Japan: Bitcoin Not a Currency... But We're Not Sure
The Japanese Cabinet, this morning, declared that it does not consider Bitcoin to be a currency, reports Reuters. Japanese government says it may tax Bitcoin deals and impose regulations on its handling by the financial sector - details of which have not yet been specified. Not Our Job. There seems to be some reticence between Japanese authorities to address the matter of cryptocurrency. In today's statement the cabinet said: “Any bitcoin transactions are taxable when they fulfill requisitions stated by laws on income tax, corporate tax and consumption tax.” The Financial Services....
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Everyone in the Bitcoin community knows Japan has been a hub of activity. The largest Bitcoin exchange, Mt.Gox, was stationed in Japan until it collapsed and its CEO, Mark Karpelès, was arrested. But not everything in Japan related to Bitcoin has been negative. Nor have these incidents stopped the growth of Bitcoin. The Land of the Rising Sun has indeed....
This story points out how digital currency and cryptocurrency are not the same. It has been coming for quite some time now, but Japan is poised to be one of the first few countries issuing their own digital currency. With the Bitcoin value soaring as of late, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi will launch the currency as soon as Q3 2017. For several weeks now, there have been rumors circulating about Japan planning to legitimize Bitcoin as a currency in the country. It comes as no surprise to find out the country’s largest banks has initiated their plan to roll out a national digital currency....
Japan is taking the Mt. Gox collapse seriously and is already looking into measures to address the digital currency conundrum - one of which is to levy taxes on bitcoin transactions. According to the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper, Japan's ministry of finance and the national tax agency are studying "possible rules" that could govern digital currency transactions. It appears that Japanese authorities think purchases made with digital currencies could be subject to existing consumption and corporate taxes. Even though bitcoin is not recognized as an official currency according to the law, it can....
ENJ has been given the official nod by the Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association, a self-regulatory body.
Creating a healthy regulatory ecosystem for Bitcoin and digital currency will not be an easy task. The Financial Services Agency in Japan will soon present their plan to regulate this new breed of finance, although it will have little to no effect on the current way of taxing Bitcoin. Bitcoin is often frowned upon for its alleged lack of regulatory guidelines when it comes to using the digital currency as a method of payment. However, people tend to forget various countries around the world are treating Bitcoin as either an asset or currency and impose taxation upon usage of the digital....