Tax Permanent Resident status vs Permanent Residency for VISA
税法意义上的永住者vs 签证意义上的永住者
People sometimes get confused about the concept of tax Permanent Resident with Rermanent Resident for VISA. They are separate concepts.
人们很容易混淆税法上的永住者和签证意义上的永住者。它们其实是两个不同的概念。
Being a Permanent Resident (PR) for VISA does not necessarily mean you are a Permanent Resident for tax. PR for visa is a permission to stay and you can still decide how many days you stay in Japan and how many abroad. It is more like a reason or factor to be recognized as a tax resident. On the other hand, being recognized as a Tax Permanent Resident implies you have been in Japan for close to or more than a half of this year and more than 5 years in the last 10 years. Being a tax resident is a result of your life style or what you have done.
成为签证意义上的永住者并不一定意味着你是税法上的永住者。永住签证给予您一项权利：您可以居住在日本并决定分别在日本和国外居住多少天。永住签证更像是一个人成为纳税者的理由或因素。与此相对，被认定为税务上的永住者意味着您今年接近一半以上的时间，过去10年中超过5年的时间居住在在日本。成为纳税居住者是您的生活方式或您所做的事情的结果。
So, in short, PR for Visa is like a license or a status, while being a Tax Resident is more like result of your life style.
简单来说，签证意义上的永住者是一种许可而税务上的永住者更像是一种生活方式的结果。
Definition of Tax Resident
A person who has a center of life in Japan is considered a Tax Resident. Center of life has another terminology called Domicile. Center of life is a relative word but it roughly means the location where you have a place to live, your job, your family and your majority of assets.
纳税居住者的定义
如果一个人把日本当作其“生活的重心”，那么他就被视为纳税居住者。“生活的重心”用专门术语来表述就是住所。“生活的重心”是一个相对的概念，总的来说，它就是你的生活，工作，家人，大部分财产所在之处。
See NTA website: https://www.nta.go.jp/taxes/shiraberu/taxanswer/gensen/2875.htm
参见日本国税局网站：https://www.nta.go.jp/taxes/shiraberu/taxanswer/gensen/2875.htm
Precisely speaking, the definition of a tax resident is a person who has a domicile in Japan or a person who has a place to live for more than 1 year. Even though you don’t have or rent an apartment in Japan, but if you stay in a hotel for more than a year, you will probably be regarded as a resident.
严格来说，纳税居住者指在日本拥有住所或者在日本居住超过1年的人。即使您在日本没有购买或租赁公寓，但您在日本的酒店居住超过1年，那么您仍有可能会被视作居住者。
It may happen that you have your family back in your country but you have a job here. And a notion of “domicile” is sometimes ambiguous, there are clauses in the tax law to presume a person is a resident or not as a resident. Since this is just a presumption by law, you may still argue and prove otherwise.
一种可能的情况是您的家人住在您的国家而您在日本工作。“住所”有时是一个模棱两可的概念，税法上有专门的条款来推定一个人是否是居住者。鉴于这只是法律上的一种推定，您享有提出异议的权利。
(Situation where your domicile is presumably in Japan: Income Tax Law Enforcement Ordinance, Article #14)
1-1) A person has a job that usually require to stay in Japan more than 1 year,
1-2) A person has Japanese nationality and has a spouse or his/her family who are under the same household. Or considering his/her job , his/her assets and other elements, there are factors that suggest this person has lived in Japan more than 1 year.
2) Family members of the above mentioned person shall also be regarded as a resident.
（假设您的住所位于日本；所得税法执行条例，第14条）
1-1)您在日本有工作，且该工作要求您在日本居住一年以上
1-2)您拥有日本国籍并且和配偶或家人同住。或者您的工作，财产或其他因素显示您已经在日本居住超过1年
2）您的家庭成员同样被视为居住者
(Situation where domicile of a person is not presumed to be in Japan; Article #15)
1-1.) A person has a job that usually requires to stay more than 1 year abroad.
