Japan is moving forward with proposals to subject sales by non-resident providers of electronic services to consumers to the 8% Consumption Tax from 1 October 2015. The change comes as a result of pressure by local providers who are penalized by being subject to the tax on domestic sales which makes it more difficult for them to compete with foreign providers.
It is expected that the measure will raise ¥3.2 bilion per annum – approximately €22 million.The proposals will bring into Japan’s VAT (Consumption Tax) net app’s, e-books, streaming or downloads of games, music and film sold by platforms outside of Japan. However, the proposal will be confirmed in the 2015 budget.
