[Japan plans to tax overseas owners] On November 9th, Japan’s Ministry of General Affairs reportedly plans to incorporate relevant adjustments into the fiscal year 2027 tax reform outline being formulated by the government and the ruling coalition, and expand the scope of application of personal business taxes levied by prefectures on operators in specific industries to overseas residents. Under the current system, personal business tax is usually levied at a rate of 5% on the previous year's business income or real estate income, after deducting an operator's deduction of 2.9 million yen. Real estate leasing business must continue to operate and reach a certain scale before it is required to pay taxes. Japan’s national income tax system already stipulates that income derived by overseas residents from real estate in Japan is also subject to tax. However, the applicable regulations for national taxes and local taxes are different, resulting in differences in tax burdens. Currently, Japanese prefectures can only collect personal business tax from operators with offices or domiciles in Japan. Even if a domestic operator does not have an office, the authorities can still impose taxes based on the location of his or her domicile.