Altcoins Talks - Cryptocurrency Forum
Further Discussions => Legality & Taxation of Cryptos => Topic started by: PRIBO247 on November 24, 2018, 11:18:19 AM
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do bitcoin regulations matter? Here’s a real-life example that sheds some light.
Upon returning home from a vacation in Cuba, a British citizen named Elliott Smith learned that his Coinbase account was closed. Coinbase, an American company, was acting in accordance with U.S. Department of Treasury requirements regarding the use of American-hosted funds in a sanctioned country.
Smith’s case represents the hazard of differing altcoin laws between nations. Perceptions of altcoins change daily, and this affects the security of altcoin investments. This sense of ambiguity and lack of international agreement make an international investment in altcoins tricky.
List of current national guidelines and official opinions on altcoins;
Legality of Cryptocurrencies by Nation
Nation Legal Status Notes
Argentina Legal Argentina recognizes digital currencies as a good, with no right to be used as legal tender. The National Constitution of Argentina gives cryptocurrencies monetary status.
Australia Legal/Regulated Australia recognizes cryptocurrencies as currency and taxes them accordingly.
Bangladesh Illegal Bangladesh's anti-money laundering laws threaten to imprison anyone dealing with cryptocurrencies in the country for up to twelve years. "Bitcoin is not a legal tender of any country. Any transaction through Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency is a punishable offense," the Bangladesh Bank said in a 2014 statement.
Belgium Unregulated
Bolivia Illegal Bolivia explicitly bans any non-governmental digital currency from use in the country.
Bosnia and Herzegovina Unregulated
Brazil Unregulated Cryptocurrency regulations are planned for the near future.
Bulgaria Legal/Regulated Cryptocurrency is regulated by the nation's payment services laws.
Canada Legal/Regulated Cryptocurrencies are recognized as an "intangible" under the Personal Property Security Act. As with all G7 nations, Canada imposes AML/CTF controls on cryptocurrencies.
Chile Unregulated
China Illegal China has banned cryptocurrencies and has prohibited exchanges from operating within its borders.
Colombia Unregulated
Croatia Legal Croatia declared cryptocurrencies legal in 2013.
Cyprus Unregulated
Czech Republic Unregulated The government is officially uninvolved in licensing or regulating cryptocurrency businesses as of 2015.
Denmark Unregulated
Ecuador Illegal Ecuador sees digital currency as a rival to its national digital currency. The use of non-nationalized cryptocurrencies in the country is strictly banned.
Estonia Unregulated
Finland Legal/Regulated Cryptocurrency transactions via an exchange are exempt from VAT.
France Legal/Regulated
Germany Legal/Regulated Germany recognizes digital currencies as "private money" and a "unit of account" for the purposes of tax and trading. It can be used for "multilateral clearing circle" and is regulated the same as domestically-held fiat currency.
Greece Unregulated
Hong Kong Unregulated Hong Kong maintains AML/CTF controls over cryptocurrencies.
Iceland Legal/Regulated In 2017, cryptocurrencies were exempted from the Icelandic Foreign Exchange Act, which prohibited transfer of Icelandic currency across borders by means of an exchange.
India Unregulated/Disputed Discussions are currently be held if the Securities and Exchange Board of India or the Reserve Bank of India will have final say over cryptocurrency regulations.
Indonesia Illegal/Partly Regulated The Bank of Indonesia banned the use of cryptocurrencies as payment methods in 2018, but the country's financial regulator has approved cryptocurency futures trading on regulated exchanges.
Ireland Unregulated
Israel Legal/Regulated Israel recognizes cryptocurrencies not as currency or a commodity, but as a taxable asset. Miners and traders must pay corporate income tax in addition to a 17 percent VAT, with sold digital currencies asserting a capital gains tax of 25 percent.
Italy Legal Italy has no regulations on private use of cryptocurrencies.
Japan Legal/Regulated Japan recognizes cryptocurrencies as money and as legal tender for the payment of debt.
Jordan See note Jordan permits the use of cryptocurrencies by small business and individuals while banning banks, currency exchanges, financial companies, and payment service companies from accepting them. The nation also strongly discourages their use.
Kyrgyzstan Legal Cryptocurrencies are considered as commodities under the laws of the Kyrgyz Republic and may be legally traded and mined within the country's borders.
