Tax Authority in Israel wants to Treat Bitcoin as a property!!!

[Idrisu]

Good news or bad news, it is stupid!  You can argue if you like that Bitcoin is a currency, or if it is money, or if it is an asset or a commodity.
I can tell you one thing for sure though, it isn't property!

It seems that you misunderstand what is meant here

Most likely, by property they don't mean, for example, real estate or any tangible assets, but rather a property right, or right to property (ownership) in the sense that everyone has exclusive rights to possess, use and dispose of what belongs to him as well as no one can take his belongings from him without his prior consent. In this manner, money can also be an object of the right to property since obviously it is always in someone's ownership and possession

 Treat bitcoin as a property will undermined it value. You should understand that money is a medium of exchange for goods and services, if we said bitcoin is a currency then it should be used as a medium of exchange and Israel tax authority has to see it as so. Israel is try to treat bitcoin as property then it means bitcoin is goods and not medium of exchange.

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[wxa7115]

Well, it's indeed a good news, and I hope that thing goes properly like what happened in U.S.A because they're also treating bitcoin as a property for the answers to the Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) given by their citizen according to this link: https://www.irs.gov/uac/newsroom/irs-virtual-currency-guidance

For now it's just a first draft, but it is indeed folowing USA in that matter.

But I still don't get it. How will they enforce this?
All transactions are anonymously, and without declaring it myself no one will know my revenues from bitcoin selling.
The only solution for the tax authotity is to refer it as a valid coin.
When poeple will change their money in official banks the ITA will be able to monitor it.

when people want to buy bitcoin you don't usually go to a dark alley wearing a trench coat and buy bitcoin with unmarked cash bills
instead they go on an exchange website, register, give all their information and documents, link their bank and then buy bitcoin. there is no need to monitor anything. they are reporting it themselves.
and besides this is going to be like investing in many other things, you don't hear people bitch about paying taxes when they invest in gold or trade stocks so why is it different with bitcoin?

Bitcoin groups different kind of people and among them are persons that don't want to pay taxes to the governments of the world because they consider it a theft and they don't consider evading taxes as a crime, so that is the reason.

[deisik]

Good news or bad news, it is stupid!  You can argue if you like that Bitcoin is a currency, or if it is money, or if it is an asset or a commodity.
I can tell you one thing for sure though, it isn't property!

It seems that you misunderstand what is meant here

Most likely, by property they don't mean, for example, real estate or any tangible assets, but rather a property right, or right to property (ownership) in the sense that everyone has exclusive rights to possess, use and dispose of what belongs to him as well as no one can take his belongings from him without his prior consent. In this manner, money can also be an object of the right to property since obviously it is always in someone's ownership and possession

  Treat bitcoin as a property will undermined it value. You should understand that money is a medium of exchange for goods and services, if we said bitcoin is a currency then it should be used as a medium of exchange and Israel tax authority has to see it as so. Israel is try to treat bitcoin as property then it means bitcoin is goods and not medium of exchange.

If Bitcoin is treated as a currency, this doesn't magically prevent it from being someone's property

These qualities are not mutually exclusive, though this may make a difference for the purposes of taxation, of course. And this is the heart of the matter. It is not clear whether Israeli tax agency considering Bitcoin as property will not serve it better service than if it considered it as a currency. Personally, we don't know what tax rates would be applicable in either of these cases, so it cannot be said with certainty what would be better for Bitcoin in general and its holders specifically

[jacafbiz]

I think Bitcoin should be classified as a currency, that is what it was designed to be but even the Bitcoin lovers see it has an asset. Governments don't want to commit themselves and are very careful with every decision they take, classifying BTC as money can have a significant effect on a country if care is not taken.

[xuan87]

I think Bitcoin should be classified as a currency, that is what it was designed to be but even the Bitcoin lovers see it has an asset. Governments don't want to commit themselves and are very careful with every decision they take, classifying BTC as money can have a significant effect on a country if care is not taken.

The more reasonable for me is to classified bitcoin as currency, but some how because bitcoin still in grey area, so some people consider it as property, some of them consider it as currency, but I think we are at disadvantage if government decide bitcoin as property as I know I need to pay tax if it is a property

[Sithara007]

Nowadays, there are not many avenues to use Bitcoin as a currency. Only a few online shops and a handful of restaurants / cafeterias accept payments in Bitcoin. Also, Bitcoin has given almost 300% returns in the past year. This makes it more like an investment rather than a currency.

[Vaskiy]

That's an good effort and an better option put forth by the Israeli government considering bitcoin as the property. So by the days to come the taxation issues in relation with bitcoin transactions gets solved to some extent which also energies people to use more digital currency.

[kidoseagle0312]

Undermined bitcoin's usefulness as currencies will undermined its value too. Bitcoin is not even a digital silvers, oil and gold but currencies. http://www.coindesk.com/israel-may-gearing-tax-bitcoin-kind-property/

If this Israel country wants to treat Bitcoin as a property, It can be a sign of good news or false alarm for the bitcoin enthusiast. Good news in a way that there is country like Israel will adopt the system of bitcoin that they will give an ordinance for bitcoiner to their citizens over there. False alarm because it might be in the long run we bitcoin enthusiast will going to have tax deduction in every transaction and that is not good, am I right.

[lordquanta]

Undermined bitcoin's usefulness as currencies will undermined its value too. Bitcoin is not even a digital silvers, oil and gold but currencies. http://www.coindesk.com/israel-may-gearing-tax-bitcoin-kind-property/

If this Israel country wants to treat Bitcoin as a property, It can be a sign of good news or false alarm for the bitcoin enthusiast. Good news in a way that there is country like Israel will adopt the system of bitcoin that they will give an ordinance for bitcoiner to their citizens over there. False alarm because it might be in the long run we bitcoin enthusiast will going to have tax deduction in every transaction and that is not good, am I right.

