Some Crypto Transactions Could Be Hit with 20% Tax in Venezuela as New Law Passes

 

Certain crypto and foreign currency transactions in Venezuela will be taxed at up to 20% after the government and parliament signed off on a rule aimed at reducing inflationary pressure on the troubled fiat bolivar.

The measures were outlined in a bill, which has now passed the National Assembly. The summary of the draft legislation reads that the bill seeks to “create a tax on large financial transactions” that ensures that “foreign currency transactions” as well as deals done in “cryptocurrencies or cryptoassets” are subject to a tax rate that is “at least equal to, or higher than that which is paid in bolivars.” 

This, the lawmakers who authored the document wrote, will “give greater incentive and confidence to the use of the national currency.” 

Criptonoticias reported that at an evening session of the assembly held on Thursday, February 3, MPs approved the bill in a second reading.

The bill establishes a sliding tax rate for what it calls “special taxpayers” who “use currencies other than those recognized by the state.”

The rate ranges from 2% to 20%, and the government will have the power to set the final rate in individual cases. “Special taxpayers,” in the eyes of the tax body, are people with incomes that it deems necessary to declare.

The same media outlet noted that the bolivar has been playing second fiddle to the “USD and digital assets” in recent months as the Venezuelan fiat has taken another hammering at the hand of global inflationary pressures.

The terms of the bill dictate that tax rates will be set between 0% to 2% for transactions conducted in bolivar (or presumably the state-run petro [PTR] cryptoasset).

For currencies and cryptoassets that have not been issued by the state, but operate within the national banking system (the identity of these assets does not appear to be clear), the rate is 2-8%.

But for financial operations “carried out in dollars or cryptocurrencies outside the Venezuelan banking system,” the rate can vary from 2% to 20%, it’s stated.

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Learn more:
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