1. Accounting (Source: Keiei Zaimu Magazine)
Financial System Council at the Financial Services Agency is examining the relaxation of listing requirements for emerging companies in “working groups which are related to the means of funding venture capital to new enterprises and growing companies.”
The government made some sort of reference to an American law, JOBS Act, which came into effect in the United States in April, 2012, encouraging the financing of start-up companies. In the Japanese version of this act, the government is now considering simplifying the required contents of internal control reports and financial statements from the past five years to two years, as a general rule. On the other hand, there are prudent concerns about deregulation; the government will come to a decision by the end of this year.
2. Taxation (Source: “Zeimu Tsushin Magazine”)
In our nation’s civil law (Article 900 Provision 4), the inheritance of an illegitimate child is one-half that of a legitimate child. However, on September 4th, the Supreme Court ruled that the provision is unconstitutional and both should be treated equally in Statutory Share in Inheritance.
With the above judicial decision, the revision of the Civil Code is planned to reflect equal treatment of both parties in calculation of inheritance tax. However, there will be no retroactive effect of inheritance tax before the Supreme Court reaches a final decision.
3. Labor Management(Difference in Dependent Eligibility Requirements between Income Tax and Social Insurance Regulations)
If your spouse is working part-time, how much can he/she make per year in order for him/her to qualify as your dependent? The requirements are different between national income tax and social insurance regulations. For the former, a salary earner’s spouse is qualified as a dependent if the spouse’s gross annual income is JPY1,030,000 or less (=annual net income is JPY380,000 or less). In this case, the spouse’s monthly gross income is roughly calculated at JPY85,833 or less.
On the other hand, as dictated by rules governing social insurance (Employee’s Health and Pension insurance), an insured employee’s spouse is qualified as a dependent if the spouse’s annual gross income is less than JPY1,300,000 (and less than 1/2 of the insured employee’s gross annual income). In this case, the spouse’s monthly gross income is roughly calculated at less than JPY108,333.
It is a common story that an employee’s dependent wife worked too much in December, beyond her allowable limit as a dependent for tax purposes, resulting in a significant increase in the tax deduction through Year-end tax adjustment. If you have a dependent spouse who works part-time, please keep this firmly in mind.
4. This Week’s Words of Wisdom
“If time be of all things the most precious, wasting time must be the greatest prodigality.” (Benjamin Franklin)
I realize life is going by like a flash. If I add this observation to the above words of wisdom, it becomes clear that “all of life’s results have a cause.” There is nothing superior to a steady effort and no one makes one’s mark in the world any other way.