Republic of Georgia has exempted cryptocurrencies from value-added tax (VAT), as Bitcoin.com reported on July 13.
Per
the report, Georgia’s finance minister Nodar Khaduri recently signed a
bill aimed at regulating the taxation of entities that trade or mine
cryptocurrencies. The bill entered into force at the end of June. The
definition of decentralized currency that the bill puts forward is
reportedly the following:
“Cryptocurrencies are
digital assets that are exchanged electronically and based on a
decentralized network. Their exchange does not require a reliable
intermediary and they are managed using distributed ledger technology.”
With
the introduction of the bill, residents of the country can exchange
cryptocurrencies for fiat currency without the transaction being
subjected to VAT. Still, Khaduri pointed out that the Georgian lari will
remain the legal tender in Georgia and that — just like foreign fiat
currencies — the country will not allow using cryptos for payments.
The
article goes on to specify that mining companies will still have to pay
VAT unless they are registered abroad. This may well result in local
mining businesses relocating.
As Cointelegraph reported
in October 2015, the EU Court of Justice ruled that Bitcoin exchange
was exempt from VAT in a landmark verdict. The following month, in a
guest post on Cointelegraph, Italian lawyer specializing in gold and cryptocurrencies Stefano Capaccioli commented on the ruling:
“The
Decision is of historic importance: it clarifies all doubts and removes
the confusion on the applicability of consumption taxes to bitcoin,
considering cryptocurrencies as a simple means of payment and, under a
VAT perspective, similar to a foreign currency. [...] The Judgment is
the practical demonstration that bitcoin needs no specific regulation,
but only the interpretation of existing legislation because bitcoin does
not fall in any legal vacuum.”
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