Thanks for the advice.
Fortunately (unfortunately?) none of those gifts were large sums.
The gifts I'm talking about are £10 here, £20 there, over a number of years, for birthdays, Christmas etc... Am thinking that I'll probably be safe from the taxman in this case.
Also, the money is just in a current account in the UK, so the amount of interest earned shouldn't be troubling the taxman either.
Tbh, he/she should be thanking me for saving him all that work!
Those points are definitely worth bearing in mind though, may well come in handy in the future, so thanks again!
wiring money to Japan from the US
Re: wiring money to Japan from the US
I am a US citizen and long-term Japan resident. I have been a customer of both financial institutions involved in these transfers for well over 20 years. I have started wiring money from the US to Japan this year. I have been surprised at how easy it it and there has been NO cost.
My US funds are at at Fidelity investments. They do not charge for an outgoing bank wire. My Japanese bank is Prestia (formerly Citibank). I have a Japanese yen account and a US$ account at Prestia. They do not charge to receive a bank wire. I have several times wired US$ from Fidelity to my US$ account at Prestia. The amount deducted and the amount credited are identical, no kidding. I find it hard to believe myself. I can then change the money into yen at any time.
The policy at Prestia should apply to any incoming wire. I don't know how common a free outgoing wire is. I didn't have to move any money around to get this arrangement, and it may not be worth it open new accounts to get a better rate. But free international transfers exist. It may be worthwhile to ask around and see if you can find one.
I know that US expats have a hard time opening brokerage accounts. I have owned the Fidelity account since before I moved to Japan. They know my true address and residency status. Luckily, they are not asking me to close my account. There are transactions that I cannot do, though.
I looked through this thread and didn't see Prestia mentioned. My experience with them has been good.
My US funds are at at Fidelity investments. They do not charge for an outgoing bank wire. My Japanese bank is Prestia (formerly Citibank). I have a Japanese yen account and a US$ account at Prestia. They do not charge to receive a bank wire. I have several times wired US$ from Fidelity to my US$ account at Prestia. The amount deducted and the amount credited are identical, no kidding. I find it hard to believe myself. I can then change the money into yen at any time.
The policy at Prestia should apply to any incoming wire. I don't know how common a free outgoing wire is. I didn't have to move any money around to get this arrangement, and it may not be worth it open new accounts to get a better rate. But free international transfers exist. It may be worthwhile to ask around and see if you can find one.
I know that US expats have a hard time opening brokerage accounts. I have owned the Fidelity account since before I moved to Japan. They know my true address and residency status. Luckily, they are not asking me to close my account. There are transactions that I cannot do, though.
I looked through this thread and didn't see Prestia mentioned. My experience with them has been good.
Re: wiring money to Japan from the US
I can second that about Prestia. When you set up an account at Prestia they ask you what sort of transfers you expect to do and what they could be used for. I simply told them there would moving expenses, rental subsidies, transfers for living expenses, salary payments, etc... up to 10,000,000 yen. After several transfers of relatively large amounts over the years (always done as USD to USD transfers for free and converted to yen within the Prestia account), I have never been asked anything about any particular transfer and all are completed usually in about 24 hours from being sent. I suppose as long as you stay within the parameters you indicate when you establish the account, it's not a problem as far as Prestia is concerned.
On the other hand, just as a test, I tried to send a $500 wire to my JP Bank account from the US and received a 13(!) page questionnaire in the mail (all Japanese of course) asking about whether the money came from North Korea and all sort of other ludicrous questions - requests for copies of my IDs and passport, etc... I filled it our and sent it back and received the money about 3 weeks later. JP Bank is not a reasonable option.
On the other hand, just as a test, I tried to send a $500 wire to my JP Bank account from the US and received a 13(!) page questionnaire in the mail (all Japanese of course) asking about whether the money came from North Korea and all sort of other ludicrous questions - requests for copies of my IDs and passport, etc... I filled it our and sent it back and received the money about 3 weeks later. JP Bank is not a reasonable option.
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captainspoke
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Re: wiring money to Japan from the US
That's good to hear about Prestia--another option. And I think Sony and Shinsei (my experience) at least have no incoming fee.
Also, I think when transferring between large banks/brokerages, they are very connected and there will be no intermediary bank fee.
Also, I think when transferring between large banks/brokerages, they are very connected and there will be no intermediary bank fee.
Re: wiring money to Japan from the US
Follow-up from my original question many moons ago. Perhaps this info may be of some use to others...
I finally did my first big international wire from the U.S. to Japan this week. Did an international wire from my USAA Federal Savings Bank to my Mizuho account. Had to call late at night Japan time to do the wire. The next day I got a call from Mizuho but wasn't able to answer. They called again the next day and wanted to verify a couple of things. Biggest thing was they wanted to know what the money was going to be used for and if I had any supporting documentation. One of the reasons I gave was house renovations and they asked if I had got any estimates yet. I had not. This time they allowed the wire to go through without supporting paperwork but it was made pretty clear that would not be the case next time.
