Indonesia Plans to Tax Crypto Trading

The Southeast Asian country of Indonesia considers a plan to tax trading with digital assets. However, a spokesman from the tax office revealed that the proposed scheme was still at the discussion stage, and no changes have yet been applied.

The Crypto Environment in Indonesia

The biggest economy in Southeast Asia – Indonesia – saw a massive increase in crypto users in the past months. Following the recent rally of most digital assets, local residents of the country turned their sight to them. According to a report, Indodax – the largest crypto exchange platform in Indonesia – registered more than 700 000 new members only for the first four months of 2021 as the total number rose to three million people.

However, Reuters reported that the country’s officials are contemplating a plan to tax trading with Bitcoin and all altcoins. Neilmaldrin Noor, a spokesman at Indonesia’s tax office, asserted that the future implementations were still at the discussion phase, and no changes have yet been administered. Additionally, he explained that taxation is vital for the economy:

”It is important to know that… if there is a profit or capital gain generated from a transaction, the profit is an object of income tax. So the tax payer who receives capital gain has to pay the tax and report it.”

Indonesia has a very controversial relationship with cryptocurrencies. The authorities of the country banned the use of digital assets as a payment instrument, but on the other hand, residents are allowed to trade with them as a commodity.

Following the Asian Wave

Indonesia’s tax reforms regarding cryptocurrencies are not pioneering. As CryptoPotato reported, another Asian country – South Korea – revealed its intentions to start taxing digital assets.

The authorities are reportedly looking to place a 20% tax on profits made from cryptocurrency trading at the start of next year. The Finance Minister of the East Asian country asserted that such rules are ”inevitable” to start from 2022.

Somewhat surprisingly, most residents of South Korea approved the incoming implementations. A survey revealed that around 54% of the poll participants backed the country’s tax addition. Moreover, older Koreans were significantly more open to the idea comparing to the younger generation.