Monday, December 16, 2013

Norway: Bitcoin Isn't Real Money

Norway's director general of taxation, Hans Christian Holte, said the currency "doesn't fall under the usual definition of money." The Norwegian government instead decreed Bitcoin to be an asset upon which capital gains tax can be charged. Bloomberg says profits from Bitcoin will fall under the wealth tax, and that losses can be deducted. Holte also said there will be a 25 percent sales tax for businesses, reports Verge.

4 comments:

  1. Bitcoiners have had gains from day 1, yet no one has paid taxes yet. Why will this change? How in the world will they prove anything? They do not have the manpower or resources to anything about BTC in the realm of taxes. They have made that plainly obvious by their lack of enforcement up to this point. They may make an attempt, but it will likely go the same way their war on music downloads went, not well.

    And Wenzel, just declaring they can track it, does not in and of itself show that they are capable of proving anything in a court of law.

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    1. When bitcoin holders exchange bitcoins for [country x's] currency, that cash will go into a bank account. Prosecuting tax evaders for failure to pay gains taxes on bitcoins will be no more difficult than any other tax prosecution

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    2. How would they know how much BTC was sold? All they could see would be the dollar value, but they can't determine gains without the the BTC value, which they won't have. Also, what if I sell hand to hand for cash? What if I spend my coin instead of "cashing out"? They have no grip on this thing whatsoever.

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  2. Hey Bob,

    Bernanke says gold isn't money money so I guess this must be true too. I thought that money is to be determined by the free market rather than a decree from a govt official or a central banker. I don't get your obsession with Bitcoin. I don't care for it either but as of today there isn't any legal tender laws that says that I must accept it as payment for private debts. Therefore, bitcoin mania doesn't impact my day to day life. But it seems as though you are taking an issue with people using bitcoin. If it is a bad firm of money (and I believe this to be the case) it will sink or swim on its own merits.

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