Newsletter

The Ministry of Internal Affairs has recently sent out a census questionnaire to businesses in order to collect information on the state of the economy. Further information on the census can be found at http://www.stat.go.jp/data/e-census/en/campaign/index.htm

The filing period for 2011 Japanese Personal Income Tax is February 16th to March 15th. Please note that for those who received income from more than one source, those with income over JPY 20 million, or anyone else who is required to file a personal return will need to file and pay any tax owing by the final day of this period.  Filing and payment extensions are possible but they must be applied for and approved by the tax authorities. Local tax offices are open and available for support Monday to Friday, but some offices will also be open to provide assistance and accept returns Sunday February 19th and Sunday February 26th.

Most company employees do not need to file a personal tax return as their tax is adjusted by their employer in their final salary payment of the year.

For more information, please see the National Tax Agency website www.nta.go.jp/foreign_language/index.htm.

Corporations in Japan are required to hold annual shareholder and director meetings. These are the meetings where decisions such as director appointments and compensation, changes to the articles of incorporation and other corporate issues are decided. It is also important that meeting minutes are created and maintained, with potential penalties where they are not. For more information on annual meetings and meeting minutes, please contact Solid Japan at info@solidjapan.com.

Solid Business Solutions International can provide you with support for incorporation, corporate secretarial, tax, audit, accounting and payroll services in Hong Kong. For more information, contact info@solidhongkong.com .

The Government budget for 2012-13 was presented on 1 February 2012. Among the proposed measures, below are some of the highlights that relate to corporations:

1. Waiving the business registration fees for 2012-13 to benefit all business operators;
2. Reducing profits tax for 2011-12 by 75 per cent, subject to a ceiling of HKD 12,000. The reduction will be reflected in the taxpayers’ final tax payable for 2011-12;
3. Halving the charges for import and export declarations and;
4. Abolishing capital duty levied on local companies. This is to encourage investors to set up companies in Hong Kong to raise capital and expand their business, thereby enhancing Hong Kong’s competitiveness as a corporate domicile.