According to the official news, Japan is intending to exempt bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies from a national sales tax.
The country’s Financial Services Agency – its top finance regulator – along with the Ministry of Finance are deliberating on a possible exemption, according to regional news service Nikkei.
Bitcoin purchases in Japan are currently subject to an 8% sales tax.
“Discussions between the Finance Ministry and Financial Services Agency are expected to lead to a formal decision after talks by a ruling-coalition tax panel at the end of the year,” according to the agency.
As the report informs, the government is planning to use legislation passed in May that classified bitcoin as a kind of prepaid payment instrument.
The service further quoted an unnamed representative from a Japanese bitcoin exchange, who indicated that the move would significantly cut administrative costs.
News that the government might be pulling back the sales tax comes months after a lawmaker from Japan’s ruling political party, the Liberal Democratic Party, pushed for such an exemption. In March, Diet member Tsukasa Akimoto pushed Finance Minister Tarō Asō to rescind the tax – a call that Asō reportedly pushed back on at the time.
The FSA and the Japanese Finance Ministry did not comment it.
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