ZEIRISHI (Certified Public Tax Accountant)

ZEIRISHI provides accounting services for individuals, companies and other legal entities. Usually, their services include representation in tax filing, preparation of tax documents, tax advice, bookkeeping, and so on.

If you are looking for someone who assists your tax filing, ZEIRISHI is the appropriate professional.

From its origin, ZEIRISHI can be divided into four kinds.

1) People who passed the Certified Public Tax Accountant examination
2) OB/OG of tax office
3) Masters who finished the postgraduate courses on accounting subjects (they are exempted from some categories of the Certified Public Tax Accountant examination. If they finish both the accounting courses and tax courses, they are exempted from all subjects of the examination.)
4) Attorney at law or Certified Tax Accountant

Of course, ZEIRISHI categorized in 1) is the most knowledgeable on tax laws.

ZEIRISHI of above 2) type is knowledgeable on the area they experienced when they were officials at the tax office, but not on other matters.

Type 3) is likely to lack the knowledge of tax laws, but some of them are successors of big accounting firms, and their offices are with a lot of experienced staff :-)

People in above 4) category are, in a way, brilliant but may lack the expertise on tax laws. I you are going to ask for litigation/contract/IPO consulting together with accounting, it may be convenient to hire them. They can offer one-stop service for that.

Japan Federation of Certified Public Tax Accountants' Associations

KONIN KAIKEISHI (Certified Public Accountant)

The work of KONIN KAIKEISHI (Certified Public Accountant) is to audit financial statements and to advise on tax and accounting. They can register as ZEIRISHI (Certified Public Tax Accountant) as well. In this sense, KONIN KAIKEISHI can also provide accounting services including filing of tax return.

Many Japanese laws require the companies to have audit by KONIN KAIKEISHI.

Japanese Institute of Certified Public Accountant

BENGOSHI (Attorney at law)

BENGOSHI (attorney at law) is a legal practitioner in Japan, qualified to practice in almost all fields of legal services in Japan. Simply a counterpart of attorney in other parts of the world.

Although the license of BENGOSHI is almighty in legal services, their actual works frequently focus on the litigation, corporate and financial services.

If you have a big case, BENGOSHI will be the best choice.

If the legal service you need is not so big or mainly on license, registration, accounting or social insurance, other lawyers may be able to meet your requests better and at a low fee.

Japan Federation of Bar Associations

Legal profession in Japan

One of the characteristics of Japanese legal system is that there are several licenses of legal professions. It seems to be difficult for people in foreign countries to figure out which is the best lawyer for them.

I will keep moving with this topic during the next few entries, and explain the differences of each licenses and how to effectively use the lawyers in Japan.

Moreover, when I am asked to do some legal job and it is not my scope of practice, I would be glad to introduce other lawyers, free of charge. If you are unsure about proper lawyers, feel free to ask me.

Outline of Public-Interest Corporation System in Japan

I added English pages to my website on Japanese public-interest corporation system. You can check what kind of organizations exist in Japan and points to be considered when you establish a charitable/non-profit organization in Japan.

Guide to Public-Interest Corporation

Tax filings after establishing your company/branch in Japan

After establishing a company or branch office in Japan, you have to lodge filings with Taxation Authorities, Local Government, Labor Standards Inspection Office, Public Employment Security Office, Social Insurance Office, and so on.

The most important tax filing is Application for Blue Form Tax Return. Even if your business is small at the beginning, you should not miss it. This application should be filed within three months after establishment of the company/branch (if the initial taxable year ends within three months, the filing should be made before the end of taxable year).

If the blue form status is granted, net losses under income in each business year can be carried forward for the next seven years. If you do not apply for the blue form tax return, losses cannot be carried forward.

The procedure is here (sorry, Japanese only).

Besides above, there are several tax filings that may be beneficial to you. For further information, I recommend to hire an accountant for consultation.

Directors of Japanese Company

The Companies Act of Japan has significantly changed, but many companies are not making full use of its benefits.

In former Company Law, a kabushiki kaisha (joint-stock corporation, most frequently used legal entity in Japan) needs at least three directors and one auditor. Currently, there is no restriction on the number of director, and to have the auditor or not is left to the company's discretion.

If you appointed directors and auditors for form's sake in the past, you can reduce the number of directors and auditors under the new Companies Act.