Kenya Expects to Earn $46 Million as New Tax Targeting Crypto Exchanges Comes...
The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) is expecting to earn up to 5 billion Kenyan shillings ($45.5 million) during the first half of 2020 from a new tax that targets cryptocurrency exchanges and other online services, according to a top KRA official. First proposed in August 2020, the digital service tax (DST) came into force on Jan. 2 amid concerns over implementation. The tax is charged at the rate of 1.5% on gross transaction value with every crypto sale. Both local and foreign digital asset exchanges operating in the country will also pay the tax to the Kenyan government. Foreign exchanges....
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Kenya continues to play a perfect host to the venture-backed Bitcoin companies, which are expanding fast in the region to give the premier money transfer agencies such as MoneyGram, PayPal, and Western Union, a run for their money. In February, the Bitcoin-based global remittance company BitPesa announced that it had raised $1.1 million in fresh funding, backed by hedge fund Pantera Capital. BitPesa expects to use the funding to penetrate deeper into the Kenyan markets, targeting small mobile payment services initially. The month also witnessed the entry of the Australian Bitcoin exchange,....
Cryptocurrency exchange Binance will likely earn between $800 million and $1 billion this year. That's up from about $570 million in 2019.
The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has clarified that its planned digital service tax (DST) will be applicable to cryptocurrencies at a rate of 1.5% on gross transaction value, local media reported. In August, the agency announced new rules for the taxation of what it calls “digital marketplaces.” However, with oblique definitions on such key terms, it has not been clear who exactly will be taxed under the new regulations that come into force on Jan 1, 2020. Now, KRA tax expert Nixon Omondi has appeared to set the record straight. “As the law is, any person who will be....
African Bitcoin startup BitPesa launched its remittance service in Tanzania today. The service previously was available only in Kenya, where the company is headquartered. It hopes to undercut the fees charged by incumbents' remittance services. BitPesa launched its international money transfer in Kenya last year with the goal of expanding the service to the rest of Africa, something the company has slowly been working toward. Besides its remittance product, the company operates an exchange in Kenya and Ghana but Tanzania is the first country the startup has expanded its international money....
BitPesa.co, a new global remittance company servicing Kenya's ever-expanding population, is planning to use bitcoin. The company is targeting Kenya's $1.17bn annual remittance market by offering a 3% cut-rate fee on all transfers, Bloomberg Businessweek reported today. Bitpesa's CEO Elizabeth Rossiello said the new service is aiming to gain 1% of Kenya's remittance market within a year of launching in March 2014: a figure that will equate to roughly 6,500 transactions per month. According to Rossiello: "There are no other market entrants trying to solve the problem of the very high cost of....