- Venezuela applies 20% tax on Bitcoin and crypto transactions.
- Tax will apply to transactions on all foreign currencies.
- Only El Petro and the national currency are exempt from the tax.
Following India’s decision to apply tax on crypto transactions, Venezuela comes to a similar decision. Specifically, the Venezuelan government has decided to apply a 20% tax on Bitcoin and crypto transactions.
In response to this tweet from Watcher.Guru, many responded saying the 20% tax is too much. Still, this 20% tax is much less than India’s decision to tax 30% on crypto sales transactions.
In detail, the Venezuelan government approved this decision via a draft bill last Thursday. This bill confirms the requirement of local individuals and firms to pay up to 20% on operations that carry out crypto transactions.
More so, the draft law aims to collect 2% – 20% from transactions in any currencies that are not issued by the Bolivian Republic of Venezuela. In addition, the oil-backed crypto — El Petro, is also exempt.
Over the last year, the country’s national currency lost over 70% in value. Thus, this move aims to encourage the use of the national currency.
In contrast, other nations like Portugal and Thailand have decided not to apply a tax on crypto. However, unlike Thailand which decided to go from taxing crypto to not, it seems unlikely that Venezuela will do the same.
Meanwhile, India is facing backlash from its citizens on the 30% tax. This is quite a high number and many claim the move to be another ploy from politicians to feed their greed. India often changes its policies on crypto, it seems its citizens are still counting on that.
As for the crypto market as a whole, there seems to be a recovery of sorts. Crypto prices and market cap are rising by the hour. Seems like a smart decision from many countries that are finally taking steps to legally accept the use of cryptos.
