European Lawmakers Call For Crypto Taxation, Use Blockchain To Fight Evasion – Taxes Bitcoin News

Members of the European Parliament have called for “effective taxation” of crypto-assets and “better use of blockchain” to combat tax evasion. A resolution aimed at achieving both goals has been approved by a large majority who also want small crypto traders to have a simpler tax regime.

The European Parliament adopts a framework for uniform taxation of cryptocurrencies in the EU

European lawmakers have backed a non-binding resolution that sets out a framework that seeks to achieve the implementation of blockchain technology in taxation and uniformly tax digital assets across the 27-person bloc.

The document, prepared by Lídia Pereira from the conservative group of the European People’s Party, was adopted on Tuesday with 566 votes in favor, while only seven members of the European Parliament voted against and 47 abstained.

Crypto-assets must be subject to fair, transparent and efficient taxation, the resolution states. At the same time, it suggests that authorities in the EU should consider introducing a simplified tax treatment for occasional or small traders and transactions.

The authors call on the European Commission, the executive body in Brussels, to first assess how the EU nations currently tax cryptocurrencies and identify the different national policies in the fight against tax evasion through these assets.

The resolution further insists on adopting a widely accepted definition of crypto-assets and a coherent definition of what would constitute a taxable event. This could be the conversion of a crypto to a fiat currency, according to the text.

The cross-border nature of crypto trading makes it important to know where the taxable event would have taken place, notes the resolution, quoted by the EU Parliament’s press service. It proposes to add crypto-assets to the directive regulating administrative cooperation on tax matters, part of the Union’s framework for the exchange of information.

The resolution advises national administrations to use all available instruments to facilitate efficient tax collection and points to blockchain as one of these tools. The technology can help automate tax collection, limit corruption and identify ownership of tangible and intangible assets, enabling better taxation of mobile taxpayers, the document says.

The non-binding resolution comes after the key institutions of the EU’s legislative process – the Parliament, the Commission and the Council – agreed earlier this year on a comprehensive proposal to regulate the crypto space in the bloc. The Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) legislative package is expected to introduce licensing for crypto companies and safeguards for their clients. Agreement was also reached on anti-money laundering rules regarding cryptocurrency transactions.

Do you think EU member states and institutions will implement the non-binding resolution adopted by the European Parliament? Tell us in the comments section below.

Lubomir Tassev

Lubomir Tassev is a journalist from tech-savvy Eastern Europe who likes Hitchens’ quote: “To be a writer is what I am, rather than what I do.” Besides crypto, blockchain and fintech, international politics and economics are two other sources of inspiration.