Starting on a good footing in the second half of this year, Japan is governed by a new consumer tax law in which transactions with cryptomonedas no longer incur consumer taxes of 8%.
The Japanese government approved on Saturday the law exempting all the criptomonedas, including bitcoin, from the consumption tax. The Japanese Consumer Tax (JCT) is a tariff applied to all services or goods, and would be equivalent to what is known as value added tax; That is, a tax on goods and services.
Following the bill introduced in March this year, and the legalization of bitcoin as payment method, the cryptones will now be exempt from the Japanese Consumer Tax (JCT). This was confirmed by Yuzo Kano, CEO of Bitflyer, the largest Japanese exchange house by volume. "As of July 1, 2017, virtual currency transactions will be exempt from consumption tax," he said.
Kano said that not having taxes on the consumption of bitcoin in Japan would give rise to several important considerations, including a "psychologically positive" effect in the country, because the cryptonnet could be seen more as a "real currency". And it also points to a more open market, as bitcoins exchange houses will be able to buy bitcoins abroad.
However, although the law approved exempts the JCT from digital currencies, there are still other taxes that apply, such as personal income tax, capital gains tax or corporate income tax, according to the CEO of Bitflyer:
If the income obtained from the virtual currency is obtained at the individual level, this is (according to Japanese tax standards) treated as miscellaneous income and subject to taxes on aggregate income. For corporations, it is treated as operating income.
Yuzo Kano
CEO, Bitflyer
And this was not a solitary action on the part of Japan. Next to the Japanese country, Australia and the 28 countries of the European Union declared themselves tax-free with bitcoin transactions, on the same date.
It should be noted that the fact that bitcoin is now exempt from taxes in many countries, including several world and technological powers, could definitely push the adoption of the cryptonnet and even other altcoins more.
