How can I keep my U.S. investment portfolio and continue buying stocks if I move to Japan…?

[hark]

@christianzealot4 for Japanese citizens and others with tax residency, you will owe Japanese taxes on your global income including from the sale of stocks.

Your income from selling stocks from a Japanese perspective will be based on the purchase cost of the underlying assets. So if, for instance, you bought AAPL in December 1995, you paid 0.25cents/share (https://www.statmuse.com/money/ask/apple-stock-price-1995). If you moved to Japan in 2024 and then sold it the day after, each share would be worth $183.

If you don't rebase, you would be responsible for taxes from

($183 * 155 Yen/$) - ($0.25* 100 Yen/$) = 28340 yen / share.

(1995 exchange rate was about 100 yen / dollar https://www.poundsterlinglive.com/b...rical-spot-exchange-rates/usd/USD-to-JPY-1995 )

and you'd still be on the hook in the US as a permanent resident for US capital gains taxes (credit to give you the lower of the two effective rates).

conversely if you rebased your portfolio by selling it and rebuying things (hard to buy the exact same thing due to a "wash-sale" rules on exchanges), then the cost basis Japan would see would be ($183 * 155 Yen / $) instead -- making you much less taxed in Japan.

 

[christianzealot4]

@hark wow this was so informative, thank you!

I just did some math, and unfortunately most of the stocks I bought are from 2020-2021 when I came into the market hot thinking I knew what I was doing after watching a few youtubers. TLDR they are all down by about 40%, sometimes more. Most of my positions are down enough where I am not making any gains even in Japan after doing the current dollar to yen conversion rate. Sucks my portfolio did so poorly but I guess it is good in this context lol.

Would you still recommend rebasing my portfolio in my situation...?

Also, do you have any recommendations for managing a portfolio in my situation (U.S. expat, based in Japan) where the tax situation is the most simple/cheap...? Owing taxes to both countries sucks, plus the work required to file for both is also a headache.

Last question, if the U.S. terminates my green card (I applied for a re-entry permit so I should at the very least be good for another 2 years) would I have to sell off my American portfolio, or is there a way to transport it safely to a brokerage in Japan...?

 

[hark]

@christianzealot4 I'm not an expert on this but if you're staring at yen losses, I don't see any benefit to rebasing.

also eager to be corrected by people who know better but my sense is that most (IB excluded) Japan brokerages won't touch a transfer of stocks from abroad.

 

[christianzealot4]

@hark got it, will look into IB. Thanks !

 

[nieceebarbie01]

@christianzealot4 Schwab switched me to Schwab international when I started using my Japanese address. I have had no problems in 20+ years. However, looking at website, they won’t let you open a new Schwab international account from Japan. I don’t know if something changed or if it has always been like that and I was “approved” because I already had a Schwab domestic account.

 

[resjudicata]

@christianzealot4 Ibkr

 

[christianzealot4]

@resjudicata I've been reading on other posts about this... do you by chance know the difference between having an account on schwab/E*TRADE/vanguard...etc. as an expat in Japan vs being on IBKR in Japan...?

 

[ethzz]

@christianzealot4 Besides those mentioned, I've read that Vanguard is another option.

 

[catqueen]

@christianzealot4 How about opening an account with IBKR Japan and ACATS transferring the holdings?

 

[resjudicata]

@christianzealot4 Well if you already have a brokerage account in the US then your fine . Just don’t update your address to Japan because they will force you to close your account . I switched to ibkr because I didn’t want to deal with taxes in the US and filing them from Japan . I just file my taxes in Japan through a tax accountant for any realized gains .
I’ll be here long term so it’s just simpler for me

 

[foxhound21136]

@christianzealot4 Do you have a close family member you can use their address? that’s what I do

 

[christianzealot4]

@foxhound21136 yea my mother can probably help. thank you!

 

[ninjakid]

@christianzealot4 Move it to E*trade or Schwab.