If you’re an American living and working in Japan, tax time is just about here. Even though you will probably owe no taxes–you get an automatic $80,000 exemption, and a $3,200 deduction for yourself in addition–you must file or lose the exemption! It’s not too late, though–we get an automatic extension until June 15th. You should have gotten your tax forms by now in the mail, if you’ve filed taxes from Japan before. If not, you can get your tax forms here as printable PDF files. Unless you make more than $80,000, you’ll just need forms 1040 and 2555. By the way, the 2005 yen-dollar exchange rate was 110.11 yen to the dollar.

Alas, the U.S. government, after handing out so many hundred-billion-dollar tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires, had to go all penny-and-dime on us expats and closed down the minimally-staffed IRS office at the U.S. Embassy–meaning that if you need any official help, you now have to call the U.S. and wait on hold for an hour for the IRS rep to get to you, and probably even then they won’t know what you have to do. But, lucky for you, I did a blog post two years ago which shows you step-by-step how to make out your tax forms. As always, I do not guarantee their accuracy and you follow them at your own risk. I have to say that–I’m not a professional tax preparer or anything. It’s just how I do mine. And if you’re confused about how to fill these things out, the guide will probably help a lot. Mail it off by June 15th and you’ll be fine.