Hi,
So I’ve been looking into this but I keep on finding confusing information so came in here to ask if anyone actually has precise information.
The thing is I am into card games as a hobby, but, as an expensive hobby you do have to end up selling and trading in cards to make it way cheaper. While I not do it that much, I have certainly gone a good 3-4 times so far this year and while not selling super expensive cards, I’ve sold some decently priced cards and gotten 2-3 man every time, except with 2 pokemon cards I sold. Now, since I’m selling it to a store I know they do tax reports and all that, but the thing is, how does that affect me as the selling part and not the buying part. We are talking about I selling something like 20 cards worth a 1000 yen each everytime and then the expensive 4-5 man cards.
Is there like a limit or something I need to worry about? And if I go past that limit, do I have to pay taxes for all or just for what’s over? Is it a per card basis or an overall thing?
Thanks!!
5 comments
Not a tax lawyer.
It will most likely fall under 雑所得 (“miscellaneous income”) which needs to be declared as part of your tax filing (確定申告). As it gets added to your normal income for tax calculation purposes (総合課税方式), there is no minimum value below which it is tax free, unless you’ve got very little normal income to begin with.
Technically however you can subtract your necessary expenses (必要経費), which in this case should include the cost of purchasing the cards originally, although if you’re really concerned about it a quick chat with a tax accountant (税理士) should tell you what you need to know.
Realistically speaking, however, nobody is going to give a shit about your side hustle unless you’re being audited or you turn it into your main hustle.
Entirely anecdotally, I’ve sold MTG cards before and never had to do anything. They check ID, but I’m pretty sure that’s mostly security for preventing the sale of counterfeit cards. They pay in cash and then nobody ever asks about anything tax related.
Especially with how most stores ban trading, many people do lots of buying and selling for their personal use.
Legally, as another poster mentioned, something like miscellaneous income is probably correct.
Realistically, most people buying and selling cards for personal use almost never actually report anything. If you’re doing anything high-value or high-volume for serious money, probably better to actually look into it further.
Posting in /r/JapanFinance is likely to get you better answers. Might even be answered in their Wiki.
If you consider this as your side business, it depends how much you are profiting yearly (cost – expense). If your profit is over 20 man then yes you need to declare it. But if it less than that then no worry, the tax man won’t go after you, they’ll go with the bigger fish.
But practically I believe nobody even cares to declare tax for just selling small stuff. You’re good.
Just out of interest, where do you sell your cards? I have a bunch of very rare Pokémon cards I want to sell and im not sure where is the best place to go is.
Sorry for detailing the topic.