A foreign owner closing a company and returning home — in what order do you close social insurance? Loss of status, the full-cessation notification, premium refunds and the lump-sum withdrawal payment

In short: an owner who closes a company and returns home closes social insurance in the order "employees' loss of insured status → your own loss of status → the notification that the workplace has ceased to be covered (適用事業所全喪届) → settlement (refund) of premiums → moving-out notification → departure → lump-sum withdrawal payment". What tends to stall after departure is the premium refund and receiving notices from the pension office. Both stall because "the company's account" and "the company's address" disappear, so the key points are to receive the refund before closing the account, and to decide on a contact (agent) in Japan before you leave.

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This is the story of a husband from Canada (a fictional case based on several consultations, the same as in Can you claim the lump-sum withdrawal payment after leaving Japan?). He had run an English conversation school as a company for six years and employed two teachers. He would stop recruiting students, have the teachers resign, dissolve the company and go home. His departure date was fixed, but "in what order to close social insurance" was not.

When an owner returns home, the company's procedures and the owner's own pension procedures run at the same time. Mix them up, and the procedures stall after departure. Let us take them in order.

What is the order, counting back from the departure date?

Approximate timing	Whose procedure	What to do
2–3 months before departure	Company	Fix the employees' leaving dates; file loss-of-status notifications within 5 days from the day after the leaving date. Employment insurance separation procedures
After all employees have left	Company and owner	Stop directors' remuneration; file the loss-of-status notification for the director (the owner). The day after remuneration ceases is the date of loss of status
After no insured persons remain	Company	Full-cessation notification for the covered workplace (within 5 days of the event). Attachments below
After the full-cessation notification is processed	Company	Receive the refund of overpaid premiums. Close the company's account only after this
Just before departure	Owner	Moving-out notification at the city office. Prepare the owner's lump-sum withdrawal payment (basic pension number, account certificate, power of attorney)
After departure	Owner	Claim the lump-sum withdrawal payment (within 2 years from the day after the moving-out date)
In parallel	Company	Dissolution and liquidation registration, tax notifications (the work of a judicial scrivener and a tax accountant respectively)

1. Whose loss of status is notified first?

As long as even one Employees' Pension Insurance insured person remains at the company, the covered workplace continues. Only when the employees have left and their loss-of-status notifications are filed, and finally you yourself as a director cease to be insured, does the workplace reach "full cessation" (全喪).

For directors, there is no such thing as leaving employment. You no longer meet the conditions for insured status once your director's remuneration stops, and the day after remuneration ceases becomes the date of loss of status. Decide when to stop remuneration by a resolution of the members' or shareholders' meeting, and keep the resolution document. This date later becomes the basis for the full-cessation notification and the premium calculation.

2. What date goes in the "date of full cessation" on the full-cessation notification?

Once no insured persons remain, the employer files the "Health Insurance and Employees' Pension Insurance notification of full cessation of a covered workplace" with the pension office. The deadline is within 5 days of the event.

One example of a defective filing given by the Japan Pension Service is how the date of full cessation is written. You write the day after the date of the event. For example, if the last insured person's loss of status occurs on 31 October, the date of full cessation is 1 November. If this date is left blank, or the date of the event itself is written, the form is returned.

In principle, one of the following is attached:

• A copy of the corporate register showing the dissolution registration
• A copy of the employment insurance notification of abolition of a covered workplace (employer's copy)

If you leave Japan before the dissolution registration, or suspend the business instead of dissolving it, you cannot provide either of these. In that case, alternatives are accepted, such as a copy of the notification of abolition of a salary-paying office, a copy of the corporation tax change notification stating a suspension or similar change, or a copy of minutes resolving to discontinue the business. Which you attach also changes how the reason (dissolution or suspension) is written, so check with the pension office before filing.

Whether to "dissolve" or "suspend" is a question of how to end the company, and the social insurance procedures can accommodate either. The dissolution and liquidation procedures themselves are registration and tax territory, so proceed in parallel with a judicial scrivener and a tax accountant.

3. When should you receive the premium refund? Before closing the company's account

Social insurance premiums are monthly and are due up to the month before the month containing the date of loss of status. Once the full cessation is processed, any premiums already paid for months that should not have been charged are treated as "overpaid"; a refund notice arrives from the pension office and the money is paid into the account designated by the workplace.

This is where things stall when the company's account is closed first. The refund is made to the workplace (the company), so without an account to receive it, the transfer cannot be made. Even if you are in a hurry to dissolve and liquidate the company, keep the account until the social insurance premiums are settled, or if you cannot, consult the pension office in advance about how to receive it. Whether it can be received in the liquidator's or an agent's account is a matter to confirm individually.

Conversely, if you leave Japan without paying the last month's premiums by payment slip, they remain as arrears. Payment slips are sent to the workplace's address, so confirm the final payment before leaving.

4. What happens if there is a gap between the date of loss of status and the moving-out date?

If your date of loss of status is many months before your moving-out date, during that time you become a National Pension Category 1 insured person and a member of National Health Insurance. Premiums are charged, and if the National Pension Category 1 period is less than 6 months, no National Pension lump-sum withdrawal payment is paid (nor is it combined with Employees' Pension Insurance periods).

Should you keep paying director's remuneration until just before departure and remain insured, or stop remuneration early and pay National Pension and National Health Insurance for the gap? Which is better depends on the amount of remuneration and the length of the gap, so calculate it before fixing the date of loss of status.

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5. Where do notices from the pension office go after departure?

