The Voice Actor Advocacy group Voiction recently released a series of videos in Japanese exploring the issues with the upcoming new invoice system proposed by the Japanese Ministry of Finance.
Voiction’s animated short videos succinctly explain the issues and concepts of the invoice system, while also disseminating its underlying problems. When the videos were released, voice actor Koichi Yamadara, a supporter of Voiction and voice actor for Spike Spiegel, Beerus, Kaji in Evangelion, and much more, publically stated that he thinks this initiative is not only damaging to the health of voice actors, but also small businesses of all professions. “It’s important that before we argue on the merits or demerits of the invoice, we should properly understand how it works, and learn from the experts even if there isn’t much time left”.
▍Voiction Invoice Explanation Videos
▍So… What is this Invoice System?
To understand what that means, we have to go back to a couple of months ago when the Japanese Ministry of Finance proposed a new legislation and Invoice system.
Essentially, all businesses in Japan would have to have their invoices for payments verified if they used their real names, something that many members of the creative industry weren’t a fan of, as most writers, artists, music artists, performers, idols, Vtubers and much more use a pseudonym. On top of this, all businesses from them on, whether a sole proprietorship or freelancer, would then be subjected to consumption tax, which is something they were previously exempt from.
The system was originally proposed by the Ministry of Finance to make it easier for larger companies to deal with a large number of clients by using the real names of those involved, rather than requiring individual verification. This was also done to crack down on Tax Evasion.
The two issues that many have is the lack of privacy and the consumption tax. It’s been well-known that in the manga and anime industry, voice actors and artists not backed by huge companies do not make a lot of money from their jobs. In a survey from September to October, 76% of voice actors reported incomes of less than approximately USD$21,638, and 27% expressed concerns they will go bankrupt as part of the new invoice system.
Detractors of the system such as Voiction claim that many artists and small businesses are exempt from the consumption tax as part of their businesses, and to have to pay that on top of making fairly small wages would be crippling to their livelihood.
Voiction also claims that because this invoice system would also be handled by the Japanese government, under its laws these invoices will be available for viewing publically, allowing people to look at the full names and possibly other information on creators. It’s already a kind of untold secret that certain fans and consumers get really heated when it comes to their favorite media, and being able to know the name of their target would certainly make it harder for those creators to feel safe.
Discussions around the Invoice system are still currently ongoing. Such as the Stop Invoice press conference held three months ago, and when Maya Okamoto and other representatives of Voiction voiced concerns to the House of Representatives at a meeting about the new invoice system.
Ken Akamatsu, the creator of Live Hina and the Negima! and is now a legislator, also expressed that he is focusing on changing the laws if problems arise after their implementation, as he believes that its implementation cannot be stopped.
