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- 1 The Cabinet approved that Japanese firms are not required to pay tax on unrealized gains from cryptocurrency.
- 2 The Japanese government unveiled the new tax reform on December 22 following a cabinet meeting.
Previously, Japanese firms needed to pay taxes on paper gains from their cryptocurrency holdings. There is no such compulsion now and firms need to pay taxes only when they sell the asset.
The new tax reform will be implemented from April 1, 2024, which is the start of Japan’s financial year. The earlier law says that the cryptocurrencies received from the third party need to be reported by the firms and organizations.
However, corporations will now only be taxed on profits from the sale of cryptocurrencies. Retail investors must obey Japanese tax laws. Earlier, corporations recorded profits or losses based on the difference between market value and book value of crypto assets at the fiscal year-end. This mark-to-market valuation is excluded in the new policy if the asset is assumed to be held continuously.
Details of New Tax Reform
The 2024 tax reform outline was shared by the government in a document published on December 14. The country’s Financial Services Agency initially submitted the plan to scrap unrealized cryptocurrency profit on August 31.
The change in the tax laws will foster the growth of Web3 and it will also enhance the possibilities for new startups. This new taxation will also attract international projects. More endeavors in Japan will be attracted by this end to crypto tax on unrealized profit.
The increase in Web3 endeavors is reported with the collaboration of the Circle, the stablecoin issuer, and the team behind USD Coin with Tokyo-based financial services firm SBI Holdings to boost the stablecoin adoption and Web3 services in Japan.
Japan’s tax authorities found 548 cases of cryptocurrency-related tax violations from 615 investigations in 2022, an increase of 35% from 2021. On the other hand, the average value of cryptocurrency holdings fell 19% from 36.5 Million Yen ($245,000) in 2021 to 30.7 Million Yen ($206,000) in 2022.
The proposed tax code change is punching companies that hold cryptocurrencies as part of their business models to tax-friendlier jurisdictions like Singapore, Switzerland, and Dubai. The crypto and tokens held by the same company that issued them are not subject to this tax. The policymakers also confirmed a proposal to change foreign visitors’ taxation for purchases in Japan.
This change in the taxation code will bolster Japan’s crypto industry which witnessed the huge exit of firms in 2021. Now, the country hopes to draw more crypto businesses.
Summary
A notice from Japan’s National Tax Agency cleared how taxes will apply to crypto issuers for holding the tokens. As per the notice, the issuers will no longer need to pay the capital gains tax of around 35% on unrealized gains. It will attract new businesses to the country.
Steefan George is a crypto and blockchain enthusiast, with a remarkable grasp on market and technology. Having a graduate degree in computer science and an MBA in BFSI, he is an excellent technology writer at The Coin Republic. He is passionate about getting a billion of the human population onto Web3. His principle is to write like “explaining to a 6-year old”, so that a layman can learn the potential of, and get benefitted from this revolutionary technology.
