[Rewritten in Aug 2023]Tax return when leaving Japan |Free tax consultation in Sapporo, please contact Kumagai Nobuyasu accountant office!

When you leave from Japan, you need to file tax return form and pay tax before leaving Japan.However, you can file and pay tax after leaving Japan when you follow certain procedures before leaving. 
I explain tax return and payment at leaving Japan in detail below.
 

If you are going to leave from Japan, you must file tax return for the period from January 1 to departure date to the tax office. However, this filing rule does not apply if it is temporary that you leave from Japan.
The kind of tax which you must file at depurture is national income tax. If you are entltiled to the income tax refund because of a large amount of withholding in advance, you can receive tax refund by filing tax return before your departure. On the other hand, you need not to file tax return before your departure if your income from January 1 to the departure date consists only only less than 20 million yen of salary.
Note that, if you elect a tax agent before you leave, he/she shall file your tax return by March 15th next year. The roles of tax agent is explained in the next section.
 

Before your departure from Japan, you need to pay calculated income tax to the Tax office, banks or covenience store. However, if you pay with credit card, you can pay after leaving from Japan. Resident tax you are levied with tax notification also need be paid before your departure from Japan. Payment due of other taxes you are levied with tax notification is departure date, too. 
However, you may not receive tax notification before your departure date and you may not prepare tax payment fund before your departure date. If you need to pay taxes after leaving Japan, you need to elect a tax agent before your departure date. The role of tax agent is below;

1. To pay taxes and receive tax refund on behalf of you
2. To receive tax notifications and tax-related information from the tax office etc.
3. To submit tax returns and other tax applications to the tax office etc.

To elect the tax agent, you must submit the agent election form to the tax office etc. before you leave from Japan. The agent election form is need to submit the tax office which engaged your address and the city hall separately.
The person you can elect the tax agent are your close person or workplace in Japan etc. However, you must elect from only tax accountant if you request tax return preparation or tax consultation to the tax agent.
Of course, you need not to elect the tax agent if you will have paid tax before your departure and there no tax levied after departure date. 
 

If you forget filing or payment before you leave from Japan, you would to ask the tax agent you elected to file tax return or proxy payment.
If you do not elect the tax agent before you leave from Japan, unpaid taxes consider tax default and you may be reminder by Japanese tax agency or your local tax agency. To avoid default, tax office engaged your past Japan address can notify that you must elect the tax agent within 60 days after your departure date.
Once you have elected the tax agent, due date of filing and payment is deffered to domestic principle due date.
 

If you are out of Japan(except teｍporary departure) and have any incomes derived from Japan, you must still prepare and file tax return to tax office in Japan. However, it is difficult to prepare and file tax return yourself. So, it is useful that you ask a tax accountant in Japan to prepare and file Japanese tax return. Tax accountants have many tax-related knowledge and are able to prepare on behalf of you exclusively. And you can ask the tax agent to pay levied taxes and receive tax refunds in Japan alternatively. 
The example of taxable income of resident which does not live in Japan are below;

1.  Interests, dividend or capital gain derived from securities issued in Japan
2.  Rent income or transfer gain derived from real-estate in teritory of Japan
3.  Salary derived from work in Japan
4.  Personal business income developed in Japan

It cannot be paid taxes or received tax refund with non-Japanese account, therefore you can only pay taxes and receive tax refund to Japan through a tax agent.