Re: [tlug] Japan to Tax E-Content

[Darren Cook <darren@example.com>]

> By 2015, you'll have to pay shouhizei on the content you download
> from overseas, a move to "protect" domestic book retailers.

> http://www.itworld.com/it-management/399937/japan-tax-sales-content-downloaded-abroad?goback=.gde_73211_member_5828825356945080322#!

Dubious Journalism Alert:

Research by Daiwa Institute of Research Holdings suggests that in 2012,
Tokyo missed out on around 25 billion yen (US$240 million) in
consumption tax receipts that could have been levied on online goods and
services such as music downloads and advertising.

Unless you break out just the "advertising" part of that estimate, it is
not telling us anything useful about how much this new tax would generate.

But however much it generates it is hard to imagine it is ever going to
be worth it: they are saying non-Japanese companies have to register
with the Japanese tax authorities and pay collected tax to Japan.

How can that be enforced, without moving to a Chinese-style firewall to
block sites that are not cooperating?

Oh. Naru hodo.

Darren