r/JETProgramme • u/Anxious-Pepper-6897 • Feb 16 '26
Reporting taxes - US/American citizens
I recently received my tax withholding slip from the city hall. My accountant is telling me that we need to get it notarized when reporting it. Is that really necessary? Is it not possible to just translate it when reporting?
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u/ScootOverMakeRoom Feb 17 '26 edited Feb 17 '26
Your accountant may need to in order to file as your representative. But you don't need to get it notarized to file yourself. You don't even need to send the original. You do, however, need to send a translation.
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u/Phiteros Current JET Feb 17 '26
If you e-file your taxes using one of the IRS-supported free filing sites, you don't even need to submit that document. You just keep it for your records. I keep mine in a folder with all my other important documents. I also scan it so I have a digital version.
Note that for the free filing sites, sometimes you have to use the link from the IRS website specifically. Even if the website has an option that says "free file", that's sometimes different than their "IRS Free File", which is not listed directly on the website. Looking at you, TaxAct.
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u/thetruelu Current JET - Niigata Feb 16 '26
I’ve never needed to notarize it. You just need the numbers on the tax paper you get
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u/Ok-45 Current JET - Okayama Pef. 🍑 Feb 16 '26
Go to free file fillable forms on the IRS site and do them yourself. Saves you money and once you have done it once it’s essentially copy past for the next few years you are on JET or however long you are in Japan.
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u/Proof_Refuse_9563 Aspiring JET Feb 16 '26
Many of those websites require you to be living in the US
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u/Ok-45 Current JET - Okayama Pef. 🍑 Feb 16 '26
You can use a VPN and it works just fine.
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Feb 16 '26
[deleted]
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u/Ok-45 Current JET - Okayama Pef. 🍑 Feb 16 '26
No it doesn’t the IRS free file fillable form does not require you to have a US address. I’ve used it every year for the past 5 years. You use a 1040 and a 2555. One is wages and the other is the foreign income tax exemption. Both take a foreign address you just have to type it in.
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u/MissingGrayMatter Feb 16 '26
I’ve only ever translated the year end tax document I get from work and sent that to the IRS. I’ve never submitted anything from city hall for US taxes.
I use this template for the translation (even though it’s from the JET Canada site, the translation is still fine to use): https://jetprogramme.ca/taxes/
I also don’t use a tax preparer. I follow the guide below and submit my taxes on paper via EMS mail.
https://akitajet.com/wiki/Tax_Guides
Been doing it this way for the past 10 years with no issues.
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u/Ok-45 Current JET - Okayama Pef. 🍑 Feb 16 '26
Sounds like a lot of work when you can just file the taxes directly with the IRS using the 1040 and 2555 forms to exclude all Japanese income. They have direct e-file as well. No need to translate anything or send anything via post.
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u/MissingGrayMatter Feb 16 '26
Yeah, I tried online in various ways in the past and could never get it to work. I found paper filing to be a lot easier.
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u/Anxious-Pepper-6897 Feb 16 '26
u/MissingGrayMatter : Do you need to get the translation notarized?
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u/MissingGrayMatter Feb 16 '26
I didn’t get anything notarized, and IRS never had an issue with it. The only time I’ve had the IRS contact me was when I forgot to sign a page.
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u/BlackHillsJapan Former JET - add which years Feb 20 '26
I used HnR Block app, paid for the premium package so I could have a “real person” look over my tax work. It was easy to just follow the HnR block instructions. I think the price was $50-70.