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​Japanese Regulator Wants to Reform Crypto Tax Laws for Companies and Investors

The Financial Service Agency (FSA), Japan's primary financial regulator, has signaled its willingness to alter the country's tax regulations governing how businesses and their investors are taxed on their dealings with cryptocurrency.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has often said that Web3-related sectors have the potential to start an economic upturn, and the changes are a reaction to this pro-IT sector development push. Kishida has also made public statements this year supporting the reform of crypto-related tax regulations.

Some prominent lawmakers, including some in the government, have voiced concern that Japan's more onerous treatment of cryptocurrency as income rather than a capital gain for people is prompting a massive migration of Japanese businesses. Many countries' corporate tax codes include bitcoin as a taxable expense for businesses.

Businesses are required by law to report and pay taxes on "paper gains" or increases in token value relative to fiat currency. It implies that even if a corporation doesn't sell its tokens for fiat, it still has to pay tax on the gain in the value of the ticket over a year if it issues such a token and the value of the token increases.

In certain countries, businesses may not have to pay taxes on cryptocurrency holdings until they “realize” (or convert) its value to fiat currency.

CoinPost and Bloomberg report that the FSA has shown a desire to provide tax benefits to private investors in cryptocurrency startups. Investors on a smaller scale will also take heart from the FSA's stated intention to open up the Nippon Individual Savings Account (NISA) tax break program. This program may potentially exclude up to USD 2,900 in assets from capital gains tax.

From a crypto viewpoint, the cloud on this silver lining is unclear whether or not this will apply to crypto investments outside of the security tokens arena.

It is not required to comply with the FSA's requirements, and the regulator's ideas will be subject to examination by a legislative tax panel that will not meet for some months. However, the FSA undoubtedly has the country's single most substantial influence on crypto policy (other than the Prime Minister). Therefore, the suggestions will almost certainly be adopted.

Earlier this month, private sector organizations such as the self-regulatory Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association (JVCEA) pushed for immediate tax reform. The JVCEA and its allies also requested that Tokyo make filing taxes easier for cryptocurrency owners.

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