Won't Miss #44 - filing 2 tax returns (reflection)

For the first decade plus in Japan, I didn't file any tax returns at all. I didn't do this in complete defiance of the law. It was an act of pure ignorance. It wasn't until one of my coworkers pointed out to me that it's written right there in my passport that I am obliged to file returns in the U.S. that I learned that I had to do so despite not making any money there. And I've already talked about filing returns in Japan and the confusion and complexity about whether or not I needed to do so there (sometimes I did and sometimes I didn't depending on whether the company did it for me or I had to do it myself).

Fortunately, the I.R.S. didn't get their undies in a wad over my husband and I missing filing returns for a long period of time because we didn't owe them any money anyway. We filed back returns for 3 or 4 years and then started filing regularly after that. Every year, it was "exempt" from all payments because we weren't rich enough to pay to both countries.

I truly do not miss having to file two tax returns, but the truth is that I have so much other paperwork in the U.S. (especially related to car ownership) that it feels as if I still had to do less in Japan. I think at this point that I had it easier there than here when it comes to bureaucracy, but it could really simply be a wash.

Won't Miss #512 - dutiful citizen myth

Is that a begging bowl or are you just happy to see me?

In the imaginations of most foreigners in Japan, Japanese people are paragons of civic virtue and foreigners are vile tax dodgers who whine and complain about paying their city taxes, health insurance, and contributing to the pension system. The truth is that most Japanese people do pay their legally-mandated expenses, but only because there is a system in place for salaried employees which leaves them no other choice. The other types of employees, the growing legions of "temporary workers" and the self-employed skip out on as many of these government obligations as possible. In fact, the government even knows they are not paying and shrugs its shoulders and walks away. Numerous Japanese people have told my husband and I that they don't pay their pension fees and when a government worker shows up at the door to collect, they simply say they don't have any money and the worker gives up and goes away.

I won't miss this oft-repeated myth of the perfectly dutiful Japanese citizen in the face of the (more human) reality.

Won't Miss #192 - bribing to procreate

The Japanese government created a program that will pay parents 13,000 yen (about $140) a month for every child they have.* This money, which will come from taxes I pay, is meant to encourage the Japanese to have more kids by alleviating the burden on them financially. I have several problems with this point. First of all, 13,000 yen is a pittance. It is unlikely to encourage anyone who has chosen not to have kids to have them or someone with kids to have more. The money will simply augment the lifestyle choices of those who already have kids so that they can spend more on material possessions. Second, there are many people in the world already and plenty of them are ready, willing, and able to come to Japan to work, pay taxes, and do what Japanese people do. I don't agree with bribing the Japanese to make more people for the sake of making sure the gene pool stays exclusive. Finally, the problems with the birth rate aren't related to money as much as lifestyle. In particular, the oppressive amounts of overtime that people have to work (both men and women). This is not fixing the problem, but trying to deal with it obliquely.

I won't miss this sort of short-sighted, ineffective, wasteful, and frankly racially motivated choice to bribe people to have children.

*Note that there is no means testing so anyone, regardless of income (even wealthy families), will get this money for each child and the program that offers 13,000 yen per month in 2010 is supposed to be doubled to 26,000 yen (about $280) per month in 2011. If this were social welfare for poor folks, I'd be fine with that, but there's no income requirement to get this money.

Won't Miss #44 - filing 2 tax returns

If you're American and reside in Japan, you have to file income tax forms in both countries. Every year, we have to slog through filling out two sets of annoying forms. Unless you make a pile of money, you don't have to pay taxes in both countries, but filing is still a pain in the backside.

I won't miss doubling my tax fun every year.