GIT Park MU provides various support for foreign IT companies to set up their business units in Japan as means of a subsidiary company. Subsidiary company is a company established under Japanese company law. It is essential to have a legal entity in Japan in order to engage in any kind of business activities in Japan. The registered company is called a joint stock company (Kabushiki Kaisha).
Most foreign investors select Kabushiki Kaisha type to enter Japanese market as a subsidiary company. Subsidiary company is regarded as an independent entity from its head company abroad. So its liabilities and credits belonging to itself in Japan do not in principle extend to the head company abroad like other common Japanese companies.
Only one shareholder can establish this subsidiary company according to current Japanese company law. Your existing company or member of your company may become a shareholder. It is also possible to have more than two shareholders regardless of its nationality. However, it is necessary to appoint at least one representative director who is a resident of Japan regardless of his/her nationality. It is, therefore, possible to appoint two representative directors at same time, for example, one is a resident of Japan and the other is a non-resident in Japan.
Japan has concluded tax treaties with many countries for the purposes of avoiding double taxation of income inter- nationally and preventing tax evasion.
The provisions of tax treaties supersede those of domestic law. In determining the tax liability in Japan of individuals and corporations domiciled in a country with which Japan has a tax treaty, the location of the source of income deemed taxable income under Japanese law (specifically the provisions concerning where the income upon which taxation is based is generated) may at times be amended to accord with these tax treaties. Provisions have also been established in Japan for reducing the tax on, or exempting from tax, various types of income sourced in Japan.
Japan has signed tax treaties with below countries:
| Armenia | Denmark | Israel | Philippines | Switzerland |
| Australia | Egypt | Italy | Poland | Tajikistan |
| Austria | Fiji | Kyrgyz Republic | Republic of Korea | Thailand |
| Azerbaijan | Finland | Luxembourg | Romania | UK |
| Bangladesh | France | Malaysia | Russian Federation | US |
| Belarus | Georgia | Mexico | Singapore | Turkey |
| Belgium | Germany | Moldova | Slovak Republic | Turkmenistan |
| Brazil | Hungary | Netherlands | South Africa | Ukraine |
| Bulgaria | India | New Zealand | Spain | Uzbekistan |
| Canada | Indonesia | Norway | Srilanka | Vietnam |
| China | Ireland | Pakistan | Sweden | Zambia |
| Czech Republic |
Source: JETRO