Japanese banking chief laments ‘extremely slow’ crypto tax reform progress
A Japanese financial industry chief has expressed frustration on X, complaining that crypto traders may have to wait until 2028 before key tax reform measures take effect.
Quoting an unnamed political insider, the Japanese media outlet CoinPost reported that a one-year delay to the much-vaunted tax plans was possible, but was “yet to be finalised.”
“This is an extremely slow schedule,” wrote Tomoya Asakura, the CEO of the wealth management giant SBI Global Asset Management.
“Japan will lag behind not only the United States, but also Asia and the Middle East when it comes to [...] development.”
SBI is one of Japan’s biggest financial groups. It is also a major Ripple partner and operates the SBI VC Exchange.
Earlier this month, the firm announced plans to launch a yen-denominated stablecoin in the first half of 2026.
The news will come as a major blow for Japanese crypto investors, who had been looking forward to new tax laws that would put them on an even footing with forex and stock traders.
No parity for crypto traders
Regulators and lawmakers agree that Japan’s crypto tax laws must be changed. Currently, traders must declare their crypto profits as income, which means they must pay up to 55% on their gains.
The law does not allow them to offset their losses against their profits or carry them forward, as is the case for stock traders.
The regulatory Financial Services Agency, or FSA, this year signalled it wants to create parity between crypto and stock traders by reclassifying cryptocurrencies as investment vehicles.
That will allow traders to pay a flat 20% capital gains tax. Tax return procedures will also be simplified under the new system, with exchanges set to introduce tax-compliant systems that will let traders do away with complicated crypto tax returns.
The Japanese National Diet, the country’s parliament, is expected to approve an amendment that would bring cryptocurrencies under the umbrella of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act in early 2026.
Such legal revisions usually take a year to promulgate in Japan, meaning that crypto traders were expecting the new tax regime to take effect in January 2027.
“As a result of this,” SBI’s Asakura said, “efforts to introduce web3 and next-generation finance may experience further delay.”
Tim Alper is a news correspondent at DL News. Got a tip? Email at tdalper@dlnews.com.
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