Do You Need a Tax Accountant (税理士) in Japan? A Guide for Guesthouse Operators and Freelancers
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.