U.K. Authority Won't Charge VAT on Bitcoin Trades

March 3, 2014 10:12 AM EST
Britain is taking a kinder eye to Bitcoin.

According to the Financial Times, the U.K.'s HM Revenue & Customs won't charge a 20 percent VAT on trades or margins, a boon for entrepreneurs in the expanding Bitcoin market.

The move by HMRC doesn't address the issue of whether or not Bitcoin should be defined as a currency, but instead treats it as such and bases its policy on European Union law which exempts payments and transfers of negotiable instruments from tax.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) warned that customers dealing in Bitcoin wouldn't be protected by refund rights under EU law. China has banned its banks from dealing in Bitcoin, while Vietnam and Russia have deemed transactions as illegal. Singapore has issued tax guidelines for the currency, while the U.S. hasn't addressed the issue directly.

Bitcoin last clicked through around $600.


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