Extended business trip - visa required? taxes?

[DIANE3698]

My husband has been asked to go to Tokyo for extended business trip - about 3-6 months - to temporarily fill in for a manager that quit. He will probably travel in and out of Japan throughout that period - usually a few days at a time. I will go with as a tourist - I will not work outside the home - and I might go with him on his business trips. As soon as they can hire a new manager, he will be back in USA. He will receive his normal salary in our US bank, he will submit all expenses for reimbursement (just like a normal business trip). He will find "extended stay" accomodations and use public transportation. Cash for incidental expenses will come by paying with VISA or by bringing cash and coverting it to yen.

question: will he need a visa? will his salary/business expenses be taxed in Japan?
any other issues to consider?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions or advise! Diane

[larabell]

Originally Posted by DIANE3698

My husband has been asked to go to Tokyo for extended business trip - about 3-6 months - to temporarily fill in for a manager that quit.

Technically, if he's here for more than 90 days, he will need a working visa. However, I knew someone once who spent almost two years in Japan without a visa by leaving the country just before his 90 days were up and re-entering to reset the clock. I've also heard even more recently that the Immigration Dept has figured out that trick and is now somewhat less tolerant of multiple successive entries.

Still, I have yet to see any law that would prevent your husband from making several successive business trips of less than 90 days each -- and in this particular case, you're not even skirting the intent of the law because he's not being assigned to the Japan office permanently and may well only be here for one, possibly two 90 day stretches, depending on how things go.

I'm not sure about taxation. I know Japan doesn't track or tax income earned during a business trip, even if you come on two or more successive "business trips". If your husband was living here for a year's worth of successive business trips, they might take notice but for 3-6 months, I doubt you'd even be on their radar.

BTW, these days a "business trip" visa is the same as a "tourist" visa. Japan no longer differentiates between the two and, for citizens of most (but not all) countries, the visa stamp is received upon landing in Japan. It's still a visa, just not the kind that you have to pre-arrange before the trip.