Employee working temporarily in Japan

Hello,

One of my staff needs to spend some time in Japan for his wife's medical condition. She is a Japanese citizen, he is an Australian citizen. They both reside in Australia. The company is an Australian company with no presence in Japan.

My question is around what the income tax, payroll tax, health insurance and work cover implications would be for him and the company if I allow him to work from Japan?

Grateful for your response.

Warm regards,
Tommy

You should consult an accountant about this.

He can come in on a temporary visitor permit for up to 90 days - no issue. Make sure he has travel insurance for the duration. He is not "working in Japan", but working for the Australian company.
If he needs to make more trips and goes over 183 days in a calendar year, ten there are some additional complications.

Do not listen to the poster above as they are suggesting illegal activity. Work done while physically in Japan is considered working. One cannot work while on a tourist visa. Your employee needs to apply for a status that allows them to work in Japan; e.g. a spouse visa.

There is also a new Digital Nomad visa that allows remote work if certain conditions are met (e.g. salary). However, the tax implications on your company still need to be sorted out if you have an employee working in Japan.

It is not a tourist visa that the Australian will be getting (sigh), it is a temporary visitor permit. And the definition of "working in Japan" means for a Japanese company. Being temporarily relocated to Japan while working for an Australian company is completely legal. Otherwise any business person setting foot in Japan would be instantly breaking the law, and that is not the case.
If you want to refute my advice, you're going to have to do better than that. I've not only consulted the various statutes that apply (for my own case), but have lawyers I pay for advice as well.

These types of questions attract debate ALL the time, probably because most remote work is something relatively new. Don't listen to anonymous internet users like us. Just consult a professional accountant and/or lawyer as well as your local Japanese Embassy, and write down the dates and names you got the information from. If anything happens, you can blame it on them.

Remote work isn't new, I've been doing it for a really long time, including in Japan. And, just as side note, my previous work was both as a corporate officer and as a professional advisor for corporate matters. Yes, there are some obscure details, but this is an area of my expertise - it was my job. for two decades.
Still, even if you do check with Japanese Embassy staff, they are as likely to give you wrong information as some random internet people - my experience with the idiots at the Embassy in New Zealand, they knew much less than I did.
Consult a good immigration lawyer in Japan (again, get a good one), and also an accountant versed in Australia and Japan tax issues.

The MOFA website says the temporary visitor status is not for those engaging in remunerative activities, i.e. being paid to do something. And why introduce a digital nomad visa/status if it is legal to work remotely as a temporary visitor? Digital nomad status confers no extra residence rights, only the right to undertake paid work remotely while in Japan.

The digital nomad visa grants you a 6 months stay, and you can bring your family with you.

Tourists coming from a visa waiver country who get a 90-days stay permit are not the main target, in my opinion. For others (eg India, Vietnam, or Philippines for a stay longer than 15 days) who match the criteria, this looks quite interesting.

Remote work isn't new

I totally agree. In fact, I agree with everything JapanCustomTours is saying on this matter. (What I meant earlier was that remote work is increasing in new ways, hence more people being aware of it.) For example, ever since the beginning of travel in the history of humankind, people have been recording their journeys in form of journals and such to be professionally distributed to the public for their fellow people. In modern day tourism, enjoying a vacation itself is part of the work for tourism people. You can't say that working overseas is illegal without really looking into the content. In any case, my answer to this thread is "ask a pro and write it down."

remunerative activities, i.e. being paid to do something
Oh, you really don't get it do you. The remuneration needs to be from a Japanese company/person to someone, not a foreign company paying a salary to someone visiting temporarily to attend a meeting, deal with a supplier or doing research. Being able to read a MoFA website and checking the law (and understanding the information and how it applies) are two different things.
As a side note (and slightly off topic), there used to be (in Japanese law) a neat line that said if anyone anywhere in the world took payment for providing guide services in Japan without a proper guide/translator license, that was illegal. (There was a way around it.) That meant foreign guides entering the country, while not working in Japan (as per the definition) would be caught under different legislation. There were also a lot of local guides (like university professors) providing illegal tours around places like Kyoto.

right now, you can.
but, the government will introduce ESTA of Japanese version not so far future. the may shut out foreigners who have no resident statuses but practically are residing.

the government seems to select foreigners. they now prepare to introduce a new law that they can cancel permanent resident permit.

This is great info! My employee has been reading your comments and I think we're good.

The reason why I asked in the first place is that I know that e.g. India has some interesting laws around when you're considered a resident for tax purposes.

Thank you everyone who contributed to this question! 🙏🏻