains tax-free) or transfer to a regular taxable account before departure.
• Plan retirement bonus timing: If your employer offers a retirement bonus, receiving it in your final year of Japan residence ensures favorable separate taxation. Submit form 退職所得の受給に関する申告書 to avoid 20.42% flat withholding.
• Update pension records: Confirm your kokumin/kosei nenkin records on Nenkin Net. The lump-sum withdrawal calculation is based on these.

1 month before departure

• File Notification of Tax Representative (納税管理人の届出書) at your local tax office. Form is one page; submit in person or by mail.
• Notify Resident's Card section: At your city/ward office, give 14 days notice that you're moving abroad. They cancel your residence record (and trigger juminzei's special collection acceleration).
• Notify employer: Get your final pay slip and gensen-choshu-hyou (year-end tax statement) — you need this for the final tax return.
• Notify your bank(s): Megabanks generally allow you to keep accounts as a non-resident with a Japanese address; online-only banks often don't. Confirm.
• Notify your broker(s): They'll instruct you on whether to transfer NISA holdings, close accounts, or maintain a non-resident account.
• Cancel utilities, phone, internet, gym: Standard administrative tasks but easy to forget when busy with the tax side.

Departure day

• Return Zairyu Card to immigration at the airport (or arrange via mail if you forgot). Required for the lump-sum pension withdrawal application.
• Final juminzei payment: If your remaining juminzei wasn't deducted from your final salary, pay the balance to your city office before departure. Otherwise your tax representative handles it after.
• Keep digital copies of everything: zairyu card front/back, MyNumber notification, gensen-choshu-hyou, pension book (nenkin techou), final pay slips. You may need them for the lump-sum withdrawal application (which can take up to 4 months to process).

After leaving Japan

• Apply for lump-sum pension withdrawal (dattai-ichijikin): Submit within 2 years of losing resident status. Maximum 36 months of nenkin contributions are refunded, with 20.42% withholding. Your tax representative in Japan files a refund claim to recover the 20.42%. See calculator.
• Final tax return (for your departure year): Filed by your tax representative by March 15 of the following year. Required if you had any Japan-source income that year (salary, retirement bonus, etc.).
• iDeCo: Stop contributions but keep the account open until age 60. Maintain communication with the operator via your tax representative.
• Pension totalization: If your home country has a social security agreement with Japan (US, UK, Australia, Korea, Germany, France, etc.), your Japanese pension contribution period can be counted toward your home country's minimum vesting period. Contact your home country's pension authority to register.

Master checklist (print this)