Joetsu City Satellite Office Rent Subsidy

This subsidy program is operated by Joetsu City, Niigata Prefecture, to promote the establishment of satellite offices and similar business locations within the city. It provides budget-limited subsidies for the lease payments of rental offices opened in the city by businesses or individuals from outside the city, supporting regional business attraction, ICT-enabled remote office set-up, business headquarters relocation, new start-ups, and the expansion of existing local firms through new employment and additional office sites. Eligible applicants are out-of-city operators (or out-of-city residents starting a new business) who newly open a satellite office in Joetsu City, conducting business in one of the following Japan Standard Industry Classification categories: telecommunications, information services, internet-related services, video information production / distribution, design, advertising (limited to internet advertising), mail-order / door-to-door retail (limited to internet retail), or call-center business. They must have at least one resident worker (regular staff or new hire residing in Joetsu City) at the office, must not be delinquent on municipal taxes, and must not engage in adult-entertainment, religious or political-purpose businesses. The eligible expenses are the rental costs of the satellite office (excluding deposits, key money, similar costs and consumption tax). The subsidy amount is structured by period: from the opening day up to 12 months, the full eligible rental cost is covered, capped at JPY 120,000 per month; from month 13 through month 36, one-half (1/2) of the eligible rental cost is covered, capped at JPY 100,000 per month, with amounts rounded down to the nearest JPY 1,000. The maximum support period is three years from the opening day, and only one disbursement per fiscal year per applicant is allowed. Application requires submitting the Recipient Certification Application (Form 1) within two months of opening the office, followed by an annual Subsidy Payment Application (Form 5). Reimbursement requests (Form 8, business report-cum-invoice) for advance/concurrent payments are submitted on a quarterly basis (July-end, November-end, March-end). Required attachments include the lease contract, office floor plan, resident certificates of staff, corporate registration, articles of incorporation, and a tax-investigation consent form (Form 3).