Is Your Cell Phone Bill Deductible? Tax Information for Foreign Entrepreneurs in Japan

Hi, my name is Taisei Koshida, and I am a certified public accountant and tax accountant.

I aim to assist non-Japanese business owners who struggle with reading or writing in Japanese. If you find the Japanese tax return system challenging, I can help you with your tax filings.

This blog may help if you are unclear about the deductibility of cell phone bills in Japan.

Cell phones are essential for business. I will introduce the deductibility of cell phone bills.

For Sole Proprietors

If you are a sole proprietor and only have one cell phone, there’s a chance you may be questioned by tax officers during audits if you use your phone partially for personal matters. If you want to be fully prepared for tax audits, it’s advisable to consider deducting only 90% or 80% of the bill as expenses, accounting for personal use. However, if you have separate phones for business and personal use, only the business phone bill should be considered deductible.

For Corporations

If you have a cell phone contracted under your corporation, separate from your personal cell phone, its entire bill is of course deductible. However, if you use your personal cell phone for business as well, you can deduct the portion used for business as an expense.

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