The ruling coalition's tax reform outline (19 December 2025) set the direction, and the amended Income Tax Act was enacted and promulgated on 31 March 2026. From comprehensive taxation topping 55.945 percent to a flat 20.315 percent — with a three-year loss carryforward. But the start date reads: "1 January of the year following the year in which the amended Financial Instruments and Exchange Act takes effect." If the FIEA amendment passes the 2026 Diet and takes effect in 2027, the new regime runs from 1 January 2028. Until then, current comprehensive taxation applies in full.
The design's core: where you sell picks the rate
This is not an unconditional cut. The regime covers only income from transferring specified cryptoassets through registered domestic dealers. The same Bitcoin sold on a domestic exchange can face 20.315 percent — and sold on a DEX or a foreign exchange, the old comprehensive rates up to 55. Where you bought is irrelevant; the route of the sale is everything. An asset acquired on a DEX and moved to a domestic exchange for sale can qualify; one bought domestically and sold abroad can fall back to progression. Whether niche tokens and DeFi assets count as "specified" awaits cabinet orders and NTA circulars.
Countries have always argued over what to tax. Japan's new regime taxes by which door the sale walked through — the rate's watershed is neither asset class nor holding period, but the registration country of the exchange where you pressed sell. No other schedule on this site has that line.
The transition, honestly
Trades of 2026 and (likely) 2027 are all declared under current comprehensive taxation — the enacted law changes nothing retroactively. Yet assets acquired before the start date appear to qualify if sold through the domestic route after it: the outline contains no carve-out. For long holders sitting on gains, the effective date is a genuine rate cliff. In parallel, collection rules making cryptoassets clearly seizable property take effect on 1 April 2027 — the reclassification as financial instruments arrives with enforcement teeth attached.
The honest read
- File the present under present law. Returns for 2026 and 2027 run on comprehensive taxation — the new regime cannot be claimed early.
- Start recording sale routes now. Under the new regime the route is the evidence for the rate. Which exchange, when, what — make it habit.
- Watch "specified" status for your holdings. Tokens without domestic listings may stay under progression, circular by circular.
- Design large disposals with a professional. Decisions straddling the start date span tens of percentage points — while pricing in that the date itself can still slip.
Why the line stays "watch"
The FIEA bill's passage, the cabinet orders, the NTA circulars and FAQ — the parts that fix the final contours are not yet out. Dates and skeleton settled; details pending. Updates flow through the change log.
A position note on a regime before its start date. It is not advice on your trades, and reading it creates no professional relationship.