The plaintiff was the crypto -investor David Kale, who disputed in court the legitimacy of the approach of the Australian tax administration (ATO), considering Bitcoin as an asset, taxing income from its sale by capital increase (Capital Gains Tax, CGT) at a rate of up to 45%. Cale claimed that bitcoin should be classified as money, and not as property, which automatically releases bitcoin investors from tax.
Judge Keil supported the plaintiff’s position, saying that Australia’s tax legislation does not provide for the payment of CGT from money, which are considered as a means of exchange, and not as an object that can generate capital increase.
“Since Bitcoin has the characteristics of the currency, such as the exchange of exchange and the unit of calculation, this is just another form of money. This means that Bitcoin can be exempted from tax on capital, ”decided federal judge Mark Moshinski.
In an interview with AFR, the tax lawyer Adrian Cartland (Adrian Cartland) declaredthat the judicial verdict “completely turns over” the prevailing approach of the ATO to the taxation of bitcoins and, potentially, can open the way not only to revise the tax obligations of crypto investors who paid this tax since 2011, but also to multimillion -dollar deductions. According to preliminary assessment of the cardland, the amount of tax payments can be from $ 640 million to $ 1 billion.
Earlier, the Australian Center for Analysis of Financial Operations and Reporting (Austrac) said that more than 400 registered exchanges and over 5,000 money transfer services of Australia do not fully comply with the requirements for preventing digital assets to launder money, fraud and financing terrorism.
Source: Bits
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