331 Japanese Crypto Investors Made $1 Million Trading Profits in 2017

The National Tax Agency (NTA) of Japan is up to date with the fact that 331 investors in the Japanese cryptocurrency sector made a profit of $1 million via trading, gaining over $331 million. This is a very important number for the government, because of the 549 individuals that declared non-working profits, which is usually gathered by investments in stocks, assets, commodities, and propertieswere  higher than a million dollars, 331 were related to virtual currency activities.

Reports from NTA states that towards the ending of 2017, 21.98 million in Japan confirmed taxes to the government, creating over 41.4 billion yen. The NTA disclosed that the overall taxes it generated last year increased over 3 percent from 2016, mainly as a result of the expansion in Japan’s economy.

This February, Bloomberg reported that the Japanese government hinted its intent to tax up to 55 percent on cryptocurrency investment, especially on individuals that have made more than 40 million yen, worth around $365,000.

Read more: Japanese Cryptocurrency Investors To Pay Tax Between 15- 55% On Profits

However, the Japanese government did not give further details on its policy on cryptocurrency taxes and investors confirmed their doubts in the cryptocurrency market.

At the same time, these are very good news for Japan. Its economy is stagnated since more than 20 years and virtual currencies are helping the country to prosper. According to an investigation conducted by Nomura’s bank, the increase in the price of Bitcoin in 2017 may have boosted the consumption in the Asian country.

“When some assets increase their value, it also means a higher spending from the consumer. This is known as wealth effect,” explained the team in charge of the investigation and conducted by Yoshuyuki Suimon. “We measured the wealth effect of unrealized gains in Bitcoin trading by Japanese investors since the beginning of he fiscal year 2017, and we estimate a potential boost in consumer spending of between 23.2 billion and 96 billion yen.” 

In regions like the US, tax agencies and local financial authorities previously challenged companies like Coinbase to chase down cryptocurrency investors to garner taxes.

However, in Japan, the NTA stated that all 331 investors declared their earnings from cryptocurrency investment to the government and it remains optimistic in regards to the voluntary tax declaration of cryptocurrency investors.

In mid-May, Financial Services Agency in Japan disclosed about the figures of Japanese consumers filing over three times the number of enquiries about cryptocurrency trading and initial coin offerings in 2017 as compared to the previous year, according to data released by Japan’s Consumer Affairs Agency (CAA).

Also Read: Financial Services Agency in Japan Observes a Spike in Cryptocurrency Inquiries

KryptoMoney.com publishes latest news and updates about Bitcoin, Blockchain Technology, Cryptocurrencies and upcoming ICO’s.