Private limited companies

A private limited company can be a small or large business.

Under the current company law, one person can set up a private limited company. A private limited company has limited liability and these types of business have ‘株式会社(KK)’ or ‘合同会社(GK)’ before or after their business name in Japan. Only the trade name of a corporation can be registered with English alphabet, numbers and some symbols, such as “&(ampersand)”, “,(comma)”, “.(full stop)” and the like.

Any type of business can set up as a private limited company. ‘株式会社(KK)’ is likely to used for larger businesses, and ‘合同会社(GK)’ is for example, a(n) instructor, hairdresser, photographer, etc.

There is no such a big difference from both legal entities, but historically, ‘株式会社(KK)’ is a traditional form of a private limited company. On the other hand, ‘合同会社(GK)’ was introduced in 2016. The biggest difference is registration tax and notary public fee. Registration tax for ‘株式会社(KK)’ is 150,000 JPYen, and one for ‘合同会社(GK)’ is 60,000 JPYen. In addition, articles of incorporation of ‘株式会社(KK)’ should be notarised, which costs about 52,000 JPYen.

Private limited companies pay corporation tax. Corporation tax is a tax on the profits of a business. There is a lot of paperwork to found a private limited company, because the business has to register with the Legal Affairs Bureau, and file annual financial reports to the Tax Bureau.

I hope the information is useful.

I will update every Monday.

For more information

Japanese business consultant

Shihoshoshi Lawyer(Judicial Scrivener)

Akiko HORI

https://lawhelp4u.com/english/legal-advice-for-business-in-japan/