Japan's National Tax Agency: Tax investigations into cryptocurrencies in fiscal year 2024 uncovered 4.6 billion yen in back taxes, an increase of over 30% year-on-year.

The Japanese National Tax Agency announced the results of its tax investigations for fiscal year 2024 (July 2024 to June 2025) on December 11. The results showed that 613 on-site investigations were conducted against individuals involved in cryptocurrency transactions, resulting in the recovery of approximately 4.6 billion yen in taxes, an increase of about 31.4% from the 3.5 billion yen in the previous fiscal year. The number of investigations also increased by about 14.6% year-on-year. The National Tax Agency pointed out that cryptocurrency-related cases saw significantly higher tax recoveries per transaction and higher rates of underreported income compared to the overall average for income tax on-site investigations. Current tax investigations focus on the accuracy of profit and loss calculations, the completeness of transaction records, and the reporting of special transactions such as DeFi, airdrops, mining, and staking. If multiple domestic or international exchanges are involved, all profits and losses must be reported together; otherwise, it may be considered an omission in the reporting. Furthermore, the National Tax Agency stated that it has continuously strengthened the collection and analysis of data on internet transactions and introduced AI technology to assist in screening investigation targets. If an entity is found to have underreported or failed to file tax returns, in addition to paying back taxes, it may also be subject to late payment taxes and surcharges. The maximum surcharge for non-reporting can be 20%, and if there is intentional concealment or falsification, the recalculation tax rate can reach as high as 35% to 40%. At the tax system level, the Japanese government and ruling party are discussing adjusting income from crypto assets from the current comprehensive taxation to a separate taxation system similar to stocks, with a potential uniform tax rate of 20%, and the introduction of profit and loss accounting and loss carry-forward mechanisms. The relevant reform directions are expected to be further clarified in the tax reform outline at the end of the year. (CoinPost)