Bitcoin Forum

Japan exempts bitcoin from Consumption Tax

The exemption from Japan’s 8% indirect tax regime recognizes bitcoin as a private currency used for the exchange of goods or services, and that the currencies hold no intrinsic value. The measure has come into force from 1 July 2017.

Traders of bitcoin will though remain liable to tax on their gains – capital gains tax or corporate income tax.

Australian's New Budget Includes a Bitcoin Tax Cut

Australia has officially confirmed it will treat Bitcoin “just like money” from this year and it will no longer be subject to double taxation.

http://www.vatlive.com/vat-news/japan-exempts-bitcoin-from-consumption-tax/
http://www.budget.gov.au/2017-18/content/glossies/factsheets/html/FS_innovation.htm

This is really a big news for the Australian bitcoiners , because with the declaration of the legalisation of the Bitcoin in the Japan many people entered in this work and accepted the Bitcoin as the payment but a big tax system was really and also currently a problem for small bitcoinet payment accepter .
But here no indirect tax system in the Australia , is really showing what the Australian bitcoiner can do with Bitcoins , because they can use like the simple currency where we don't much need to pay high fee for the to use as the tax .
Well here I am waiting for the rules to use Bitcoin in my own country , whether they will apply big tax or small :)

It's not booming and it won't ever come to something along these lines, think about it from the governments point of view. Do you really think that these people are going to give up the FULL control that they have over their currency and their country overall, no, they're not going to do this and give the people the rights to this sort of thing back. That'd be dumb of them and completetly foolish, they're going to want full control and they're not going to lay off the regulations.

The only time that I can see them laying off is going to have to be the time when they don't see these crypos and Bitcoin as a threat, once it is and it does cause an issue to people they're going to go in for the killshot on them and regulate and tax the fuck out of everything bitcoin, sucks but that's what's going to happen. We'll just have to sit around and see it happen, nothing we can do.

This is a great news. Once people used bitcoin for the tax evasion purpose, now government itself providing with freedom on tax for bitcoin usage is appreciable. Expect every country have the same mentality to think in such a manner and make people get a bigger and better benefit using bitcoin and making a growth in country's economy.

i don't really understand what you are trying to say here that is related to this news!
the tax laws regarding bitcoin has changed as you can see in the links that i provided. you can also google to find more information or read the .gov link above.
it is not 100% removed, it is instead a more relaxed and friendly taxation that is mostly applied to trading not when you use bitcoin as a currency.

I can feel the effects of the removal of taxes directly. People used to dodge taxes by trading p2p so that nobody can really say that you're trading bitcoin because everything in done behind a screen, but now they can buy from businesses that sell bitcoin, with no additional cost.

The taxes were basically extras for the government anyways, they didn't deserve it... Like they were basically saying that bitcoin was a good, but the "good" was also able to buy other tihngs and you'd have to pay more tax to essentially barter bitcoin for other stuff. Did not make sense at all.

But seems like now they've come to their senses, and at least a few countries have done the right thing. Just wonder when US and China will follow, if at all.

I am so happy that the Australian government is finally realising that Bitcoin is actually a currency. Living in Australia myself, I am really glad that now I don't have to pay double the amount of taxes anymore. I think it will really help the Australian Bitcoin community and people won't have to hide whenever they use Bitcoin because they don't want to pay extra fees. This should also attract more users from Australia as people will now realise that Bitcoin is just like fiat and they won't have to keep paying double the taxes. This should also place a better light on Bitcoin as less people will try avoid taxation.

All this have come into affect yesterday/today. A real game changer in my opinion.

Japan and australia have never been seen before as major bitcoin buyers or sellers, or in general a big influence on the bitcoin market like china at all. But now that unfair taxes have been lifted, i see real potential with both these markets, with Japan leading the way with a lot of the new tech stuff, and australia a stable and slowly growing economy. China is slowly fading as the leading bitcoin buyers imo.