1-2.) A person has a foreign nationality or has a permission of Permanent Residency in another country(ies) AND he/she does not have a family member who lives under the same household.
2.) Family members of the person above are also presumed to be non-residents.
（假设您的住所不在日本；第15条）
1-1)您在日本有工作，且该工作要求您在日本居住一年以上
1-2)您拥有非日本国籍或在其他国家的永久居住权。且您不与家族成员同住
2）您的家庭成员应被推定为非居住者
People always talk about the 183 days rule but it is not everything. You may stay in Japan a little bit more than 183 days and you can still be a non-resident if you have your house in your home country, family and a job. Domicile is a relative concept. The tax authority weighs all the elements and decide which country has the most weight in your life.
人们总是在把“183天准则”挂在嘴边但这一准则并非金科玉律。您可以在日本居住略微超过183天并被视为非居住者，如果您在自己的国家拥有住处，家人或者工作。住所是一个相对概念。税务部门会权衡各种因素来确定哪个国家在您的生活中占据最大的比重。
Since the concept of “Center of Life” is vague, the law has some clauses that assume person’s resident status based on his/her nationalities.
鉴于“生活的重心”这一定义相当模糊，法律上常用用国籍来确定一个人的居住身份。
Definition of Tax Permanent Resident
A person who is a tax resident and not a non-permanent resident. A non-permanent resident is a person without Japanese nationality and a person who has not have domicile or a place to live more than 5 years in the past 10 years.
税法上永住者的定义
指某人是纳税居住者且非永住者。非永住者是指没有日本国籍且在过去10年中累计在日本居住不满5年的个人。
Impact of becoming a Tax Resident
Residents with Japanese nationality are globally taxable. The scope of taxable income for residents with foreign nationality depends on how long he/she has been in Japan. If it is under 5 years in the past 10 years, he/she is a non Permanent Resident (again by tax definition) whose taxable income are only Japan source income and foreign income that is brought into Japan. The money transferred from your saving is not taxable, of course.
成为纳税居住者的影响
拥有日本国籍的居住者会被全球征税。拥有非日本国籍的居住者的应税所得范围取决于其在日本居住了多久。如果某人在过去10年中在日本居住未满5年，那么他就是税法意义上的非永住者。其应税收入仅限于在日本的收入和被转到日本的海外收入。当然，从其的个人储蓄中汇到日本的钱并不会被课税。
On the other hand, Permanent Residents are taxable globally. It is the same taxable liability as residents with Japanese nationality.
在另一方面，税法上的永住者会在全球范围被征税。如同日本人一样负有纳税义务。
Some income categories have different taxable rates between residents and non-residents. For example, salary income is taxable for both residents and non-residents. However, the tax rates are different; it is progressive tax rates starting from 15% to 55% for residents while it is just one tax rate (20.42%) for non-residents. The same goes for retirement income.
某些所得项目对于居住者和非居住者有不同的税率。举例来说，工资收入对于居住者和非居住者都是课税的。但是两者负担的税率却是不同的。对于居住者来说，其所得税税率是从最低15％到最高55%的累进税率，而非居住者的所得税税率是恒定的，即20.42%。这种区别对待的情况也适用于退休收入。
Property income is taxed with the same rate (5%-45%) between residents and non-residents. You will claim all the revenue and expenses. The only difference is deductions based on personal status. Non-residents cannot claim deductions based on the number of their family member dependents, for example.
房产收入的税率对于居住者和非居住者是相同的（5%~45%）。您的房产收入必须包括所有收入和费用。唯一的区别在于扣除。比如非居住者不可根据抚养者人数享受不同程度的扣除。
Business income is a little bit tricky. Non-residents are not taxable unless they have a Permanent Establishment (e.g. office) except for typically high income vocation groups such as artists, sport athletes.
营业收入会略微复杂。非居住者的营业收入不会被课税除非其拥有永久设施（比如办公室等）。一些超高薪职业如艺术家或运动员除外。