After the call the funds appeared in my Mizuho account. So even though USAA told me it might take up to 15 business days, the actual turnaround was 2 business days. Might have got it the next day if I had been able to take the call from the bank the first time they called.
USAA gave me the option to do the conversion to yen on their side and quoted me their rate which I took since it wasn't clear to me what rate Mizuho would give. They have some info on their website but seeing how it was outside of business hours my assumption is that they would use the rate they had at the time they processed the wire. Was happy to see that the full amount got credited to my Mizuho account as they did not take out any fees. USAA charges $20 per wire and an extra $25 for international wires. So total fees were $45 USD plus whatever I lost in the fx portion of this transaction. All in all pleasantly surprised with the smoothness and the speed of the transaction. It's not the kind of thing I expect to do on any kind of schedule. May never need to do such a big transfer again...
My original plan was to wire directly from my Vanguard investment account but after inquiring about the process, it seemed a lot more painful. Here is part of the reply I received from Vanguard:
Vanguard charges a $10 wire fee for each holding you are redeeming from, however that fee is waived for Flagship clients. Your bank may also charge a fee to receive or accept a wire transfer. We don't charge a fee forelectronic bank transfers.
Request a wire transfer from a nonretirement account, to a new bank not on file >> If you are looking to wire to a bank not on file, let us know. We'll needto send you a "Redemption by Wire to a Bank Not on File" form in order tocomplete this. It will require a Medallion signature guarantee which is the reason this can't be initiated online.
You can obtain a Medallion signature guarantee from an officer of a bank, a trust company, or a member of a U.S. stock exchange. A notary public can't provide a signature guarantee. To be valid, a Medallion signature guarantee must include the words "signature guaranteed" and the words "medallion guaranteed," be signed by the guarantor, and indicate their title and position. It must also show the name of the institution issuing the
guarantee.
If you're unable to obtain a signature guarantee outside of the United States, we'll accept a U.S. Consulate Acknowledgement--a certification
affixed by a U.S. consular officer stating that you personally appeared before the officer on a specific date and verified your signature. An
imprinted seal of the U.S. Consulate, your original signature, and the title of the consular officer must appear on the certification.
Please check with your foreign bank to ensure that it will accept U.S. dollars. Wire transfers are unable to be sent in a foreign currency.
I finally did my first big international wire from the U.S. to Japan this week. Did an international wire from my USAA Federal Savings Bank to my Mizuho account. Had to call late at night Japan time to do the wire. The next day I got a call from Mizuho but wasn't able to answer. They called again the next day and wanted to verify a couple of things. Biggest thing was they wanted to know what the money was going to be used for and if I had any supporting documentation. One of the reasons I gave was house renovations and they asked if I had got any estimates yet. I had not. This time they allowed the wire to go through without supporting paperwork but it was made pretty clear that would not be the case next time.
After the call the funds appeared in my Mizuho account. So even though USAA told me it might take up to 15 business days, the actual turnaround was 2 business days. Might have got it the next day if I had been able to take the call from the bank the first time they called.
USAA gave me the option to do the conversion to yen on their side and quoted me their rate which I took since it wasn't clear to me what rate Mizuho would give. They have some info on their website but seeing how it was outside of business hours my assumption is that they would use the rate they had at the time they processed the wire. Was happy to see that the full amount got credited to my Mizuho account as they did not take out any fees. USAA charges $20 per wire and an extra $25 for international wires. So total fees were $45 USD plus whatever I lost in the fx portion of this transaction. All in all pleasantly surprised with the smoothness and the speed of the transaction. It's not the kind of thing I expect to do on any kind of schedule. May never need to do such a big transfer again...
My original plan was to wire directly from my Vanguard investment account but after inquiring about the process, it seemed a lot more painful. Here is part of the reply I received from Vanguard:
Vanguard charges a $10 wire fee for each holding you are redeeming from, however that fee is waived for Flagship clients. Your bank may also charge a fee to receive or accept a wire transfer. We don't charge a fee forelectronic bank transfers.
Request a wire transfer from a nonretirement account, to a new bank not on file >> If you are looking to wire to a bank not on file, let us know. We'll needto send you a "Redemption by Wire to a Bank Not on File" form in order tocomplete this. It will require a Medallion signature guarantee which is the reason this can't be initiated online.
You can obtain a Medallion signature guarantee from an officer of a bank, a trust company, or a member of a U.S. stock exchange. A notary public can't provide a signature guarantee. To be valid, a Medallion signature guarantee must include the words "signature guaranteed" and the words "medallion guaranteed," be signed by the guarantor, and indicate their title and position. It must also show the name of the institution issuing the
guarantee.
If you're unable to obtain a signature guarantee outside of the United States, we'll accept a U.S. Consulate Acknowledgement--a certification
affixed by a U.S. consular officer stating that you personally appeared before the officer on a specific date and verified your signature. An
imprinted seal of the U.S. Consulate, your original signature, and the title of the consular officer must appear on the certification.
Please check with your foreign bank to ensure that it will accept U.S. dollars. Wire transfers are unable to be sent in a foreign currency.