Bitcoin Policy Japan has published a Japanese translation of this BPI article, with the permission of the Bitcoin Policy Institute, together with BPJ's commentary. This page presents the commentary in English. The Japanese translation is available here; the original article is at btcpolicy.org.
This article reflects the situation as of March 2026. We add two points: what has happened since, and an issue that also matters in Japan.
Developments since March
In June 2026, the House Ways and Means Committee introduced a comprehensive digital asset tax bill, which the committee approved on September 16 by a vote of 38 to 5; a floor vote is still ahead. Under the bill, dollar-pegged payment stablecoins are treated at face value, so gains on stablecoin payments need not be reported. For bitcoin, the only exemption is for gains embedded in network fees of $10 or less; gains on the payment itself remain taxable as before. For now, the direction is the one the article warned about: relief for stablecoins, with bitcoin left behind. The gap between what BPI asked Congress for (payments of up to $600 per transaction and $20,000 per year exempt) and what is likely to pass remains wide.
The revenue question
One objection tax authorities can be expected to raise against a de minimis exemption is that it reduces revenue. In the United States, researchers at Cornell University have published an estimate with two parts. First, the tax actually collected today on gains from small bitcoin payments is small to begin with. Second, if the tax and reporting burden is removed, payments will increase, and the wider economic effect could make the exemption revenue-positive. The second part depends on assumptions such as payment volume doubling. A comparable estimate, covering both parts, can be made for Japan.
What stands out to us is who BPI is talking to. As the article describes, BPI has engaged nineteen congressional offices and the chairs of both tax-writing committees, while the Treasury has "offered to work" with the Senate sponsor. The revenue estimate is placed as material for legislators to weigh, rather than as a calculation to satisfy the tax authority. Whether small payments should be exempt is, in the end, not settled by the arithmetic of revenue; it is a political judgment about whether the system should make room for a new means of payment, and about not falling behind internationally. That, as we read it, is the premise of BPI's approach.
https://www.btcpolicy.org/articles/the-bitcoin-de-minimis-tax-exemption
Translated and published in Japanese with the permission of the Bitcoin Policy Institute.
In the United States, paying with bitcoin triggers a tax calculation and a report, however small the amount. In Japan, the tax rate depends on how you use it: about 20% if you convert to yen through a registered exchange, up to about 55% if you pay with bitcoin directly. The reasons differ, but the outcome is the same: you can hold it, but you cannot really use it. This article, by the U.S. think tank Bitcoin Policy Institute, lays out how BPI has asked Congress for a de minimis exemption for small bitcoin payments and where the effort stands. It is the same wall that BPJ is working on in Japan.