Thailand Presents More Relaxed Plans for Cryptocurrency Taxation: Report

The Asian country has dabbled with what sorts of tax it should put on cryptocurrency mining, trading, and transacting for months. However, the Financial Times reported that the authorities had ultimately decided to abandon the idea to tax transactions.

• Citing Thailand’s new revenue department rules, the FT said the authorities no longer want to implement a 15% withholding tax on digital asset transactions.
• This comes less than a month after the country presented its latest idea to tax all cryptocurrency endeavors starting from this year.
• However, the move faced enhanced backlash from local digital asset businesses and investors. In fact, even the former head of Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) – Tipsuda Thavaramara – asserted that it would be counterproductive.
• It seems the authorities have listened to the local crypto community as they said people earning profits from crypto trading or mining could report them as capital gains on their income taxes.
• Moreover, traders will be able to offset their annual losses against gains made in the same year.
• Upbit’s chief executive, Pete Peeradej Tanruangporn, praised the local government for actually reaching out to crypto operators and for doing its homework.

• “It is much more friendly to both investors and the industry.” – he added.

• Thailand’s population has shown an enhanced appetite for digital assets in the past few years, pushing some of the largest crypto exchanges to join the market.
• Such an example came from Binance, which aims to launch a digital asset platform in the country with the help of the local billionaire Sarath Ratanavadi.