Recognition from a government is constructive steps and in favor of bitcoin. At least Govt is willing accept it as legitimate rather trying to ban the concept altogether. If Govt recognize something as property then obvious purpose is to milk the cow (bitcoin). Anything non-taxable does not go well with establishment any way. With tax one thing become clear that legality of bitcoin gets official in that country. Otherwise it remains in "If it is NOT illegal till now then it is legal" scenario. Instead of this 'It is legal and you have to pay tax for it' is better.

[Sithara007]

That's an good effort and an better option put forth by the Israeli government considering bitcoin as the property. So by the days to come the taxation issues in relation with bitcoin transactions gets solved to some extent which also energies people to use more digital currency.

Had they recognized Bitcoin as a currency, then it could have been much better. But I will not complain. At least BTC is legitimate now in Israel, and the users will not face any harassment from the authorities. 

[Xester]

Good news or bad news, it is stupid!  You can argue if you like that Bitcoin is a currency, or if it is money, or if it is an asset or a commodity.
I can tell you one thing for sure though, it isn't property!

It seems that you misunderstand what is meant here

Most likely, by property they don't mean, for example, real estate or any tangible assets, but rather a property right, or right to property (ownership) in the sense that everyone has exclusive rights to possess, use and dispose of what belongs to him as well as no one can take his belongings from him without his prior consent. In this manner, money can also be an object of the right to property since obviously it is always in someone's ownership and possession

That is a clear explanation and I salute you for doing so. Israel want to tax bitcoin users for holding bitcoins. The only thing that is bugging me is how they will determine the actual number of bitcoins a citizen has or how can they determine that this wallet is owned by an Israeli. Maybe they have a system to monitor everything but are they that very advanced in technology to do this things.

[EcoNorm]

I dont get people saying its a good thing, All matter of the politics in israel and them wanting to cut some loose ends in my opinion

[severaldetails]

To me every news that says it accepts bitcoin is a good news.
It gives a kind of certainty that posession of bitcoin is seen to be legal in that country and will not be prohibited.
If they put taxes on selling bitcoins, that's something most of the bitcoin users can live with.

[deisik]

Undermined bitcoin's usefulness as currencies will undermined its value too. Bitcoin is not even a digital silvers, oil and gold but currencies. http://www.coindesk.com/israel-may-gearing-tax-bitcoin-kind-property/

If this Israel country wants to treat Bitcoin as a property, It can be a sign of good news or false alarm for the bitcoin enthusiast. Good news in a way that there is country like Israel will adopt the system of bitcoin that they will give an ordinance for bitcoiner to their citizens over there. False alarm because it might be in the long run we bitcoin enthusiast will going to have tax deduction in every transaction and that is not good, am I right.

Recognition from a government is constructive steps and in favor of bitcoin. At least Govt is willing accept it as legitimate rather trying to ban the concept altogether. If Govt recognize something as property then obvious purpose is to milk the cow (bitcoin). Anything non-taxable does not go well with establishment any way. With tax one thing become clear that legality of bitcoin gets official in that country. Otherwise it remains in "If it is NOT illegal till now then it is legal" scenario. Instead of this 'It is legal and you have to pay tax for it' is better

The road to hell is paved with good intentions

They may make it legal but being not illegal might in fact be a better option overall. How come? If Bitcoin is not regulated and remains in the gray zone, the authorities have basically nothing to bring against Bitcoin as such and Bitcoin users specifically since it doesn't exist for them. Taxing Bitcoin or at least trying to tax it will put at risk those users (and these likely constitute a majority of Bitcoin users) who are not going to pay any taxes at all, no matter what. Therefore, while theoretically these steps could be constructive and purportedly in favor of Bitcoin, in practice they might not be as good as in theory

Good news or bad news, it is stupid!  You can argue if you like that Bitcoin is a currency, or if it is money, or if it is an asset or a commodity.
I can tell you one thing for sure though, it isn't property!

It seems that you misunderstand what is meant here

Most likely, by property they don't mean, for example, real estate or any tangible assets, but rather a property right, or right to property (ownership) in the sense that everyone has exclusive rights to possess, use and dispose of what belongs to him as well as no one can take his belongings from him without his prior consent. In this manner, money can also be an object of the right to property since obviously it is always in someone's ownership and possession

That is a clear explanation and I salute you for doing so. Israel want to tax bitcoin users for holding bitcoins. The only thing that is bugging me is how they will determine the actual number of bitcoins a citizen has or how can they determine that this wallet is owned by an Israeli. Maybe they have a system to monitor everything but are they that very advanced in technology to do this things.

My property is my property! What's mine is mine!!!

[Oggy1987]

Nowadays, there are not many avenues to use Bitcoin as a currency. Only a few online shops and a handful of restaurants / cafeterias accept payments in Bitcoin. Also, Bitcoin has given almost 300% returns in the past year. This makes it more like an investment rather than a currency.

In my country I dont think I can use it anywhere yet. European Union country by the way. 2 atm's in my town, which is nice progress I gotta say. Small bitcoin community but it keep on growing. I dont ever see bitcoin as a everyday currency, more of a webshop currency, at its best. I see it mostly as investment, and I treat it that way.

[blockcha1n]

Great news. Bitcoin is gaining more and more recognition. The more official authorities see Bitcoin as an asset or property the more people will get to know about it and the more people will invest in it.