31/03/21

UK: Crypto Taxation Guidelines Issued by Revenue and Customs Agency.

As published on beincrypto.com, Wednesday 31 March, 2021.

The United Kingdom’s tax collection body, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has issued a new document that explains taxation guidelines for cryptocurrency.

The Cryptoassets Manual defines the tax rates for crypto transactions that involve businesses and companies. They specifically deal with cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.

The detailed document goes over which taxes apply, accounting, crypto mining transactions, and betting and gaming, among many other details. It also examines exchange tokens and expects businesses to pay taxes on activities involving those tokens. This includes mining.

How the taxation occurs for various kinds of tokens and processes (staking, mining, and so on) is based on certain criteria. Exchange tokens are considered a “trade” depending on the frequency, level of organization, and intention of the asset. If it qualifies as a trade, it’s taxed in a specific manner.

For staking, the matter becomes a little more unclear. The degree of activity, organization, and risk will determine how staked tokens will be taxed.

The liable taxes could include Capital Gains Tax (CGT), Corporation Tax (CT), Corporation Tax on Chargeable Gains (CTCG), Income Tax (IT), National Insurance Contributions, Stamp Taxes, and VAT.

Of course, the rules are subject to change.

Governments around the world are preparing guidance for the crypto market and industry. The issue is still a large pain point, as this asset class is unprecedented. Authorities are unsure how to enforce compliance standards on decentralized assets.

Crypto taxation is only one of the challenges that governments face in the industry. South Korea was among the first nations to introduce an extensive, thorough tax guideline for crypto. Governments are beginning to realize that they stand to gain more by taxing the market than by banning it outright.

But anti-money laundering (AML) and anti-terrorism funding have also played a large part in motivating the issuance of crypto regulation. Most recently, Ireland passed a directive on the crypto market that complied with the EU’s standards. Similarly, other countries are looking into how providers can ensure full KYC/AML compliance.