Lebanon Legal/Cautioned The nation strongly discourages the use of cryptocurrencies, but does not hinder their usage.
Lithuania Legal/Cautioned
Luxembourg Legal/Regulated Luxembourg issues New York State-style BitLicenses to bitcoin businesses.
Malaysia Unregulated Malaysia does not recognize cryptocurrncies as legal tender.
Malta Unregulated
Netherlands Unregulated
New Zealand Unregulated
Nicaragua Legal
Nigeria Unregulated/Disputed Nigeria bans banks from engaging in cryptocurrency transactions and requires Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorists assurances utilized for any banking customers known to deal in digital currencies. Nigeria also does not recognize cryptocurrncies as legal tender or as a legitimate commodity but bitcoin startups are still allowed to operate within the country's borders.
Norway Legal/Regulated Norway sees cryptocurrencies as assets subject to the wealth and sales taxes, but not the VAT.
Pakistan Unregulated
Philippines Legal/Regulated Cryptocurrency transactions are regulated by the Central Bank of the Philippines.
Poland Unregulated Poland recognizes cryptocurrencies to be legal, but not on par with legal tender or electronic money, as defined by the European Union.
Portugal Unregulated
Puerto Rico See United States Puerto Rico has no territory/state level laws concerning digital currencies.
Romania Legal/Cautioned
Russia Unregulated Cryptocurrencies are currently unregulated but the Russian government plans to introduce regulations in the near future.
Singapore Unregulated Singapore recognizes cryptocurrency transactions as barter sales and taxes them accordingly.
Slovakia Unregulated
Slovenia Legal/Regulated Slovenia recognizes cryptocurrencies as neither currency nor an asset. As such, there are no capital gains taxes on cryptocurrency investments. However, Slovenia does tax cryptocurrency mining and digital currency transactions.
South Africa Unregulated The Reserve Bank of South Africa holds that cryptocurrencies have "no legal status or regulatory framework," but has generally taken a positive stance towards cryptocurrency-based innovation.
South Korea Legal/Regulated Cryptocurrencies are legal and investos are free to trade them provided they have fully KYC'd accounts. Anonyomus trading accounts are not permitted.
Spain Legal/Regulated Spain recognizes cryptocurrency transactions as barter transactions. ICOs are currently banned but there are plans to introduce specific regulations for them.
Sweden Legal/Regulated Sweden recognizes cryptocurrencies as currency exempt of the VAT, but requires bitcoin businesses that handle fiat currency to apply for a license and follow AML/CTF practices.
Switzerland Legal/Regulated Elements of the Swiss government have accepted digital currencies as payment. Bitcoin businesses may need a banking license to practice in Switzerland and are required to adhere to AML/CTF practices.
Taiwan Legal/Cautioned Taiwan advises against the use of cryptocurrencies and has instructed banks dealing with cryptocurrencies to follow strict AML/CTF practices. Since then, the government stance has softened and regulations are planned for late 2018.
Thailand Legal/Regulated After banning cryptocurrencies in 2016, the Thai government since changed its tone and has issued crytocurrency regulations in 2018 that state that seven cryptocurrencies (bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum Classic, Litecoin, Ripple, and Stellar) are legal and are allowed to be traded and can be used in ICOs.
Turkey Unregulated Cryptocurrencies are currently not regulated in Turkey.
United Kingdom Legal/Regulated Cryptocurrencies are recognized simultaneously as "foreign currency" and "private money." VAT is waived for exchange purchases, but will be collected for other cryptocurrency transactions. Cryptocurrencies investments are are subject to capital gains tax.
United States Legal/Regulated Cryptocurrencies have varying legality, depending on the state. See guide of bitcoin legality in the United States for clarification. Federally, cryptocurrencies are treated as commodities that can be taxed as income or for capital gains.
Vietnam Banned The Vietnamese financial regulator has banned businesses from engaging in any cryptocurrency-related activities within the country in mid-2018.
Zimbabwe Unclear/Disputed The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has taken a negative stance towards cryptocurrencies by banned financial insititons from dealing in cryptocurrencies. This ban was later overturned by a High Court. For the individuals cryptocurrency user, there are no restrictions.
Source : https://www.bitcoinmarketjournal.com