And all because the central bank of china didn't do the best thing - legalize bitcoin like australia, india and japan has done.

i think it is safe to say that we owe it all to the Japanese. they started this movement on this scale. before all you could hear was mostly talk and negative talk. but after the Japanese government announced bitcoin as a legal method of payment everyone is now trying to get on the same train. it is like a competition of who adopts bitcoin more :)

Ooooo this is really good news. I can see bitcoin and other crypto booming in Japan really soon. I mean come on, no tax!!! Unfortunately I don't see this happening on most countries though, especially the more corrupt ones. Anyway, I hope other countries take note of this since Japan is also a major country.

I guess this gives people a reason now to adopt Bitcoin, for tax evasion. :) I mean, they also have no way of tracking down Bitcoin movements in and out of the country right? I don't see how they can tax on every Bitcoin transaction. Even if US wanted their citizens to declare their Bitcoins, who would?

Glad that Bitcoin is gaining recognition, and now Bitcoin may be used by large companies or billionaires in the near future. :D

You dont get it, by declaring it a currency it gives the government an easier time and a clearer perspective on what to do if they think a BTC user has allegedly broken some laws. This is also just the beginning. BTC as a currency is easier to regulate.

If you think that their government have no way of tracking BTC movements, you are wrong.

How can the movements be tracked? I know that they can check the IP addresses and link the transactions, but lets say if I have Bitcoin on a wallet, I remember the private keys and I travel to another country and use the Bitcoin. I can also have multiple IPs to prevent being tracked, along with using a mixing service to get even more privacy.

People can also send Bitcoin to other parts of the world in relatively large amounts too. Honestly, I am not that clear about this, so feel free to correct me. :)

And you want to say that the purpose of bitcoin is to enable the users to brake the law? That is one of the reasons why bitcoin has bad reputation. I don't think that regulation of bitcoin is something bad, just the oposite, it could help with many issues. And bitcoin has lost the anonimity long time ago, this has nothing to do with regulation.

there is no easy way of finding the IP address of you when you send bitcoin. and when you don't run your own bitcoin full node then it becomes impossible to do so.

the only way is to do chain analysis. and that means when you bought bitcoin the first time you submitted your documents and linked your identity with the bitcoin adress you have withdrawan to. and any other transaction you make from that address is traceable.

mixers help though. they make it nearly impossible for any chain analysis to work.

well they have no way if i buy stuff abroad, because they never know that i bought that thing unless they come here at my home, which is stupid and will never happen

the onyl way they can track you is when you reveal your identity by buying on a various shop online, with your address and everything


i guess it's not really tax evasion if it's declared tax free isn't it? you don't need to pay that is the new law, so you are not evading, this give peopel an incentive to adopt bitcoin, maybe they will add tax later when they see the usage increase

remind me of a marketing strategy, where soem company first offer you free stuff just to attract you as a customers and then make you pay more than before...

I heard about this news on Twitter very recently and was so excited for Japanese crypto enthusiast  and their overall public in general. I know people were hesitant to use crypto because of bogus regulations and taxes now the truth is revealed that Bitcoin is a legitimate form of payment.

Well, this will surely help Bitcoin become more popular among the common people and grow the crypto community. Why I'm excited? Because in the end, it's us bitcoiners that will reap the benefits from it. More countries need to follow the footsteps of Japan.

This has been getting to be a common news that more and more Countries showing interest on bitcoin as well several regulations getting initiated to support the better adoption of bitcoin. Now with the Australia's regulated tax cut on bitcoin will make more people go digital and use bitcoin. Hope soon more and more adoption happens making path for further growth towards the peak.

And now South Korea.
https://www.nigeriatoday.ng/2017/07/south-korea-prepares-bill-to-provide-legal-framework-for-cryptocurrencies/

Look at the great developed countries taking the lead in promoting bitcoin.

Aside from Australia and Japan, India is into bitcoin also. Ukraine is doing some steps in accepting bitcoin. The Philippines even has their central bank formally acknowledged bitcoin as a payment form. China is not into bitcoin but is into blockchain. News is that they will be creating their own crypto.

the best part of these news is the adoption of bitcoin as a currency.
they didn't remove any taxes from traders and investors! those people have to pay a lot of taxes because they are making a lot of profit. but if you want to use bitcoin as a currency and purchase goods you don't have to pay that additional tax anymore and that helps the adoption of bitcoin by merchants and "spenders"

and that is what we should always aim for. this real adoption as currency brings higher price not more adoption by more speculators.

