Japan’s New Tax Law Might Just to Upend the Anime Industry

You might think anime creators have it easy, but such a belief could not be more incorrect. Over the past decade, unfair wages and deeply upsetting work conditions have plagued workers in the anime industry. It is tough to make any sort of living in the anime game, and now a new tax system is threatening to upend the industry in a big way.

While you may not have heard of the situation stateside, animators in Japan have been buzzing about the Japanese Consumption Tax shift for months. Now, the organization has officially adopted a new invoice, and the system has plenty of animators concerned about the industry’s long-term viability.

So first, let’s take a dive into this controversial tax change. This new invoice system was created with industries like construction in mind, but its impact on the anime (and broader entertainment) industry has been largely discounted by officials. The issue boils down to a significant change in how freelancers can make tax deductions.

Before this change, Japanese citizens who freelanced or operated a small business were able to claim tax deductions using their accounting books as opposed to filing invoices. This helped individuals who made less than 10 million yen as they could deduct business costs from their earnings and pay a 10% tax on their post-deduction net. This process was very straightforward as everyone from freelancers to small businesses could handle tax affairs using their own accounting books, but now that has all changed.

This new invoice system requires individuals and small businesses to submit Qualified Invoices if they want tax deductions. This means accounting books are no longer used to source tax deductions, and taxpayers must file Qualified Invoices for everything they want deducted. This will lead to a lot of complex paperwork that many anime artists aren’t trained to handle, and their meager salaries are hardly enough to afford an accountant. Plus, freelancers will need to qualify themselves as a taxable entity to get deductions which will require them to make their personal information public. This is very unusual in the industry as anime workers from animators to actors often use pseudonyms to protect their identities.

With all of these changes at hand, a recent poll of anime professionals showed how unfavorable this invoice system is. About 20% of voice actors and animators respectively said the change will put them out of business. At this point, government officials have done little to rectify the situation, and now the Japanese Tax Consumption organization has formally adopted this invoice change.

The long-term impact of this change won’t be seen for years, but it is clear that professionals aren’t in favor of the squeeze. The anime industry is hard to make a living wage in as is, and this tax swap will close many artists out from work entirely. And given how frayed the industry is already, well – this new invoice system may be just the thing to unravel artists both new and old.

What do you think about this new tax law to tackle Japan?  Let us know what you think in the comments below as well as on Twitter and Instagram. You can also hit me up @MeganPetersCB to share your take!

HT – Full Frontal Moe