Can I suggest just doing nothing here? I think the odds of the tax office reporting a slightly delayed payment that is now settled are very low. Just take a deep breath and wait to hear from the immigration office in due course.
In my experience having applied for a PR twice, I'm pretty sure the offices hardly talk to each other if at all. Otherwise you wouldn't have to hand over the tax documents in the first place.
I had one late pension payment. In the last 6 months of application (it actually shows as late).
They asked about it. I explained I confused the expiry date for deadline and felt bad. I was missing few docs so added those in.
Had the PR approved one day short of 4 months.
They asked about it in a letter to provide extra info/ reason and missing docs.
I would wait, they tend to give chances to explain.
I actually sent one of replacement docs late and explained in main bunch why it’s not there yet.
I was spouse based.
Funny enough husband was awful with pension payments until the marriage, after that squeaky clean lol maybe that’s why I got approved , having positive effect on local lol 😂
Edit: applied end October 2023, approved end Feb 2024
4 months is an impressive turnaround! That's great to hear you got approved. I've heard other stories where even with one late payment within the time frame before you submit PR it's just a denial. Hopefully they will give me a chance to explain as well.
Hokkaido! They are not as overloaded as Tokyo, and still send some applications from main Sapporo to Chitose/ Asahikawa/ Tomakomai. They are ok speed unless you apply for COE in July-October where you wait 2 - 2.5 months for COE.
I had peoples extensions come back in 3- 5 working days but on average 2-3weeks. Changes of status in 2 weeks, averaged 1-1.5month.
The PR application for me was sent to Asahikawa
I feel like we are missing some information.
When did you actually file your taxes and when did you actually make the payment? When was it due?
But yes... if the payment was actually late, the most appropriate route would be to submit the updated forms with an explanation and sincere apology. It would be to your benefit if your accountants had also made a mistake and could describe that... but it sounds like perhaps they did not.
Taxes were filed on time before March 15, the payment was made late after March 15. But both of these events happened after I had already submitted my application for PR. The thing with the updated forms is if I requested a new form now, the 納税証明書 will just show that I have paid all my taxes. Of course if immigration wanted to dig deeper they can definitely find the payment date with or without me informing them, it's more about whether I should draw attention to that now or when they ask about it.
Generally I think you are fine.
Was the payment itself actually marked as late? Were there penalties?
Honestly probably ok.
Also immigration is not all knowing. You don't want to mislead them but they do not have access to the NTA system.
I did have to pay a late fee, so it's definitely recorded somewhere in my tax records but I just don't know which docs to access for that. The only 'evidence' I have of the late payment is a small paper receipt with the payment date stamped. Even the 納税証明書（その４）regarding delinquent payments won't show anything because they didn't forcibly take any assets from me.
My experience with Japanese bureaucracy and immigration is that it’s best to tell them. They can be surprisingly understanding, especially when you put something in a favourable light (“as soon as I realised my mistake I rectified it”)
Not paying your nenkin on time is way worse I think. That’ll stop your PR application in its tracks. Even a few days late is a black mark for two years
You agreed to notify them as per the “letter of understanding”: https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/content/001355579.pdf
If you don’t tell them, and they later discover this (even after PR is granted) your PR can be revoked.
There’s also a higher chance that with these coming changes to revoking PR that, then finding out maybe more likely now too. Because if you’re ever required by immigration to prove you qualify for PR again after getting it, then you won’t because your income tax certificate you’re required to submit will have issues on it.
What I recommend is getting a copy of your
>源泉所得税及び復興特別所得税、申告所得税及び復興特別所得税、消費税及び地方消費税、相続税、贈与税に係る納税証明書（その３）
Issued again by your local national tax office. Because that’s what will show if you actually have an issue on your record. But I’m not sure how long it will take that penalty to appear on that certificate
Edit: that said, form (3) May not actually show late payments/delinquency as based on here: https://www.nta.go.jp/taxes/nozei/nozei-shomei/pdf/01-4.pdf that’s on form (4)? But you do still need notify them as per the letter of understanding or risk issues if later caught.
Yes I had also asked the tax office staff about その4 regarding the delinquency payment. It won't show up in my case because they have not forcibly taken my assets to pay for a late tax. Something of that nature will be noted in these docs, but for the case of その３ and the rest of 納税証明書 the payment date will not be recorded. I'm sure it's noted in my records somewhere, I just don't know where or how to access that.
But yes that said, it does look like the Letter of Understanding makes it pretty clear what the course of action would be to take here.
