News on April 8, according toSARA(SARS) released a statement showing that although cryptocurrencies are not recognized as legal tender in the country, trading, investing in cryptocurrencies, and miners are still subject to taxation, but the South African National Revenue Service has not yet determined whether it will impose a tax on Bitcoin. VAT is levied on currency.
Previously, affected by the uncertainty of the South African economy, South African citizens are investing more in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
According to Bitcoin News in March, the number of Google searches for Bitcoin in South Africa has the highest search volume among the top 66 countries in terms of search engine traffic. The average number of searches for “bitcoin” in South Africa over the past 12 months is estimated to have ranged between 100,000 and 1 million per month.
At present, with the prosperity of cryptocurrencies, digital currencies that generate huge profits are also increasing the risk of tax avoidance.
According to a tax review report previously released by the US Internal Revenue Service, virtual currencies are widely used for tax avoidance in the United States, especially for US companies.
Even though cryptocurrencies are still controversial in various regions, and there is no global uniform standard for taxation of cryptocurrency trading gains,However, in order to increase anti-money laundering efforts and prevent tax evasion and evasion of virtual currencies, since the beginning of 2018, the world is setting off a frenzy of taxation on encrypted digital currencies.
In addition to South Africa, Japan, the United States, Israel and many other countries have also implemented digital currency taxation plans.
As early as 2017, the National Tax Agency of Japan has judged the capital gains obtained from cryptocurrency exchanges as miscellaneous income and levied a tax amount of 15% to 55% on cryptocurrency profits. Among them, the highest tax rate applies to investors whose annual income exceeds 40 million yen. It has become the first country in the world to implement a comprehensive cryptocurrency tax plan.
In February of this year, the new tax plan signed by US President Trump proposed that from January 1, 2018, all cryptocurrency transactions will become taxable, including mutual transactions between two cryptocurrencies.
That same month, the Israeli government confirmed that cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin would be taxed as property. The circular stated that the tax department will levy capital gains tax at a rate of 20% to 25%, while personal mining or commercial trading of cryptocurrencies must pay an additional 17% value-added tax.
In addition, Russia, South Korea, and Thailand are also actively implementing cryptocurrency taxation, and are currently discussing specific tax rates and implementation plans.
In April, according to a letter from the Russian Ministry of Finance, Russia is preparing tax law amendments, which stipulate that Russian citizens are obliged to report the income of cryptocurrency businesses to the tax authorities and are expected to pay 13% related income tax.
According to a Nikkei Asian Review report, Thailand is expected to face a value-added tax (VAT) of 7% on all transactions for investments trading digital currencies in the country, in addition to a 15% tax on capital gains.
In April, South Koreas tax agency has begun to formulate virtual currency taxation standards, and the tax law is expected to be implemented next year.
However, it is worth noting that the specific implementation of cryptocurrency taxation is not simple,according toan expertSaid, In addition to tracking and supervising information such as the source and quantity of cryptocurrency production, due to the existence of many overseas cryptocurrency trading platforms, it will be difficult to obtain taxpayer information and transaction status.
But for now, cryptocurrency taxation will still be the general theme of global digital currency regulation in 2018.
