Although casinos in Japan are still not built, the country immediately suggested some options that would control how much its residents are gambling. One of the ways to do that is to track how many chips every Japanese visitor purchases in casinos.
Moreover, this would help the government keep track of the number of overall chips purchased to be able to impose a tax on casinos.
The tax system will mirror the system that is currently in effect for horse racing. They named it the “temporary income,” and it’s something that could work for casinos as well.
How Will This Tax Work?
Every casino will have the task of recording the purchases of gaming chips. Every single purchase needs to be taken into account, regardless of the place where they are bought.
In other words, it doesn’t matter whether players buy chips at a cash cage or a gaming table. All of them will be taken into account, according to the Kyodo news agency.
The number of chips will be converted to cash, and the tax will be imposed on all surplus amounts. However, the gaming regulatory system of Japan still hasn’t determined the exact rate of the winning tax.
Moreover, Japan also wants to ensure that all gamblers who are not residents of the country pay the so-called withholding tax, which is imposed on their winnings before they leave the Country of the Rising Sun. The same type of tax also exists in some other countries, such as the USA and South Korea.
The Future of Gambling Tax in Japan
If all goes well with the proposed tax plan, meaning there are no further problems with the proposition, the government of Japan could include it in the 2020 tax reform package.
The reforms would become effective as of April 2021. However, even when the tax system is reformed and becomes active, people will have to wait a bit more for the actual casinos to open as a part of the three integrated resorts.
Need To Have Casinos First
Japan’s lawmakers proposed building a total of three integrated resorts to open up Japan’s gambling market and benefit from the tax imposed on gambling. However, the entire process turned out to be pretty long, and there are still numerous things that they need to take into account to make everything as planned.
The first step is to give three licenses to three gaming operators. They can then commence building the integrated resorts in three areas in Japan that also win the licensing competition.
According to current estimations, the integrated resorts would open their doors mid-decade at the soonest. Until then, there’s a long road to travel and many things to change along the way.
One of the most important issues that lawmakers are currently facing is the general discontent of the Japanese citizens with the idea of having three big casinos on their home soil.
