Remittances to Japan: taxation, origin checks, gift schemes, CRS, and Russia transfer restrictions

Transferring money into Japan, including through offshore structures, can trigger a separate remittance tax, and requires explaining the source of large sums deposited into an account. Investing foreign-earned income into the capital of a new Japanese company does not legally avoid it being taxed as remittance — "it can't be done that way," according to a participant who researched the question (not a lawyer). A physical transfer of money by an individual into their own Japanese company's account counts as remittance: the capital contribution itself is not taxed, but the income the funds came from is taxed. For large transfers into Japan, the tax office can request an explanation of the source of funds, including a full bank statement; sums around 5 million yen usually draw fewer questions, while large ones (30 million) face much stricter scrutiny. Incoming funds from related parties into a company account can be legally justified as a prepayment for a future order, a deposit for purchases/logistics, an interest-free loan, or a prepaid commission — as long as it complies with the laws of both countries. Bringing cash across the border is legal if declared to customs; but a large "investment" from a third party without proper structuring can, in substance, amount to an undeclared gift — a legal violation. Using a gift deed ("дарственная") as a way to get around a transfer or income tax is a legally disputed scheme requiring a lawyer's consultation, since Japan's gift rules differ from, for example, Russia's. On information sharing, most countries, including Japan, exchange data on bank account openings and aggregate turnover statistics under the CRS standard, but not data on individual transactions; the exchange between Russia and Japan is "thinner" than, for example, between Russia and Kazakhstan (a special arrangement due to their customs union). Foreign brokers, on discovering a client has moved to Japan, may request a Japanese MyNumber as a TIN for CRS reporting purposes — a real case involving a Kazakhstani broker is known. Japanese and US (and other) banking systems also exchange transaction data. The general recommendation from the chat: declare all foreign accounts and income to be safe. Finally, transferring large sums as an individual to Russia is complicated by banking restrictions: SMBC Prestia closed transfers to Russia from April 2025; workarounds mentioned include accounts in third countries (for example, China, with a withdrawal limit around 1 million rubles a year) or carrying cash — cash leaving Japan is limited to 100,000 yen without declaration (per one participant's note).