The acceptance notice for the full-cessation notification, the refund notice and returns for defects are posted to the workplace's address. If you have left Japan and closed the office, they will not reach you. Before leaving, decide on a contact in Japan. If you have engaged a shakai hoken roumushi, they can, within the scope of the power of attorney, receive notices and respond to enquiries as your agent.

6. When do you claim your own lump-sum withdrawal payment?

Periods in Employees' Pension Insurance as a director count towards your own lump-sum withdrawal payment. The requirements, deadline (within 2 years from the day after the moving-out date) and what to prepare are as set out in Can you claim the lump-sum withdrawal payment after leaving Japan?. Two points need care for owners: not confusing the basic pension number or the account between the company's procedures and your own, and, if your home country has an agreement with totalisation, checking whether you gain or lose before claiming.

In the husband's case, his Employees' Pension Insurance coverage is six years as a director. Canada's agreement includes totalisation of coverage periods, so whether to claim is an individual calculation that includes his age and his Canadian coverage.

The order for closing a company changes with the form (dissolution or suspension), whether there are employees, and the time until departure. This article organises the order; setting individual dates and the entries in each notification are confirmed by a qualified professional after a meeting.

What can 四葉社会保険労務士事務所 do?

四葉社会保険労務士事務所 in Kohinata, Bunkyo-ku, takes on loss-of-status notifications for employees and directors, preparing and filing the full-cessation notification, checking premium settlement and refunds, acting as the point of contact with the pension office after departure (under a power of attorney), and handling the owner's own lump-sum withdrawal payment claim. Consultation is free. Fees are in the fee schedule, the overall picture including labour insurance is in When you close a company, what happens to social and labour insurance?, and the owner's lump-sum withdrawal payment is covered on Lump-sum withdrawal payment claims and in Can you claim the lump-sum withdrawal payment after leaving Japan?.

Whom to consult

Dissolution and liquidation registration is the work of a judicial scrivener; corporation tax, consumption tax and tax matters such as the notification of abolition of a salary-paying office are the work of a tax accountant. Procedures concerning the end of a residence status (Business Manager) are handled by 四葉行政書士事務所 (an independent business from this office, engaged under a separate contract), and matters in dispute are for an attorney. In every case, no referral fees change hands.

Frequently asked questions

Q. The dissolution registration will not be done before I leave. Can I still file the full-cessation notification?
A. Yes. If you cannot attach a copy of the register showing dissolution or of the employment insurance abolition notification, alternatives are accepted, such as a copy of the notification of abolition of a salary-paying office, a copy of the change notification for suspension, or a copy of minutes resolving to discontinue the business. Check with the pension office whether to state the reason as dissolution or suspension, depending on the documents you can attach.

Q. I am the only director. When is my date of loss of status?
A. The day after your director's remuneration ceases. Fix by resolution when remuneration stops, and file the loss-of-status notification and the full-cessation notification on that basis. For the date of full cessation, write the day after the date of the event of the last insured person's loss of status.

Q. Can the refund be received in a friend's or family member's account?
A. In principle, the refund is made to the workplace (the company). The surest way is to receive it before closing the company's account; if you must close it, check with the pension office in advance whether it can be received in the liquidator's or an agent's account. If you leave without checking, the refund is left in limbo.

Q. I employed staff. What happens to labour insurance?
A. You need the employment insurance notification of abolition of a covered workplace and a declaration of the final labour insurance premiums. The company-side overall picture, including labour insurance, is set out in When you close a company, what happens to social and labour insurance?. A copy of the employment insurance abolition notification (employer's copy) can also be used as an attachment to the full-cessation notification.

Sources for this article

• Timing of the full-cessation notification (within 5 days of the event), its scope (abolition, suspension etc.), and attachments (in principle a copy of the register showing dissolution or of the employment insurance abolition notification, and alternatives where these cannot be attached) — Japan Pension Service, "Procedures when a workplace ceases to be a covered workplace due to abolition etc." (updated 28 March 2025, viewed 20 October 2026)
• That the date of full cessation is the day after the date of the event, and that blanks or wrong entries require refiling — Japan Pension Service, "Common defects and errors in the Health Insurance and Employees' Pension Insurance notification of full cessation" (viewed 20 October 2026)
• Health Insurance Act Article 3, Health Insurance Act Enforcement Regulations Article 20, Employees' Pension Insurance Act Article 6, Employees' Pension Insurance Act Enforcement Regulations Article 13-2 (basis of the full-cessation notification) — can be checked on e-Gov (article numbers as given in the Japan Pension Service's guidance as of October 2026)
• Requirements, deadline and 60-month cap of the lump-sum withdrawal payment — Employees' Pension Insurance Act, Supplementary Provisions, Article 29; National Pension Act, Supplementary Provisions, Article 9-3-2; Japan Pension Service, "The lump-sum withdrawal payment system" (viewed 20 October 2026)
• That National Pension and Employees' Pension Insurance periods are not combined, and that the National Pension lump-sum withdrawal payment requires 6 months or more of Category 1 periods — Japan Pension Service, pension Q&A "What should I note when claiming the lump-sum withdrawal payment?" (viewed 20 October 2026)
• That the agreement with Canada includes totalisation of coverage periods — Japan Pension Service, "Dates of entry into force of agreements and social security schemes covered" (updated 27 October 2025, viewed 20 October 2026)

This article is general information. The dates and reasons stated in notifications depend on individual circumstances. Judgments that fit your particular circumstances are made by a qualified professional after a meeting. Written by Joji Uramatsu (Shakai Hoken Roumushi (Certified Social Insurance and Labor Consultant), Gyoseishoshi (Certified Administrative Procedures Legal Specialist), Registered Real Estate Transaction Specialist).