Japan Representative Office

Japan Representative Office

The advantage of creating a Representative Office in Japan is to be able to carry marketing survey and information gathering activity in Japan before starting a full-scale operation, without having to support the burden of the full-size company and especially keeping a Japan Yen General Ledger and paying taxes. The Representative Office can employ people in Japan and does not need to be registered with legal authorities like the Legal Affairs Bureau. The only registration needed is with tax office for payment of employees withheld income taxes. A representative office is often used by companies that wish to employ people in Japan for support activity or before starting a full-scale activity. The Representative Office in Japan cannot engage in sales or marketing activity. Basically, it cannot be engaged in any “for profit” activity that would give rise to a tax liability in Japan. It is a light first step to establish a company in Japan. Typical activities of a representative office are public relations, advertising, market intelligence and research and preparation to set up of a subsidiary.

Features of a Japan Representative Office

Japan Representative Office	Corporate Details
General
Type of Entity	Representative Office
Registered Office in Japan	Yes
Shelf company availability	No
Our time to establish a new company	2 Months
Corporate Taxation	No
Access to Double Taxation Treaties	No
Share capital or equivalent
Standard currency	USD
Permitted currencies	EUR, USD, GBP, JPY
Minimum paid-up	None
Bearer shares allowed	No
No-par-value shares allowed	No
Directors
Minimum number	One
Local required	No
Publicly accessible records	Yes
Location of meetings	Anywhere
Corporate directorship allowed	Yes
Shareholders
Minimum number	Parent Company
Publicly accessible records	Yes
Corporate shareholders allowed	Yes
Location of meetings	Anywhere
Company Secretary
Required	No
Local or qualified	No
Accounts
Requirements to prepare	No
Audit requirements	No
Requirements to file accounts	No
Publicly accessible accounts	No
Other
Requirement to file annual return	No
Migration of domicile permitted	No

Advantages of a Japanese Representative Office

It is not subject to Japanese income taxes and does not have to file income tax returns.
Registration for a startup is not necessary.
Costs of a representative office are deductible from headquarters’ income.

The Valsen Advantage

Speedy, Efficient and consistent Services.
Relentless effort to obtain bank accounts.
Expert advice on structuring options.
Dedicated ongoing compliance support.

Japan Representative Office

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