Americans: First, let me say that the letter below from the embassy IS NOT specified for JETs. That said, it does have some useful contact information. Next, I've received a few requests for information about US Taxes. I am not a CPA, but I didn't pay any state or federal taxes last year, so I can tell you what I know: If you are an American JET, you ARE exempted from your US Federal Taxes and you MAY be exempted from your state taxes as well. HOWEVER, there is a process you must go through in order to qualify for your tax exemption. First, you MUST file your taxes this year. I found the following link to the Saitama JETs website. I don't know how old it is, but it squares with what I had to do last year: http://www.pref.saitama.lg.jp/A20/BQ00/jet/general/taxes.htm#usa. Now, depending on the laws of your state, it MIGHT BE IN YOUR BEST INTERESTS to file an EXTENSION. For example, if you are a California resident, you can become exempted from California state taxes as well as federal taxes IF you have been out of the country for a certain number of days (It's something like 320 out of the 365 in a year--please research this on your own). Now, if you are a first-year JET from California, you WILL NOT MEET THAT REQUIREMENT ON APRIL 15th. BUT, you will reach it by July. Therefore, if you file an extension on your federal taxes, and file AFTER you meet the out-of-country requirement, you will then be exempted from your state taxes as well. Please understand that this is a state-by-state thing--please find out about your own state's rules on foreign income tax exemption. Okay, now here's information from the embassy (including some helpful contact links): -- IRS Tax Help Live in Tokyo -- Frequently Asked Questions -- Other Tax Help -- IRS 2004 Exchange Rates -- Unsubscribing --------------------------------------------------------- IRS Tax Help, Live in Tokyo! --------------------------------------------------------- From April 5 through April 15, a representative from the Internal Revenue Service will be at the U.S. Embassy Tokyo to assist U.S. taxpayers. Consultations are by appointment only, and may be scheduled on a first come first serve basis. Available hours are between 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. No walk-in consultations will be available. The representative will also conduct by appointment consultations by telephone between April 5-15 for those who do not wish to travel to the Embassy. Please contact the American Citizens Services Section by phone only at 03-3224-5174 to make an appointment for either an in-person or telephone consultation. This number is to make appointments only; no tax help is available at this number. The number of appointments is limited; please call as soon as possible to reserve a place. The IRS representative will not offer consultations at our Consulates. Information is available in English only. --------------------------------------------------------- Other Tax Help --------------------------------------------------------- Since the IRS closed its Japan office in 2004, there is no one qualified to give tax advice at the Embassy or at our Consulates other than as noted above. Instead, you can contact the IRS directly in the US by phone, FAX, the web or email. All the needed contact information is available on our web site at http://japan.usembassy.gov/e/acs/tacs-7126b.html. --------------------------------------------------------- Frequently Asked Questions --------------------------------------------------------- -- I'm new at this overseas stuff. Where do I start? The IRS Home Page, http://www.irs.gov, has a lot of information available to answer many questions. Go to 'Individuals' and then 'Overseas Taxpayers' you will find a section of FAQ, which will take you to IRS Publication 54. Many questions of overseas taxpayers can be answered from that source. -- How do I contact the IRS? http://japan.usembassy.gov/e/acs/tacs-7126b.html#contact -- How do I obtain US Federal tax forms? All the forms you need can be downloaded, or ordered by mail, at http://www.irs.gov. The Embassy and our Consulates have most common forms available for pickup in our waiting areas. U.S. military personnel can pick up tax forms from their unit tax advisor or from many base libraries. -- My Japanese Spouse can't get a Social Security Number (SSN) and needs an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN). How do I get one? All of the information, including the forms, is available here in English (http://japan.usembassy.gov/e/acs/tacs-7126b.html#non) or in Japanese (http://japan.usembassy.gov/j/acs/tacsj-itin.html). -- I don't want to prepare my own taxes. Do you have a list of tax preparers in Japan? http://japan.usembassy.gov/e/acs/tacs-tax2.html -- How do I obtain copies/transcripts of previous tax returns? http://www.irs.gov/faqs/faq1-6.html -- What about individual US state tax questions. I'm from California, or Hawaii, or... Questions about U.S. state taxes should be directed to the appropriate agencies in your state. Neither the IRS nor the Embassy in Tokyo cannot advise you or provide forms for U.S. state taxes. A "Google" search for your state is a good place to begin. --------------------------------------------------------- IRS 2004 Exchange Rates --------------------------------------------------------- The IRS provided us with the following information on exchange rates for use with our 2004 Federal tax forms: IRS will not post an exchange rate schedule on its web site. Instead, here is the US Treasury rate from Financial Management Service (FMS): Jan - March 2004: 104.02 April - June 2004: 110.19 May - Sep 2004: 108.82 Oct - Dec 2004: 103.11 Average 2004: 106.54 Other options: http://www.oanda.com provides exchange rates. People using that site should obtain the average exchange rate using the 'interbank rate' for the period January 1, 2004 through December 31, 2004. You input that information and the site automatically gives you the average rate for that period for any currency in the world. Per Oanda, the average exchange rate was 108.170. If you go to http://www.newyorkfed.org/markets/fxrates, you can download the daily rates into an Excel spreadsheet and have the spreadsheet compute the average rate as 108.164. Any of these rates could be used and accepted. If the IRS were to examine the return and ask how the exchange rate were computed, the individual would need to be able to show how the rate they used was computed. Since any of these are obtained from legitimate sites, they would be accepted. Note that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) office serving Japan is located in Philadelphia, and provides U.S. Federal tax assistance to Americans in Japan. The IRS office at the American Embassy in Tokyo closed on June 18, 2004. There is no one at the Embassy or our Consulates who can answer tax questions. However, a lot of information, including a list of paid tax preparers, is on our web site at http://japan.usembassy.gov/e/acs/tacs-7126b.html. In addition, the IRS Home Page, http://www.irs.gov, has a lot of information available to answer many questions. Go to 'Individuals' and then 'Overseas Taxpayers' you will find a section of FAQ, which will take you to IRS Publication 54. Many questions of overseas taxpayers can be answered from that source. In addition, if you have tax law and/or other general questions, you can contact IRS via e-mail via http://www.irs.gov/help/page/0,,id=133197,00.html. --------------------------------------------------- Inclusion of Non-U.S. Government links or information does not imply endorsement of contents. This newsletter is prepared by the American Embassy in Tokyo with contributions from our Consulates/Consulates-General in Sapporo, Nagoya, Osaka-Kobe, Fukuoka and Naha. Need a form? Just about any form needed for use in our American Citizen Services sections is now available for download, including passport forms, the things you need to marry in Japan, blank Powers of Attorney, US Federal tax forms and more. Visit http://japan.usembassy.gov/e/acs/tacs-forms.html, or take the shortcut at http://forms.tokyoacs.com/ Access us on your mobile phone at http://imode.tokyoacs.com ------------------------------------------------------ Contact us: ------------------------------------------------------ The American Embassy in Tokyo American Citizen Services 1-10-5 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-8420 Tel: 03-3224-5174 Fax: 03-3224-5856 http://www.tokyoacs.com Visit us online in Japanese at http://j.tokyoacs.com Aim your cell phone browser at http://imode.tokyoacs.com The Embassy helps Americans in Tokyo, Chiba, Fukushima,Gunma, Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Nagano, Niigata, Saitama, Shizuoka, Tochigi, Yamagata, Yamanashi. Tom Bennett Director US Nationality Group Akagi-mura, Gunma-ken Japan (0279) 56-2940 (0902) 567-5324 http://americansinjapan.org