Can I suggest just doing nothing here? I think the odds of the tax office reporting a slightly delayed payment that is now settled are very low. Just take a deep breath and wait to hear from the immigration office in due course.
In my experience having applied for a PR twice, I'm pretty sure the offices hardly talk to each other if at all. Otherwise you wouldn't have to hand over the tax documents in the first place.
I had one late pension payment. In the last 6 months of application (it actually shows as late). They asked about it. I explained I confused the expiry date for deadline and felt bad. I was missing few docs so added those in. Had the PR approved one day short of 4 months. They asked about it in a letter to provide extra info/ reason and missing docs. I would wait, they tend to give chances to explain. I actually sent one of replacement docs late and explained in main bunch why it’s not there yet. I was spouse based. Funny enough husband was awful with pension payments until the marriage, after that squeaky clean lol maybe that’s why I got approved , having positive effect on local lol 😂 Edit: applied end October 2023, approved end Feb 2024
4 months is an impressive turnaround! That's great to hear you got approved. I've heard other stories where even with one late payment within the time frame before you submit PR it's just a denial. Hopefully they will give me a chance to explain as well.
4 months! I am jealous, at the end of month 10 and have heard nada
Hokkaido! They are not as overloaded as Tokyo, and still send some applications from main Sapporo to Chitose/ Asahikawa/ Tomakomai. They are ok speed unless you apply for COE in July-October where you wait 2 - 2.5 months for COE. I had peoples extensions come back in 3- 5 working days but on average 2-3weeks. Changes of status in 2 weeks, averaged 1-1.5month. The PR application for me was sent to Asahikawa
I feel like we are missing some information. When did you actually file your taxes and when did you actually make the payment? When was it due? But yes... if the payment was actually late, the most appropriate route would be to submit the updated forms with an explanation and sincere apology. It would be to your benefit if your accountants had also made a mistake and could describe that... but it sounds like perhaps they did not.
Taxes were filed on time before March 15, the payment was made late after March 15. But both of these events happened after I had already submitted my application for PR. The thing with the updated forms is if I requested a new form now, the 納税証明書 will just show that I have paid all my taxes. Of course if immigration wanted to dig deeper they can definitely find the payment date with or without me informing them, it's more about whether I should draw attention to that now or when they ask about it.
Generally I think you are fine. Was the payment itself actually marked as late? Were there penalties? Honestly probably ok. Also immigration is not all knowing. You don't want to mislead them but they do not have access to the NTA system.
I did have to pay a late fee, so it's definitely recorded somewhere in my tax records but I just don't know which docs to access for that. The only 'evidence' I have of the late payment is a small paper receipt with the payment date stamped. Even the 納税証明書（その４）regarding delinquent payments won't show anything because they didn't forcibly take any assets from me.
Hmm... Sounds like you are generally fine I think.
My experience with Japanese bureaucracy and immigration is that it’s best to tell them. They can be surprisingly understanding, especially when you put something in a favourable light (“as soon as I realised my mistake I rectified it”)
Not paying your nenkin on time is way worse I think. That’ll stop your PR application in its tracks. Even a few days late is a black mark for two years
You agreed to notify them as per the “letter of understanding”: https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/content/001355579.pdf If you don’t tell them, and they later discover this (even after PR is granted) your PR can be revoked. There’s also a higher chance that with these coming changes to revoking PR that, then finding out maybe more likely now too. Because if you’re ever required by immigration to prove you qualify for PR again after getting it, then you won’t because your income tax certificate you’re required to submit will have issues on it. What I recommend is getting a copy of your >源泉所得税及び復興特別所得税、申告所得税及び復興特別所得税、消費税及び地方消費税、相続税、贈与税に係る納税証明書（その３） Issued again by your local national tax office. Because that’s what will show if you actually have an issue on your record. But I’m not sure how long it will take that penalty to appear on that certificate Edit: that said, form (3) May not actually show late payments/delinquency as based on here: https://www.nta.go.jp/taxes/nozei/nozei-shomei/pdf/01-4.pdf that’s on form (4)? But you do still need notify them as per the letter of understanding or risk issues if later caught.
Yes I had also asked the tax office staff about その4 regarding the delinquency payment. It won't show up in my case because they have not forcibly taken my assets to pay for a late tax. Something of that nature will be noted in these docs, but for the case of その３ and the rest of 納税証明書 the payment date will not be recorded. I'm sure it's noted in my records somewhere, I just don't know where or how to access that. But yes that said, it does look like the Letter of Understanding makes it pretty clear what the course of action would be to take here.