IPS

Intangible Property
Global Solutions

15 March 2018

Expat Switzerland magazine Published on 15th of March 2018 the article of Dr.Tatiana Zarubina

Expat Switzerland magazine Published on 15th of March 2018 the article of Dr.Tatiana Zarubina (pdf).

The main issue today is that the authorities have to decide what they understand under the cryptocurrency for the purposes of taxation. And here we see unbelievable discrepancies because cryptocurrencies are neither monetary funds nor money equivalents, nor financial instruments, nor investment property.

There is no unified approach to bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies, and their legality will depend on your country of residence. However, for purposes of taxation, a number of countries have already fixed the definition of cryptocurrencies in their legislation. Thus, the US regards them as a property, Switzerland – as a currency, Japan and Canada – as goods, the UK – as assets, and Brazil – as financial assets, whereas the Netherlands suggested defining them as “products of barter”. The taxation in these countries will proceed according to these definitions.