Japan Confirms Tax-free Casino Winnings for Nonresident Foreign Gamblers

On Thursday, Chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party’s tax commission, Akira Amari, confirmed the winnings of nonresident foreigners gambling at Japanese integrated resorts will not be taxed, in a bid to attract more overseas gamblers.

Amari told reporters after a closed door meeting:

It should be fine to employ the method of tax exemption based on international standards,

He added:

If no one comes to an IR we develop, then it will all be pointless. We need to keep with international norms.

The plan will be included in a tax reform package for fiscal 2021, outline due on 10 December. Under the revised plan, Japanese locals would be taxed in the same way as money won through public sports and horseracing, where income tax is taken if winnings exceed a certain amount, according to Amari. 

Although such integrated resorts have yet to be built in Japan, it hopes that the proposed tax exemption will give driving force to operators to plan the IR projects.  

The Japanese government will accept formal applications over a seven-month period from October 2021 from municipalities bidding to win one of three available integrated resort licenses. Currently, the city of Osaka and Osaka Prefecture, Wakayama Prefecture and Nagasaki Prefecture have declared an intention to bid.

Japan’s official bidding period was initially set for January 4, 2021, through to July 30, 2021, but it decided in October to postpone it for nine months as the timeline is now thought to be unachievable due to travel restrictions imposed throughout Asia to combat the spread of the virus, making collaboration between casino operators, prefectures, and local cities difficult.

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