In my opinion most commodities are subject to capital gains and not currencies, but I might be wrong. Do they class Bitcoin as a commodity or a currency, if they want you to pay Capital Gains on your returns from this investment? Bitcoin is supposed to be a alternative cash P2P payment network and not a store of value. People gets excited by announcements like this and they do not consider the implications of this for the future. < How do we need Bitcoin to be defined? Commodity or Currency? >   ^hmmmmmm^

Not necessarily. Korea isn't even taking out any sort of taxes here, all its doing is trying to regulate the bitcoin market in its country which imo does nothing good to the bitcoin economy at large. They are probably making people's lives harder by implementing new restrictions, and deterring people from using bitcoin.

Australia and japan on the other hand actually are trying to incentivise people to use bitcoin, completely opposite of Korea. It's great if a country is trying to incentivise its citizens into using better fintech, not good if they're just wanting to put new laws and bans around it, even though it generates publicity and recognition for bticoin in the media when they implement these laws.

They will remove taxes on buying Bitcoin, but they will start to tax on profits made in Bitcoin, then a lot of people will be in trouble!
Fortunately here in Germany the rules are pretty clear and only traders will get taxed on their profits.

I think in other countries, the governments will go after the early adopters at some point and start asking for profits, dates and trades.

It will be a nightmare to prove the profit and loss made on every Bitcoin movement, but if they want to hurt Bitcoin, they will do it.

Japan and Australia both activated their new laws on 1st July, i think. So similar timing, definitely good news for whomever living there that wants to buy bitcoin. Could actually result in a sizeable discount if you are purchasing bitcoin in bulk.


In a way, they're saying that bitcoin is a currency by removing the 8% VAT tax from purchasing bitcoin. But in another way they're still saying that bitcoin is an asset, you have to pay capital gains tax for it.

The thing is though, once you get your coin there is no way that the government is going to know how much profit you make exactly, and therefore it is impossible for them to accurate tax you. I believe that you shouldn't be taxed for holding bitcoin and making profits off it, because bitcoin is not like shares. It is currency.

It is really great to hear about all the countries that are supporting bitcoin and cutting the taxes,which is a surprising move from my point of view as i really thought that these governments will impose heavy taxes for the users,things are going smooth and well and hope these continue in the future.

All of this shows us the development and potential of bitcoin. It will be more acceptable in the future, I am sure. But to achieve that, bitcoin needs to overcome the coming event. On August 1, everything will be decided.

Now those are best countries and best government I see. Just imagine having complete bitcoin as your private currency and no one asks you where from it came and where is it going. So it just big time profit for the people leaving in that currency. It means they will never have to mix up things with their hard earned money by doing real jobs within the country and the money they are earning from the bitcoin which is over the internet. Thats cool.

Woo hoo! As an Australian Bitcoiner myself, I can't tell you how excited I am to here this, out of all the countries in the world, I can believe that my own country has decided to make Bitcoin mainstream.

I think this change will really give bitcoin the media attention it needs and change the way some people think about bitcoin. This should definelty mean more merchant acceptance, especially in Australia. We will wait until August the first where the future of Bitcoin will be chosen

This by no means makes Bitcoin mainstream in Australia. As much as I wish for that to be true, I just don't ever see Bitcoin becoming mainstream in Australia, and this is coming from the view of an Australian. If I was to predict which countries Bitcoin would become mainstream in, I would have to say Japan or some 3rd world countries. For Japan, the government would be the reason for Bitcoin becoming mainstream as they have so much support for it. But when it comes to other countries such as Venezuela, it won't be because of the government. It will be because of the people as they are getting mistreated by the government. Sorry to get a little off track there.

I disagree with you when you say that this change will change the way people look and think about Bitcoin. This doesn't really do much as people weren't really buying anything from stores in the first place with Bitcoin. I know that I only spend my Bitcoin online and not from actual stores, but from other people so I don't pay any tax. Also, I doubt this will mean more merchant acceptance, this doesn't change anything for the merchant as they were never the ones paying the fees in the first place.

