PSA → FIEA · JFSA · JVCEA
Japan
Crypto is moving from one statutory regime to another, and the tax treatment is moving with it.
Verified
These claims have been checked against the instrument or the regulator's own material. Where a position is unsettled or a rule is still in draft, the page says so rather than implying certainty.
- Diet passed the FIEA amendment July 2026; full effect targeted fiscal 2027
- Flat 20.315% rate is a separate tax track, projected 1 Jan 2028, for individual traders
- The rate covers specified crypto assets only — tokens traded via registered Japanese operators
- Corporate year-end mark-to-market exemption on long-term holdings applies from FY beginning 1 Apr 2026
Why this matters now
The Diet passed the FIEA amendment in July 2026, reclassifying crypto assets as financial instruments and changing registration, disclosure and conduct requirements for firms operating there. Full effect is targeted for fiscal 2027, leaving the FSA to draft secondary ordinances and exchanges to rebuild compliance systems in the meantime. The tax change runs on a separate track and is often conflated with it: a flat 20.315% rate for individual traders, from a 2026 Tax Reform Outline, projected for 1 January 2028 — and it applies only to specified crypto assets, meaning tokens traded through registered Japanese operators, not to everything a portfolio might hold. Japan is also one of the least-served markets — very few advisers combine crypto-native accounting with Japanese regulatory practice.
Who is in scope
Whether this reaches you.
- Crypto asset exchange service providers registered under the PSA
- Firms entering the Japanese market
- Corporates holding digital assets on a Japanese balance sheet
- Intermediaries caught by the new licence category
Obligations
What the regime actually requires.
Registration transition
Moving from the existing PSA registration into the FIEA framework, with different disclosure and conduct requirements.
JVCEA requirements
Self-regulatory obligations that operate alongside the statutory regime.
Corporate tax treatment
From the fiscal year beginning 1 April 2026, companies are no longer taxed on the mark-to-market value of long-term crypto holdings at year end. That removes a long-standing reason for Japanese businesses to hold assets offshore.
CARF
Japan is in the first exchange wave, so reporting infrastructure has to exist.
Dates
When.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Corporate unrealised-gain exemption takes effect for long-term holdings | |
| Diet passed the FIEA amendment | |
| FIEA reclassification targeted to take full effect | |
| Flat 20.315% rate projected — individual traders, specified crypto assets only |
What we do
How we help here.
- Transition planning from PSA to FIEA registration
- Japanese-language regulatory correspondence and filings
- Corporate tax treatment for digital-asset balance sheets
- Market-entry structuring for inbound firms
- CARF readiness
Sources
- 01FIEA amendment (passed July 2026)
Reclassification of crypto assets as financial instruments; full effect targeted fiscal 2027 - 022026 Tax Reform Outline
Flat 20.315% rate for individuals, projected 1 January 2028 — a separate track from FIEA - 03Japan tax reform outline
Rate change and corporate holding treatment
Does Japan bind you?
Tell us where you are established, where your customers are and what you hold. That is usually enough to answer it — and to say what is already late.