03 Mar 2014 / Telegraph – HM Revenue & Customs is to stop charging a 20pc value-added tax on Bitcoin transactions.
Tax officials last week told a group of UK traders that it would no longer levy the value-added tax on trades of the controversial virtual currency, according to reports.
Britain would also refrain from charging the tax on margins, according to the Financial Times, although corporation tax and other taxes would still apply. The shift reflects a change in the classification of Bitcoin and other virtual currencies to an asset or as private money rather than a voucher, as was previously the case.
The move comes in the same week as the collapse of Mt Gox, one of the leading trading platforms for Bitcoin, after it lost almost $500m of customer deposits to hackers.
A spokesman said HMRC would be “issuing technical guidance shortly”.
“HMRC has been working closely with the bitcoin industry on the tax treatment of trading in bitcoins and commission,” he added.
Britain’s approach stands in stark contrast to a long list of countries which have tightened regulation over the virtual currency, with some even banning its use, over concerns that it can be used for criminal purposes…. Read more
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/currency/10672035/Britain-to-end-VAT-on-Bitcoin.html