Well, when you said that this won't change the way people will think about, I totally disagree with that. Since bitcoin is receiving this good surge of media attention, there is no doubt that people will be affected in a good way. With the power of the internet, a lot of people believe what is said on the news, and if their own country starts accepting bitcoin, I am pretty sure that they will also take a interest in bitcoin, which could involve more merchant acceptance, as more people would like to hop on the bandwagon.

But hey another Aussie, what state are you from?

Sorry, maybe this is a dumb question, but how does this reform of taxes mean that Australia now accepts Bitcoin? Also, I doubt that many people even know about this news because there is no reason for the government to spread it, why would they want to spread news about a currency that might take over their beloved fiat? We know about it because it has come up on different Bitcoin news websites and now here on this forum, but do you really think that ordinary people will be following Bitcoin news websites or be searching through the new budget to find things like this. Well I frankly don't think they would. And if people didn't know about this tax change in the first place, how would this change their view on Bitcoin? The internet is definitely very powerful, but if this news isn't being spread around, which it isn't, then it doesn't really make a difference.

Btw I'm from NSW. How about yourself?

Firstly it isn't a tax reform but actually a tax cut, which means a reduced tax amount. Taxes are usually very important to everyone, since they eat up a lot of your income usually about 30 percent to 40 percent, but with a tax cut on bitcoin, therefore bitcoiner pay a much lower tax, which helps saves money. That seems like a very promising deal for me. What do you mean how is this getting spread around. I didn't know this happen until I saw the post, which meant that the news is getting to people. All the 700 people who have read this thread are now informed about this, if not already. This is how bitcoin will get influenced.

I actually reside in Sydney by the way :)

Well first off, I never called it a tax reform, I just said that the taxes got reformed. They are two very different things. The definition of reform, as provided by google, is, make changes in (something, especially an institution or practice) in order to improve it. Whereas a tax reform is a huge process that can actually include tax cuts. Anyways. I don't know why you started to talk about income tax all of a sudden because the tax cut just took away double taxation on transactions. No one is getting paid in Bitcoin at the moment so we don't need to worry about that. When it comes to spreading this news, 700 people is not that much. Considering that barely anyone here is Australian and this will only effect Australians. If I had to guess, I would say max 10 percent. So around 70 people. When putting that number into perspective with the global population of 7 and a half billion people, that comes to just 0.0000000009 percent. Doesn't seem that great anymore huh? To top that all off, you say that the bitcoiner will now pay a much lower tax, but in reality, they will just be paying as much as someone using fiat.

I just read both articles and it's really very good news especially with the removal of Australia double tax on cryptocurrency where you will pay tax for the purchase of bitcoins and later pay tax again when you use it to purchase goods and services,  this is going to make lots of people interested in bitcoins now in Australia.

It is truly awesome to find out about every one of the nations that are supporting bitcoin and cutting the duties, which is a shocking move from my perspective as I truly imagined that these legislatures will force substantial assessments for the clients, things are going smooth and well and expectation these proceed later on

The news is like music to my ears it's pleasing. If there are people who may not be finding the news to be great they must at least appreciate the fact that the governments of various great countries are recognizing bitcoin and it's worth and potential at the same time. This is certainly going to arouse interest of the people of all these countries in bitcoin and that's definitely going to help grow bitcoin more. Great news for bitcoin and the entire bitcoin community.

The abolition of double taxation and the abolition of taxation are different concepts. Why should the state give up profits. Income tax is much more than 8% in arithmetic terms, bitcoin users will pay more. So I don't share your optimism about this.

Yes thats just right if they didnt regulate the usage of bitcoins and government is excluding tax from bitcoins its good because even though its their one of legal currencies its still decentralized lol

With these kind of developments each day, we are truly heading to the moon. This is a very good move made by Japan and Australia. I wish there can be a publication or popular global media outfit that always help generate such news so that the impact of such news can have effect globally. Sometimes, I tend to realise just the bitcoin enthusiasts ends up getting this info.

This is a really good news for bitcoin even i am also thinking it should regulate in my country . Finally bitcoin is also the currency its just a transaction mode i dont understand why government imposing tax on that. Really hats off for australian and japan government . Great going wish more country will adopt the same strategy.