EU's Top Court Rules Bitcoin Currency Trades Should Be 'Exempt From VAT'
Bitcoin should be exempt from VAT in Europe the EU's highest court, the European Court of Justice, ruled today. The court has been hearing a case for numerous months, and has only now come to its recommendation. The EU court stated, Bitcoin transactions "are exempt from VAT under the provision concerning transactions relating to currency, bank notes and coins used as legal tender." The case was between the Swedish Tax Authority and the nation's Revenue Law Commission. It commenced only after a Swedish citizen asked for clarification on the VAT on Bitcoin question. That national, David....
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Bitcoin transactions will be exempt from Value Added Tax (VAT), the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled. According to the Financial Times, the ECJ said that bitcoin transactions "are exempt from VAT under the provision concerning transactions relating to currency, bank notes and coins used as legal tender." The ECJ's long-awaited ruling comes after its Advocate General Juliane Kokott urged the court to refrain from applying tax to bitcoin purchases and sales, in an opinion document published in July. The European court first looked into bitcoin taxation in June last year after the....
A long-awaited court decision on whether bitcoin exchanges in Europe will be required to pay value-added tax (VAT) on trades is set to be handed down on Thursday. The decision will mark the conclusion of a journey that began with a dispute over whether services that buy and sell bitcoins should be charged VAT. The inquiries were prompted after David Hedqvist, a resident of Sweden, asked for a policy clarification on how bitcoin should be taxed as he prepared to open a bitcoin brokerage. A Swedish court later found that such activities should be exempt from VAT - a decision disputed by the....
Bitcoin operations should be exempt from Value Added Tax (VAT), the Advocate General of the European Court of Justice said in an opinion document published today. Citing existing exemptions for currency and money transactions in Europe's VAT Directive, Advocate General Juliane Kokott urged the court to opt against applying a tax to bitcoin purchases and sales. She further argued that bitcoin, while not legal tender, is still a form of money. Kokott wrote in the opinion: "I therefore propose that the Court should reply...[that] these operations are exempt from tax under section 135,....
The EU Court of Justice has ruled that Bitcoin exchange is exempt from VAT in a landmark ruling. The news follows a dispute in Sweden over the tax status of Bitcoin, with the Swedish Tax Agency lobbying for the rules to be relaxed and publishing a recommendation that this should occur. Previously, the VAT landscape in the EU varied between states, with some exempting Bitcoin services such as Finland and Spain and some requiring the currency to adhere to standard tax laws common to fiat currencies. “So, even a temporary ‘tax free’ status will get more people into cryptocurrencies [...] They....
Earlier this week, the European Court of Justice decided to exempt bitcoin transactions from Value Added Tax (VAT). In so doing, the court effectively recognized bitcoin as a legitimate means of payment in Europe, putting it in the same realm as other currencies for tax purposes. The ruling comes months after court advocate general Juliane Kokott said the court should refrain from applying tax to bitcoin sales and purchases in an opinion published in July. Europe's highest law court first began looking into bitcoin taxation in June last year after the Swedish tax office challenged a court....