Colorado is accepting crypto as payment for any taxes owed to the state as of Sept. 1. It was the result of a promise made earlier in the year by Colorado Governor Jared Polis, who has proven his commitment to establishing the state as pro-cryptocurrency. Colorado isn’t the only U.S. state trying to incentivize cryptocurrency investment within its borders, as legislatures in Arizona, Wyoming and Utah have all previously introduced bills to accept tax payments in the form of digital currencies in varying degrees. There is much to gain economically for states who embrace blockchain technology and the crypto sector. …

Trygve Slagsvold Vedum, the finance minister of Norway, has suggested the government abolish a scheme which allows crypto data centers to pay a reduced rate on electricity. In an Oct. 6 announcement, the government of Norway proposed that data centers operating in the country be subject to the same electricity tax rates as other industries, representing a potential change in policy for Bitcoin (BTC) miners. According to the government, the reduced rate should be phased out as the demand for electricity was rising in certain areas. “We are in a completely different situation in the power market now than when …

Members of the parliament of the European Union voted in favor of a non-binding resolution aimed at using blockchain to fight tax evasion and coordinate tax policy on cryptocurrencies. In an Oct. 4 notice, the European Parliament said 566 members out of 705 voted in favor of the resolution originally drafted by member Lídia Pereira. According to the legislative body, the resolution recommended authorities in its 27 member states consider a “simplified tax treatment” for crypto users involved in occasional or small transactions, and having national tax administrations use blockchain technology “to facilitate efficient tax collection.” For cryptocurrencies, the resolution …

Celsius Network founder and former CEO Alex Mashinsky allegedly withdrew $10 million from the crypto lending platform just weeks before the company froze customer funds and declared bankruptcy. The withdrawal was cited by sources from the Financial Times who said Mashinsky withdrew the funds in “mid to late May” prior to the Jun. 12 pause on all withdraws. Celsius was a popular crypto-lending platform with 1.7 million customers and $25 billion in assets under management but the prevailing poor crypto market conditions eventually led the company to a $2.85 billion gap in its balance sheet. This led Celsius to pause …

After much buildup and preparation, the Ethereum Merge went smoothly this month. The next test will come during tax season. Cryptocurrency forks, such as Bitcoin Cash, have created headaches for investors and accountants alike in the past. While there has been progress, the United States Internal Revenue Service rules still weren’t ready for something like the Ethereum network upgrade. Nonetheless, there seems to be an interpretation of IRS rules that tax professionals and taxpayers can adopt to achieve simplicity and avoid unexpected tax bills. How Bitcoin Cash broke 2017 tax returns Because of a disagreement over block size, Bitcoin forked …

The infamous collapse of the Terra ecosystem, which erased market prices of TerraUSD (UST) and LUNA tokens, continues to trouble anxious investors as co-founder Do Kwon, crypto exchanges and the community together tries to identify the best route for a sustainable price recovery. Most recently, Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao, the CEO of crypto exchange Binance, recommended a flat 1.2% trading tax on LUNC trades that could be burned to reduce the token’s total supply and improve its price performance. Addressing the community, CZ stated: “We will implement an opt-in button (on the Binance exchange), for people to opt-in to pay a …

With the crypto community growing bigger and as trading volumes reach new highs, the United States is also making more effort to ensure that its Internal Revenue Service (IRS) could properly collect cryptocurrency tax. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams, Deputy Assistant Attorney General David Hubbert and IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig announced that US judge Paul Gardephe authorized the IRS to issue a "John Doe summons," a term used when the IRS investigates unknown taxpayers. The summons compels the New York-based M.Y. Safra Bank to submit information about taxpayers that might have failed to report and pay taxes on their crypto transactions. …

The Internal Revenue Service is hiring 87,000 new agents, but taxpayers will not feel the pain for another two to three years. That’s how long it will take the agency to hire and train agents. Few have discussed the extent of this pain. Still, it’s something to think about when you consider the majority of coming audits will be conducted by new agents, many of whom will have been hastily hired and operating with minimal supervision. Playing the audit lottery will not be smart in future tax years. Taxpayers should protect themselves now, especially when profiting from statutory gray areas …

According to local news outlet mk.co.kr, the South Korean government has seized over 260 billion Korean won ($180 million) worth of cryptocurrencies in the past two years due to tax arrears. The country's politicians enacted regulations allowing for the seizure of digital currencies for tax delinquencies and began enforcing them last year. One individual living in Seoul, dubbed "Person A," had 1.43 billion won worth of tax arrears and had his cryptocurrency exchange account seized by authorities. The account contained 12.49 billion won of digital assets spread across 20 coins and tokens, including 3.2 billion won in Bitcoin and 1.9 …

The American state of Colorado now accepts cryptocurrency for tax payments, Gov. Jared Polis announced Sept. 19. The option is already available on the state Department of Revenue website. Colorado tax payments are accepted through the PayPal Cryptocurrency Hub with services fees of $1.00 plus 1.83% of the payment amount. Payments are accepted only from personal accounts in a single cryptocurrency. Businesses cannot pay their taxes via crypto yet. Payments will be effective on the day they are initiated, although it will take 3-5 days for the transfer to take place. Payments are immediately converted into fiat. The Colorado governor …

Modern parents are going to need to keep an even closer eye on their kids’ gaming habits, as some of them may be accumulating a hefty tax bill, according to a crypto tax specialist. Speaking to Cointelegraph during last week’s Australian Crypto Convention, Adam Saville-Brown, regional head of tax software firm Koinly said that many don’t realize that earnings from play-to-earn (P2E) games can be subject to tax consequences in the same way as crypto trading and investing. This is particularly true for play-to-earn blockchain games that offer in-game tokens that can be traded on exchanges and thus have real-world …

Global cryptocurrency taxation rules significantly vary among countries, and some jurisdictions have come up with extremely tough crypto tax policies for their residents. In a new study by crypto analytics firm Coincub, Belgium is referred to as the worst country in the world in terms of crypto taxation for residents. That is according to in-house rankings covering taxation aspects like taxes on crypto income or crypto capital gains. Belgium is known for its massive 33% tax on capital gains on crypto transactions, and it also withholds up to 50% in taxes from professional income on crypto trades. As previously reported, …