Page 4 - bne_Tech_10_2018

Top Stories
October 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 4
to transactions will be tax-free, but all other transactions involving crypto will be subject to an income tax of either 18% or 32%.
Romania
The status of crypto in Romania is yet to be defined. A draft law on digital money is currently under consideration. It stipulates measures aimed at investor protection in token issuances, such as minimum capital requirement. Meanwhile, Romanian state officials have spoken positively about cryptocurrencies.
Russia
In late May, Russia's draft law on crypto passed the first reading in the State Duma, the lower chamber of Parliament, but was criticized by the local crypto community
as being too strict to the point of making Russia a crypto-unfriendly country.
In September, some amendments were made to the draft, but the new version is be- lieved to offers even less clarity and more re- strictions than the previous version had. The main problem with the draft is that it fails to make cryptocurrencies a legitimate means of payment in the country. The very notion
of "cryptocurrency" is apparently missing, substituted with the notion of "token."
The draft offers rather strict conditions for token issuances, stipulating that tokens could be issued by local and foreign com- panies and individual entrepreneurs, but all issued tokens will have to be backed by the issuer's assets. Similarly, tokens could only be issued and traded at platforms assigned by the Central Bank.
Slovakia
The country's authorities have maintained a negative approach to crypto since 2013
when the country's Central Bank said that digital currencies could not be legally used in the country and issuance or mining
of digital assets would be considered
as a criminal offence. This summer, the regulator reiterated its harsh stance on crypto, asking the country's commercial banks to withdraw services provided to companies from the crypto space. Under the Finance Ministry's decree, all revenues generated from crypto-to-crypto exchange would be taxable, but the specifics are yet to be worked out.
Slovenia
Slovenia belongs to more crypto-friendly countries. It has been working on a stable legal framework to facilitate the develop- ment of the new technology. Meanwhile,
it's more lenient on taxation, with only crypto mining income subject to income tax, whereas capital gains tax does not apply crypto trading.
Ukraine
Although Ukrainian authorities have admit- ted they are not yet sure if the existing in- come tax rate of 19.5% should be applicable to crypto, some government officials have been speaking favourably about adoption of blockchain and crypto and possibly making Ukraine a crypto-friendly country along the lines of Malta or Switzerland.
Ukraine's first draft law on crypto could be submitted for consideration to Ukraine’s parliament, the Supreme Rada, as early as this fall. Few specifics of the document have been revealed so far, but it reportedly stipu- lates a grace period for taxation of crypto transactions through 2025. Until that year, profits from crypto assets will be taxed at a low rate of 5%, but private individuals would have to pay an extra 1.5% on top of that.