Japan considers ending tax on digital currency sales

The upcoming spring season in Japan could become more than just a season for cherry blossoms. It might also signal a new development for virtual currencies like bitcoin.

Japanese authorities are reportedly looking to end sales tax collections on digital currency purchases. According to the Nikkei Asian Review, members of the Finance Ministry and Financial Services Agency are discussing to “reduce costs for buyers and relieve operators of virtual currency exchanges of the administrative burden related to the tax.”

If the discussions are successful, sales tax collection on digital currencies could end as early as spring.

Japanese buyers pay an 8 percent consumption tax on top of other fees to get ahold of bitcoins at regulated digital currency exchanges. Japan, according to the news outlet, is the only country among the Group of Seven industrial economies that taxes bitcoin purchases.