The Consumption Tax Risks When Outsourcing Work Overseas 海外に仕事を頼んだ場合の消費税のリスク：国内と国外どちらの取引か？

Neurosis is the inability to tolerate ambiguity. – Sigmund Freud

神経症とは曖昧さを許容できないことである。- ジークムント・フロイト

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

When receiving services from overseas businesses, there’s a risk involved in determining whether the transaction is domestic or not.

海外からサービスの提供を受けた場合の消費税のリスクとして、国内取引なのかそうでないのかという内外判定の問題があります。

Incorrectly distinguishing between these can result in additional consumption taxes during tax audits.

これの区別を間違えると、税務調査で追加で消費税を払うはめになります。

I hope this blog helps you clearly understand the differences and prepare for any tax audits.

そのようにならないように、このブログを読んで二つの違いをクリアにして、税務調査が来ても大丈夫なようにしてもらえたら幸いです。

１.When the Service Location is Clear サービスの提供場所が明確な場合

For services, the determination of whether it’s a domestic or international transaction is based on the location where the services are provided.

サービスについては、サービスの提供場所で内外判定をします。

For example, let’s say you hired a Korean consulting firm for market research regarding expansion into Korea.

例えば、韓国のコンサルタント会社に韓国進出の市場調査をしてもらったとします。

The consulting firm conducted all preparatory work in Korea, and meetings and reporting were all done via a web conferencing system.

コンサルタント会社は、準備作業をすべて韓国で行い、実際のミーティングやレポーティングもすべてWeb会議システムなどを使って行われました。

In this case, since the services were provided overseas, it is considered an international transaction and is not subject to Japanese consumption tax.

この場合は、サービスの提供場所が海外となるので、国外取引となり消費税はかかりません。

２. When Services are Provided Across Multiple Countries サービスの提供場所が複数国にまたがる場合

Conversely, what if about half of the work and meetings were conducted in Japan? If contracts and invoices clearly distinguish the locations and contents of the services, these should be used to differentiate between domestic and overseas service provisions. In this case, the former would be subject to consumption tax as a domestic transaction, while the latter would be treated as an international transaction.

一方で、半分くらいは日本で作業やミーティングなどを行った場合はどうでしょう。契約や請求書などで明確にサービスの提供場所とサービスの内容が分けられている場合は、それに基づいて国内でのサービスの提供と国外でのサービスの提供を区分して、前者は国内取引として消費税の対象となり、後者は国外取引として扱います。

If such distinctions are not clearly made, the decision should be based on the location of the service provider’s base. In this scenario, since the consultant’s base is in Korea, the transaction would be classified as an international transaction.

そのように明確に区分されていない場合は、サービス提供者の拠点のある場所で判断します。このケースだと、コンサルタントの拠点が韓国にあるので、国外取引になります。

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