Your Car/Vehicle Tax Refund › Leaver's Guide


Your Car/Vehicle Tax Refund


 


 

Disposing of Your Car

If you are unable to find somebody to privately sell or pass your car onto, or it is deemed to have no value by a car dealership, you will have to dispose of it yourself. You will be liable for vehicle tax until your car is properly disposed of (the necessary paperwork is completed and the car is physically disposed of).

Warning: Don't try to 'dispose' of your car by ditching it at the airport, leaving it at the side of the road, rolling it off a cliff, etc. Even without licence plates it can still be identifiedas yours. Your home details are still registered in Japan and you will receive a bill for the disposal eventually.

If you bought your car from a dealer, this is the best place to take it to for disposal. If you didn't, there are many disposal companies and dealerships which will dispose of it for you (for a fee).

Necessary documents include:
  • Vehicle Inspection Certificate
  • Front and Rear Licence Plates
  • Certificate of Disposal (from the disposal company, or necessary documents from the licensingcentre if you dispose of it yourself)
  • Your Inkan and Proof of Inkan Registration (obtainable from city hall)
  • A Letter of Attorney, if you are authorising the disposal company to take care of the paperwork.

Selling Your Car Privately

The mere act of selling your car to another person (another JET for example) is not enough to absolve you of responsibility for it. It will not be off your hands until the new owner registers the transfer of ownership. There are several documents necessary for the transfer registration:

Document: Japanese: Romaji:
ApplicationForm (OCR#2 sheet) OCR シート OCR Shiito
Receipt for Payment of Registration Fee 手数料納付書 Tesuuryou noufusho
Proof of Transfer of Car Ownership 譲渡証明書 joutoshoumeisho
Certificate of Proof ofInkan Registration 印鑑証明書 inkanshoumeisho
Certificate of Proof of Address 使用者の住所を証する書面 shoyoushanojusho wo shousuru shomen
Certificate of Proof of Parking Space 自動車保管場所証明書 jidousha hokan basho shoumeisho
Receipt of Automobile Tax Paid 自動車税納付証明書 jidoushazei noufu shoumeisho shaken sho
Certificate of Vehicle Inspection 車検書 shakensho

The buyer may also need certain documents from you too. You will almost certainly have to Inkan some documents, so leave plenty of time to do this before you return home.

Obtaining a Vehicle Tax Refund

If you dispose of your car before leaving Japan, you will be entitled to claim back most of the tax you paid in April/May. Once the disposal is complete, take the Certificate of Disposal to the place where you paid the original tax to claim a refund. Again, do not wait until the last minute to complete this as the process may take time.