Visa Application Business Support

Solo proprietorship (kojin jigyo)

You can declare yourself as a kojin jigyo anytime, without any expenditure.

What are the advantages ?

Your losses can be deducted from your revenues when you do your tax declarations in blue form instead of white.
For these reasons, it is a very common form of business for restaurants, language schools, import/export companies and people working as freelancers or consultants.

What are the disadvantages ?

-Your liability is unlimited.

If you want to limit your liability, you need to incorporate yourself at some point with starting Kabushiki-Kaisha (K.K.) or Goudo kaisha (L.L.C)

-Less Credibility

In Japanese business society, corporate entity, especially K.K., is still credible form.

-Not suitable for "Investor/ Company Manager " VISA "

"solo proprietorship(kojin jigyo)" is available for persons whose status of residence are "Spouse, etc. of a Japanese national", "a permanent resident", "Spouse, etc. of a permanent resident" , or "Long-term resident".

If your visa is not the above mentioned, "Investor/ Company Manager" VISA is required, which need to meet finaicial requirement (equivalent to 5,000,000 YEN). In the case of "solo proprietorship(kojin jigyo)" , it is not easy to prove this financial requirement because your invest amount is not clearly decleared as compared to a corporate entity.

How do I declare myself as a kojin jigyo?

All you need to do is to go to tax office nearby, ask a form for Notice of Commencement of Business, fill it out and submit it to the tax office.

Corporate entity (hojin)

Incorporating business makes business liability legally separate from its owners. Two types of legal entity to start business are worth to consider, which are

Kabushiki-shore holding-company (K.K.), and
Goudo Kaisha (LLC;limited liability company)

Generally speaking, L.L.C is a suitable business structure intended for small businesses.

Check core different characteristics between L.L.C and K.K.
Differences of L.L.C from KK

1. All members must consent to amendment of the articles of incorporation, unless the articles of incorporation provide otherwise(In a KK, only a supermajority of shareholders is required.)
2. All members must consent to any transfer of ownership, unless the articles of incorporation provide otherwise In a KK, the transfer of shares is unlimited by default.)
3. All members are representatives of the company by default, unless managers have been appointed. (In a KK, only the representative directors represent the company.)
4. Major business decisions (such as large asset sales or winding up of the company) may be made informally. (In a KK, resolutions of shareholder and board meetings are often required for such decisions).
5. Members may invest any type of asset in exchange for their interest.
   (In a KK, non-cash contributions require an appraisal supervised by a court.)
6. LLC do not have the same level of prestige as reliable as K.K.s
   (Because KKs have traditionally required a larger capital and procedural investment)