The Federal Ministry of Finance (BaFin) published a 24-page document on Tuesday outlining clear income tax rules for cryptocurrency and virtual assets. Tax practitioners, businesses and individual taxpayers now have clear direction on the tax requirements for acquiring, trading and selling cryptocurrencies. The key takeaway is that individuals who sell BTC or ETH more than 12 months after acquisition will not be liable for taxes on the sale if they realize a profit. Parliamentary State Secretary Katja Hessel also addressed questions around the long-term staking of cryptocurrencies: “For private individuals, the sale of purchased Bitcoin and Ether is tax-free after …

The government of Kazakhstan has laid out new reporting requirements for cryptocurrency mining operators with a keen eye on how the industry’s energy usage affects the local power grid. The order, published by the country’s Minister of Digital Development earlier this week, compels digital mining businesses to provide comprehensive information 30 days before starting operations. The electricity consumption and “technical specifications” for connection to the power grid must be provided before commencing operations. The amount and type of mining equipment used, the customs cargo declarations for that equipment and any investments planned for the next 12 months must also be …

South Korea’s newly-elected president Yoon Suk-yeol announced Tuesday he would push to defer taxation on crypto investment gains at least until a new set of regulations called the Digital Asset Basic Act (DABA) is enacted. South Korea’s crypto tax was initially set to come into effect for the 2022 fiscal year but was pushed back to 2023 last December. E-daily reported that Yoon will ensure the crypto tax law does not come into effect until reasonable legislation is in place to protect consumers, which could be by 2024. The president-elect’s presidential transition team has been exploring its options in delaying …

The Republic of Uzbekistan continues to progress with local cryptocurrency regulations, with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev issuing a new decree regulating the industry. Released on Wednesday, the new decree instructs a reorganization of a major presidential agency known as the National Agency for Project Management (NAPM). The authority has previously promoted crypto trading in Uzbekistan, proposing to allow residents to conduct all types of crypto trades in 2021. According to the decree, the NAPM will be restructured into a new entity called the National Agency for Perspective Projects (NAPP), responsible for a wide range of crypto regulation-related projects with the …

The capital of Argentina and an agglomeration with more than 12 million citizens, Buenos Aires will make blockchain a vital part of its digitalization drive. Specifically, the city will accept public financial transactions in crypto. As city Mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta revealed in his Steve Jobs-styled presentation on April 25, the 12-step development plan titled “Buenos Aires +” envisions a significant increase in crypto and blockchain adoption. Con Buenos Aires + vamos a dar un paso más en el camino hacia un Estado facilitador que desburocratice y agilice los procesos. Un camino en el que el Estado sea el que …

Crypto tax calculation platform Koinly added Terra (LUNA) wallet support to make tax calculation easier for LUNA holders as the Canadian tax report deadline draws near. Tony Dhanjal, head of tax at Koinly, said that LUNA support has been requested by many Koinly users, and with the integration, LUNA users will have a "way to accurately track and record their transactions to meet their tax obligations." Calculating crypto tax is easy if a user’s crypto affairs are simple. However, Dhanjal told Cointelegraph that “the average crypto investor is connected to three to five exchanges, wallets or blockchains.” Because of this, …

European Central Bank executive board member Fabio Panetta said lawmakers across the world must decide how to regulate cryptocurrencies based on potential risks. In a written statement for a speech to Columbia University on Monday, Panetta said global policymakers had made some progress in addressing regulatory frameworks on digital assets, but “not swiftly enough to keep pace with the emerging challenges.” According to the ECB official, the world needs crypto regulated based on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism rules of the Financial Action Task Force, strengthening public disclosure and reporting on regulatory compliance from the industry, and …

The Central African Republic (CAR) has become the center of a hot buzz in the crypto world amid various reports of it adopting Bitcoin (BTC) quite similar to El Salvador. However, contrary to popular headlines, the African nation has not adopted BTC as a legal tender; instead, it has reportedly legalized the use of cryptocurrencies in the financial markets. The cryptocurrency bill was introduced by Justin Gourna Zacko, the minister of Digital Economy, Post and Telecommunications on Thursday and was unanimously approved by the lawmakers in the parliament despite a protest from the opposition, reported RFI. The crypto law aims …

As the 2021-2022 United Kingdom tax year finished on April 5, 2022, Her Majesty's Treasury announced they were paving the way for the U.K. to become a global crypto asset technology hub. This could mean that the previously not particularly crypto-friendly U.K. is changing its strategy and trying its hand at making crypto investments more attractive. But what are the potential scenarios at play? The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), a financial regulatory body in the U.K., in its “Cryptoasset consumer research 2021” report, shows that approximately 2.3. million adult U.K. citizens held crypto in 2021, a 21% rise year-over-year. It …

Residents of the archipelago nation, the Bahamas, may soon be able to use digital assets including the world’s first central bank digital currency, or CBDC, to pay for taxes. In a white paper on the future of digital assets released on Wednesday, the Bahamas’ Office of the Prime Minister said the government will begin to “enable payment of taxes using digital assets” by working with the country’s central bank as well as the private sector. In addition, the government plans to work on giving citizens access to crypto with the Bahamian dollar and encourage greater use of the country’s CBDC, …

Russia's Federal Tax Service (FTS) has joined the debate around crypto regulation in Russia with an unexpectedly blunt proposition — to let Russian companies use digital currencies as a payment method when transacting internationally. On Wednesday, local newspaper Izvestia reported that the FTS left its official feedback on the draft of the crypto bill prepared by the Ministry of Finance. In its remarks, the fiscal agency proposed to let Russian companies use crypto for certain operations: “To let corporate entities pay for goods and services according to foreign trade contracts and to receive revenue from foreign entities in digital currency.” …

In the last few months, the standoff between the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) and the country’s Ministry of Finance over crypto regulation has become the key regulatory plot for the Russian crypto community to follow. Simultaneously, however, another important legislative development has been unfolding somewhat under the radar: negotiations around tax code amendments that would make cryptocurrencies a taxable asset class. Here’s how it went down so far. 13% for individuals and 20% for companies As the head of the State Duma’s (the lower chamber of Russian Parliament) financial markets committee, Anatoly Aksakov told local media on April 7 …