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Virtual Office in Japan

Virtual Office in Japan

The virtual office in Japan allows investors to create a professional business image, without having to maintain a traditional office space. A number of advantageous options and services packages are readily available to those foreign investors and/or foreign companies that need a professional business address in one of the main Japanese cities. When choosing this option, a dedicated team of professionals is available and ready to handle the business relations with their clients in the country.

virtual office in Tokyo will allow you to plan your budget in a more advantageous way, as this option will only mean that you will spend approximately a fraction of the costs associated with a traditional office. Moreover, the company will still have a high-profile presence on the market. Our team has worked with many investors during all of the stages of company formation in Japan and can help you if you are interested in virtual office services.

When interested in relocation matters, our team can answer any questions about immigration to Japan. Relocating a business and using a virtual office, or relocating as a self-employed or employed individual will broadly involve the same steps in terms of applications that need to be submitted, however, important differences will apply according to the purpose of your long-term stay.

Virtual office advantages

Are you planning on starting a new business in Japan? Or are you reconsidering your business model? Many companies have changed the way in which they operate in 2020-2021 as more employees were offered the option to work remote. This also means that upkeep of large, traditional office spaces needed to be readjusted as companies adjusted their budgets and restructured. For those companies that have switched towards a more flexible regime, the virtual office was an ideal solution.

Some of the most important advantages of the virtual office are the following:

  • – Lower costs: the company can reduce important costs that were once associated with lease, utility and maintenance payments, cleaning, equipment, and many more;
  • – Complete business amenities: the virtual office is a solution that still provides access to all of the needed facilities and equipment such as high-speed internet, printers, lounge areas, kitchen and others;
  • – Flexibility: both the business owners and the employees will enjoy the flexibility of the combined remote and office work;
  • – Productivity: with no more commute, employees will be able to reschedule their time and priorities and will likely become more productive.

virtual office in Tokyo is suitable for many types of companies. If you would like to know if this is a model that suits your business, you can reach out to our company formation experts in Japan.

A foreign national who intends to start a business and run it via a virtual office can also apply for Japanese residency, provided that he or she complies with the application procedure asking for the submission of a particular set of documents. The application is submitted to the Regional Immigration Services Bureau. You can find out more about residency based on investment from our team.

If you are a foreign investor interested in using a virtual office, our immigration lawyers in Japan can give you details about the residence permit.

The following video summarizes the characteristics of the virtual office in Japan:

Virtual office packages in Japan

The virtual office is a type of service that can include a number of options. Typically, investors have access to a standard package to which they can add additional services, as they may be needed occasionally (meeting room space) or by their business in particular (a dedicated company secretary, for example).

A key advantage to working via a virtual office in Tokio is that the standard service suit the needs of many business models and, in addition to this, the service remains a flexible one, with entrepreneurs being able to add services as they need them.

The Virtual Office package provided by CompanyFormationJapan.com contains:

  1.    A local business address in Japan that gives you a credible and risk-free base for corresponding with clients; this can be a virtual address in Japan;
  2.    Your registered office, mandatory for starting a company in Japan;
  3.  Mail collection and forwarding services – the mail and all correspondence is collected, packages picked up and sent to you according to your instructions and to your chosen address;
  4.    Incoming and outgoing faxes – you have the ability to use a local fax number; our team will collect the faxes and send them to you;
  5.    A local phone number in one of the main Japanese cities like Tokyo;
  6.  Voice mailbox – you can choose to have your voice messages forwarded to you by email.

As previously mentioned, all virtual office services providers in Japan also allow their clients to access additional services. These may be needed only occasionally, such as a larger meeting room, or as the business expands (additional office space, either in a common office space or as a private office).

Companies can choose to rent an office space in a shared space, where two or more businesses will also be present (employees will commonly work from a coworking space in this case) or choose a private office which, depending on the particular package, can accommodate just one individual or be suited for a larger team (and be rented exclusively by one company).

Working with an accountant in Japan is common for companies, regardless of the type of office they choose.

The office offered in a conventional package are serviced ones, meaning that they are located in an areas that is supported by the onsite team which takes care of the cleaning and the secretary services. Alternatively, one can sublet an office and this can be a suitable solution as opposed to renting an office space for long-term purposes.

Additional services offered by our team:

  1.    Private fax service if you need a dedicated number;
  2.   Call redirecting – receive all of your business calls to your primary number;
  3.    Bank statements collection and related services;
  4.    Meeting room usage, as needed.

In case you need a virtual office in Japan or other related services in the country, do not hesitate to reach out to our experts in company registration in Japan.

We remind investors that setting up their virtual office is not the only requirement for running a business. Other important factors to consider are tax registrations and the applicable tax rates, among which we mention the following:

  • – 30%-34% corporate income tax rate, including the local taxes;
  • – 20.4% withholding tax on dividends paid to residents and nonresidents;
  • – 10% standard consumption tax rate and 0% or 8% reduced rate (the equivalent of the value-added tax).

Choosing to work via a virtual office means that the company will be able to reduce other costs, such as those related to buying or leasing an office space, and it will also have a virtual address in Japan, along with the possibility to receive mail and packages at the physical office of the building in which the service is provided. In most cases, this is an office building with a central location, modern amenities and easily accessible in the chosen city, Tokyo or another location.

Choosing the registered address for the company is a mandatory step and it can take place as soon as investors decide to open a company. The choice to work via a virtual office can be made at this time, and in this case, the address of the office building where the virtual office service is provided ca be used as the company’s registered address. The address of the virtual office in Japan will thus be included in the company’s constitutive documents.

Those investors who are interested in setting a company in Japan can reach out to our experts to find out more about the process of opening a limited liability company. We can help you with an initial consultation so that you may choose the most suitable business option.

Our immigration lawyers in Japan can also give you details about the business visa.

Using a dedicated office space under a flexible regime can is advantageous for many businesses, not only in terms of the associated costs, but also because more companies are moving towards a different work regime that combines remote work with in-office work.

Contact us if you wish to know more about the advantages of the virtual office in Japan, the services provided by our team for this purposes, as well as how we can offer ongoing assistance to investors and entrepreneurs who open a company in Japan.

You can also reach out to us if you have questions about immigration to Japan.