Foreigners’ gambling winnings to be tax exempt in Japan

The adjustments to the Japanese tax system when casinos grace the country has been explained by the Japanese tax commission.

Asgam reports tax commission chairman AkiraAmari said the government’s tax system will be adjusted so that “winnings” earned in an integrated resort’s casino would be tax exempt for foreign visitors to Japan.

“It should be fine to employ the method of tax exemption based on international standards,” Amari said.

“If no one comes to an IR we develop then it will all be pointless.

“We need to keep with international norms.”

It is expected this direction will be reflected in the ruling party’s tax reform outline due on December 10.

There had previously been a proposal from the Ministry of Finance to tax casino winnings, a concept that was met with dismay by potential investors.

Under the revised plan, Japanese locals would be taxed in a similar way to other public sports and horseracing, where income tax is taken if winnings exceed a certain amount.

Japanese integrated resort process to accept bids from next year

Japan’s long awaited integrated resort process will be accepting proposals from October next year.

GGR Asia reported in October that an announcement was made by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, which said the proposed closing date for such submissions to local governments would be April 28, 2022.

That is a delay of at least nine months in the process to introduce casino resorts in Japan, a decision justified by the government with delays related to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

A total of three casino resorts will be permitted nationally in a first phase of liberalisation.

The policy has been presented as a form of stimulus for regional economies, in terms of drawing in tourists from overseas.

On Friday, the Japanese national authorities also published a revised draft of its integrated resort basic policy; a first version had been presented last year.

The revised draft adds guidelines related to infectious disease countermeasures inside casino resorts.

The document also introduces rules on exchanges between private casino operators and government officials.

According to the government, there will be a period of public consultation on the revised draft policy, running until November 7.

It had previously been mentioned in commentary by the central authorities that local governments, with a selected private-sector partner, would be expected to apply in the last half of 2021, to the national government for the right to host a casino resort.

A sticking point however was that the national policy development had not yet been published, making it hard for suitors to be sure of the ground rules for bids.

A number of local governments had been racing to set up or complete processes for choosing a private-sector casino operator, but some authorities have announced in recent months delays to such procedures.

Nagasaki pauses its integrated resort plans

A Japanese prefecture has halted its request for a proposal process to host a casino resort. 

GGR Asia reported in September that Nagasaki’s proposal has been postponed indefinitely.

The prefectural government noted it would decide later, an “appropriate time” for launching the RFP process, but said preparation work for launching the RFP process, but said preparation work would still go on for an integrated resort.

A Monday announcement mentioned the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated travel restrictions as reasons for halting the process.