Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso speaks about a law that treats income from the crypto as income from the stock exchange.
In short:
Taxes on crypto
Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso says he is not convinced to reduce the tax rate on crypto trading in Japan to a flat 20% as is the case with trading on a traditional stock exchange. The reason for this is that many households are unable to invest in digital assets.
Japanese citizens and their assets
At a meeting of the Financial Affairs Committee of the House of Councils this morning, Aso disbelievingly said that of the nearly $18 billion of assets owned by Japanese citizens, about $8 billion is held in cash.
According to the Minister of Finance, this state of affairs is abnormal, and despite the fact that Japan is the birthplace of the cryptocurrency, there are still many cash companies in the country and citizens keep their savings in cash.
According to Taro Aso, it will be difficult to persuade the Japanese people and investors to start trading crypto so there is no need to reduce taxes related to investments in the digital currency.
Killer taxes
In Japan, almost all income related to the crypto industry (trade, loans or digging) is classified at 55%. Despite such high taxation for cryptography enthusiasts, the stock exchange industry is taxed at a flat rate of 20%. Dissatisfied cryptic investors are trying to change this state of affairs, but we can see that the Government does not even want to give this industry a chance to develop.
Angō Shisan and the future is hidden in Japan
Cryptographers are the reason for jokes for the Minister of Finance, as in Japan at the beginning of May the law replacing the term “virtual currency” with “crypto-assets” entered into force. Aso jokingly said that the word “crypto” sounds suspicious and mysterious, hence he proposes to use the Japanese word for stablecoin which is “angō shisan” using Chinese characters so that cryptocurrency has a positive connotation.
At present, the Japanese government is not convinced to trade cryptocurrencies, even though it is interesting in its own digital currency and is working towards establishing the CBDC. The situation in Japan is similar to that in China, holding the assets of citizens in the local market by force. The situation is likely to change due to the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies and the interest of the young generation in alternative investment methods.
