Every autumn someone asks me the same thing over coffee: “Should I just pay a 税理士 to deal with all this?” Usually it’s a freelancer facing their second 確定申告, or someone who has just added a second guesthouse and found that the shoebox of receipts has become two shoeboxes.

My honest answer is “it depends.” That isn’t very useful on its own, so this post sets out what it depends on: what a tax accountant actually does in Japan, how fees tend to be structured, and how to compare offers so you don’t end up paying for work you could have done yourself.

TL;DR

  • Under the Certified Public Tax Accountant Act (税理士法), and subject to statutory exceptions, tax representation, return preparation and individualized tax advice for others on a repeated or continuing basis (業として) are reserved to registered 税理士 (certified tax accountants) and tax-accountant corporations (税理士法人). That applies whether the work is paid or unpaid.
  • Most simple sole-proprietor filings (one income stream, few assets) can be self-filed. Complexity grows fast once you add property depreciation, multiple accommodation-tax jurisdictions, employees or a corporation.
  • Fees usually come in three forms: monthly retainer (顧問料), year-end settlement/filing fee (決算料), and bookkeeping (記帳代行). Bookkeeping is often an additional charge on top of the other two.
  • Organized records can reduce processing work and may lower fees, depending on the agreed scope and pricing. Arriving with categorized data usually means less work for the accountant than arriving with a shoebox.
  • Compare quotes on scope, not just price. Ask what’s included, what’s billed separately, and how many meetings or questions the fee covers.

What Does a 税理士 Actually Do in Japan?

A 税理士 is a nationally licensed tax professional who can legally prepare and file tax returns for you, represent you in a tax audit and give you individualized tax advice. That matters because, under 税理士法 and subject to statutory exceptions, doing these things for others as a business (業として) is reserved to registered 税理士 and tax-accountant corporations, whether or not any money changes hands. “As a business” covers doing it repeatedly or continuously, and it also covers doing it with the intention of repeating it. So a friend who “does taxes” for other people, paid or unpaid, isn’t in a grey area. Unless an exception applies, that is prohibited activity.

In practice, a 税理士 relationship for a small operator usually covers:

  • Preparing and filing your 確定申告 (sole proprietor) or corporate tax return (法人)
  • Consumption tax filings, which matter more since the invoice system started
  • Reviewing or doing your bookkeeping
  • Advice on depreciation, deductions and timing
  • Being on your side in a 税務調査 (tax audit)

When Do You Actually Need One?

If your situation is simple, you probably don’t need a tax accountant. Think one freelance income stream, no employees, no real estate, and the Blue Return (青色申告) with standard accounting software. The e-Tax system has improved a lot, and the 税務署 runs free consultation periods, especially around February and March.

In my experience, the tipping points are:

  1. You’ve incorporated. Corporate returns (法人税, local corporate taxes, consumption tax) are a different level of complexity. Most 合同会社 or 株式会社 owners I know use an accountant.
  2. You own hospitality property. Depreciation schedules for building vs. equipment vs. furnishings, renovation capex vs. repairs, and the eventual tax on a sale are all places where small mistakes compound for years.
  3. You operate across multiple tax jurisdictions. Accommodation-tax rules vary by prefecture and municipality. Through March 31, 2027, Tokyo Metropolis taxes hotel and ryokan stays at ¥100 per person per night for accommodation charges of ¥10,000 to under ¥15,000 and ¥200 for ¥15,000 or more. Charges below ¥10,000 are exempt, and minpaku and 簡易宿所 aren’t covered yet. From April 1, 2027, the tax expands to 簡易宿所 and minpaku and becomes 3% of the accommodation charge (as Tokyo’s rules define it), with charges below ¥13,000 exempt. Kyoto City generally taxes paid accommodation regardless of how low the room charge is, using tiered brackets. Its exemptions include qualifying school-trip participants and accompanying personnel. Osaka Prefecture has its own banded structure with a tax-free floor. A 税理士 doesn’t necessarily handle the remittance, but the accounting has to reflect it correctly.
  4. You become (or expect to become) liable for consumption tax, or you plan to register as a qualified invoice issuer.
  5. Your time is worth more elsewhere. If doing your own books eats two weekends a month in high season, the maths can favour paying someone.

