Tax or not? Japan's parliament discusses Bitcoin taxation

According to Japanese media reports, Tsukasa Akimoto, a member of北条司秋元, proposed that Japan reduce the consumption tax on Bitcoin, and consumers who purchase Bitcoin would be exempt from the 8% consumption tax.

"I don't think we can do that," Hojo Akimoto asked Finance Minister麻生太郎during a budget committee hearing in the lower house of Japan's parliament.

I wonder if you could consider exempting Bitcoin from consumption tax, which would be more in line with international trends.

Taro Aso responded that "Japan is not the only country [to tax Bitcoin]," and cited Australia as also imposing taxes on virtual currencies, including Bitcoin.

However, there is growing opposition in Japan to imposing taxes on digital currencies or other virtual currencies.

Bad for Bitcoin dealers and consumers

As things stand, individuals who use Japanese yen to buy Bitcoin on Japanese Bitcoin exchanges have to pay an 8% consumption tax, which is similar to the tax rate levied on physical goods. Such a high tax rate will inevitably reduce the enthusiasm of Japanese people and Bitcoin enthusiasts to enter the virtual currency field. For dealers, this is even worse.

Although consumption tax is collected by customs when assets enter Japanese shores, Bitcoin companies or exchanges outside of Japan can still sell Bitcoin to Japanese buyers at a cheaper price. Although taxes are levied on imported goods, there is no dedicated regulatory agency to track the inflow of Bitcoin from abroad.

狩野雄三is the head of the Japan Digital Asset Agency, a group of the cryptocurrency industry in Japan. He said:

Japan is going against the international trend, and imposing taxes will undermine Japan's competitiveness in this area. We need to create a fair competition environment so that Japanese dealers can compete fairly with foreign dealers.

Last October, the European Court of Justice ruled that transactions in Bitcoin and other virtual currencies would be exempt from value-added tax (VAT). Among the group of seven major industrialized countries, only Japan taxes Bitcoin.

The collapse of Mt. Gox and the events surrounding its CEO Mark Karpeles have prompted the Japanese government to seriously consider regulating Bitcoin. Last week, Nikkei reported that Japanese regulators have proposed to treat digital currencies such as Bitcoin as a means of payment, which would make digital currencies legally equivalent to the country's traditional currencies. The Financial Services Agency (FSA) of Japan is reportedly considering whether to revise legislation to define digital currencies as "performing the functions of currency."

Original article: https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/japan-debates-its-bitcoin-tax/
Author: Samburaj Das
Translator: printemps
Editor: printemps
Source (translation): Babbitt Information (http://www.8btc.com/japan-bitcoin-tax)