For a long time I excluded Japan in my list of countries I sell apps to; it’s a simple process in iTunesConnect. I did this because, two years ago, I read something funny about Japan and “extra forms” or something and I decided this was easier. I changed my mind six months ago, which didn’t really change anything since none of my apps were in Japanese.

Well that changed in December when I released my update to my Solar System Simulator app.

Marco Arment posted a link to a very informative article on how this works and how to stop the Japanese Government from withholding 20% of your app revenue. I checked and, in fact, I had lost over ¥ 800 in December.

It’s only about $10 in Canadian Dollars, but it’ll add up. And from a principled perspective, I’m being taxed when I oughtn’t to.