How Are 税理士 Fees Structured?

Most tax accountants charge some combination of three things:

  • 顧問料 (monthly retainer): ongoing access for questions, periodic reviews and sometimes monthly bookkeeping checks.
  • 決算料 / 申告料 (year-end and filing fee): a one-off fee for closing the books and filing the return, often equal to several months of retainer.
  • 記帳代行 (bookkeeping service): they enter your transactions. This is usually priced by transaction volume, so it can add up as your volume grows.

Some firms offer “spot” filing-only plans for sole proprietors, where you hand over organized books once a year and they prepare and file the return. Others will only work on retainer. Prices vary a lot by region, firm size and how complex your situation is, so the only reliable number is the quote you get for your own case.

In the quotes I’ve seen myself, the state of the records has made a real difference to the price. A firm quoting for someone who arrives with categorized, digitized expense data is pricing a different job from one quoting for a carrier bag of thermal-paper receipts.

How Do You Compare Quotes Without Overpaying?

Compare scope first, price second. It’s the same lesson we learned comparing contractor quotes for property maintenance, where one quote’s single line is another’s fifteen. Accountant quotes are sliced differently in the same way. Before you compare totals, ask each firm:

  • Is the year-end fee included in the retainer, or billed separately?
  • Is consumption tax filing included?
  • Is the 償却資産 (depreciable asset) declaration included where required? It covers qualifying business assets you own on January 1.
  • If you pay salaries, is the annual 年末調整 (year-end payroll adjustment) included?
  • How many meetings per year? Are email and chat questions unlimited?
  • Is audit representation included, or billed by the day?
  • What bookkeeping format do they accept? Can they work with your accounting software’s exports?

Two quotes with similar headline numbers can differ a lot once you lay those answers side by side. The cheapest quote can turn out to be the most expensive when every extra is billed by the item.

How Do You Reduce What You Pay?

One practical way to reduce the bill is to do the boring part yourself: capture and categorize receipts as they happen.

This is partly why we built Reshito. Our own receipts were piling up across properties, and the cost of “sorting it out later” kept landing on the accountant’s invoice. Scanning and categorizing receipts can simplify bookkeeping and cut down the processing work, whether you do it or your 税理士 does. Retention is a separate matter. Keep paper originals unless the applicable scanner-storage requirements are met. Electronically received transaction records must be kept under the applicable electronic-transaction rules. Extracted fields on their own don’t establish compliance.

A few other things help:

  • Keep business and personal accounts strictly separate. Untangling them is billable time.
  • Export your OTA payout reports monthly instead of reconstructing them in February.
  • Keep a simple fixed-asset list with purchase date, cost and description, so depreciation isn’t archaeology.
  • Ask your accountant which tasks they’d like you to take over. Some may lower the fee if you do the data entry.

FAQ

Q: Can I file my own 確定申告 as a foreigner running a guesthouse?

Yes. Nothing stops a resident from self-filing, and e-Tax supports it. Whether you should depends on complexity. Property depreciation and multiple accommodation-tax jurisdictions are examples of reasons to seek professional help.

Q: Is a “tax consultant” without a 税理士 licence allowed to file for me?

Generally, no. Subject to statutory exceptions, preparing returns or giving individualized tax advice for others as a business is restricted to registered 税理士 and tax-accountant corporations, whether paid or unpaid (certain other qualified professionals can do so in limited cases). Check the licence. Registered 税理士 can be looked up through the Japan Federation of Certified Public Tax Accountants’ Associations (日本税理士会連合会).

Q: When is the best time to look for an accountant?

Before year-end. Firms get busy from January to March, and some won’t take new 確定申告 clients late in the season. October and November give you time to compare a few firms properly.

This post is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or tax advice. Please consult a qualified professional for your specific situation.