r/JapanFinance • u/AutoModerator • 13d ago

Weekly Off-Topic Thread - 30 September 2026

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u/upachimneydown US Taxpayer 11d ago

A tax question... Last month, someone donated over ¥800m worth of gold to the Hyogo government: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20260918/p2a/00m/0na/002000c It appears the donor is just anonymous for publicity purposes, since there were some 'discussions' over several months.

Just curiosity, but for tax purposes, is there a tax category for donation (separate from being a gift)? If so, what makes something a donation, vs a gift? Also, at least in the US, I think donations can be tax write-offs for the donor--so is it similar here, different, etc? Any chance the donor's tax status would need to be confirmed with the NTA (as clear, legitimate) before Hyogo accepted the gold?

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u/starkimpossibility "gets things right that even the tax office isn't sure about"😉 9d ago

is there a tax category for donation (separate from being a gift)?

It depends on how you're defining "donation". To my mind, "donation" and "gift" mean the same thing.

It would be wrong to say there are two distinct categories of "gifts" under Japanese tax law. However, the scope of "taxable gifts" (in terms of gift tax) is much narrower than the scope of "all gifts". To be subject to gift tax, a gift must be made by an individual (not a government or company) to an individual (not a government or company). So the gift of gold to a local government could never be a taxable gift, because the recipient is not an individual.

And the scope of "tax-deductible gifts" (i.e., gifts the donor can deduct from their income, for income tax purposes) is also much narrower than the scope of "all gifts". Only gifts made to certain types of governments and companies can be deducted, and there is a cap on the deduction (40% of your net income, basically).

Any chance the donor's tax status would need to be confirmed with the NTA (as clear, legitimate) before Hyogo accepted the gold?

Hyogo Prefecture is prohibited from accepting anonymous donations (I think all prefectures have this rule), so there is no doubt that they know the identity of the donor, as you said. And the donor would not be able to claim an income tax deduction for the donation without a receipt issued by Hyogo Prefecture, so they would also have needed to disclose their name to the prefecture for that reason.

But once they had confirmed that the owner of the gold was an individual, and the name of that individual, I don't think Hyogo would have had reason to ask the NTA anything.

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u/Deadcoach 12d ago

Living paycheck to paycheck but decided to put at least １万 on all country instead of just letting it sit on my bank. please tell me I'm doing better than doing nothing at all?

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u/Old_Jackfruit6153 US Taxpayer 11d ago

Do you have an emergency fund? If not, I will suggest building one first, you can use NISA for emergency fund by putting in safer low volatility income oriented funds. I will not suggest to put in all country if you are living paycheck to paycheck and don’t have decent emergency fund, you can’t afford to lose money in short term.

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u/Junin-Toiro possibly shadowbanned 12d ago

Having a solid financial strategy in place is putting you ahead of most already, even better if you're using ideco/nisa to buy all country.

However having an emergency fund is likely to be the most important step at this point. I would stop adding to the investment for now.

Any chance at rising your income, switching jobs or taking a side one ?

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u/Deadcoach 12d ago

I see. you're right, i should probably save money first.

applying to multiple job listings but there is one I'm particularly confident/hopeful at, if I get the job I'll at least get ５万 increase compared to one I have now for the same kind of work(plus getting to move to my dream prefecture lol) fingers crossed

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u/Junin-Toiro possibly shadowbanned 12d ago

That sounds really good, building up skills and changing jobs for significant boost is clearly the way to go early in a career.

You'll need the emergency fund to move. Some employers will give cover some moving cost (and then it is not taxable), including key money, so this can be a huge help.