Japan Bitcoin Regulation for 2017
Japan Bitcoin Regulation
Japan Bitcoin Regulation will take place in 2017 and it wants to drop an 8% sales tax on Bitcoin purchases.
This move will take effect in July 2017, according to a document published by CoinDesk.
Although the proposal has yet to be approved by senior Japanese government, an annual tax document written by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the Komeito party was revealed today. Thanks to this document now we know more details on the proposal suggested back in October by the Ministry of Finance and the Financial Services Agency.
The tax remains in place today.
If approved by the Cabinet, the plan will institute a period of grace in June 2017, with the tax exemption becoming official the following month.
The document just released is the result of discussions among government stakeholders first reported by the regional news service called Nikkei.
Local startups have already responded positively to this Japan Bitcoin regulation.
CEO of exchange service Quoine, Mike Kayamori, commented that the plan to drop the sales tax was expected, but it represents a good message to the cryptocurrency community.
Kayamori explained to CoinDesk:
“It’s a huge relief for us. Customers don’t have to pay tax for each transaction. Hope this becomes standard practice.”
This move follows a very busy year for Japan on the exchange front, as the government decided to request registration for all the companies that handle bitcoin sales within the Japanese country.
Discussions around exchange regulation began last year when government ministers tried to obtain information from exchange services.
Also, a deliberations took place last year because of the collapse of Mt Gox, a bitcoin exchange imploded in 2014, causing hundreds of millions of dollars lost by the exchange users.
Document originally shared by CoinDesk.com on Scribd. Unfortunately it is available only in Japanese language.
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Russia Bitcoin recognized by tax authorities
The uncertainties about the relationship Russia Bitcoin were finally disappeared.
In an official document published a few days ago on November 29th Russia’s federal tax service expressed its new position regarding the legality of Bitcoin use and transactions.
In fact, the document finally explained that there is no legal prohibition of digital currencies in Russia.
Russia Bitcoin and uncertainty
For almost three years it was not clear if the Russian authorities wanted to ban or accept Bitcoin and introduce several penalties.
Somewhere during this period, the Russian ministry of finance commented about the possibility of a four years imprisonment introduction for people involved in the Bitcoin use.
Also, even bank officials sentenced to seven years in prison and banned from holding certain positions.
However, Russian authorities changed their idea and gave the ministry of finance a new directive to write a law on Bitcoin.
For Russia Bitcoin is a foreign currency
The federal tax service’s document affirms the legality of Bitcoin and indicates that all trading operations related to Bitcoin and any other digital currency are to be considered as foreign and external securities.
In fact, this document essentially defines the buying and selling of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies a monetary transaction.
Bitcoin for Money laundering and terrorism
However, the document also explained that Russian authorities will investigate about people who use Bitcoin for money laundering and terrorism.
Even if this calls for KYC and AML from exchanges is yet to be clarified by the Russian government as there are more interpretations that are yet to be communicated.
Source: Coindesk.com
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