The Polish government and MF has just destroyed the cryptocurrencies in Poland.

[becometa.pl]

While the first point is beyond any doubt, the second one is quite controversial. Exchanging for example Bitcoin to Litecoin generates income and therefore tax. Such statements began to appear in individual tax interpretations reported to local tax offices. People who have been trading cryptocurrencies for years have probably not been aware of this fact.

This is the case with the US and Australia as well, among other countries, if I'm not mistaken. Basically, if you make a trade where you profited (fiat or otherwise), you pay taxes.

It is extremely important to determine the moment of obtaining the income. According to Ministry of Finance, it arises when the taxpayer receives or has available to his own disposal the money or the other cryptocurrency. So, if during the whole year you’ve been trading cryptocurrencies but haven’t withdrawn money from crypto-exchange you should pay tax anyway. The moment of tax obligation takes place not when you’re transferring money from the exchange to a bank account but the time of the transaction. Unfortunately, many people were not aware of it either.

I could be wrong, but you only have to pay on profits you've actually made. Let's say you bought 1 BTC for $10, then you held it until it reached $100 in value. If you never actually traded your Bitcoin for anything, you don't pay anything. If, however, you used your Bitcoin ($100 in value) to buy Litecoins, you have to pay income taxes for $90 because that's how much you've profited from your 1 BTC.

For example. If entrepreneur in course of his business was trading with an amount of 10 000 PLN and made daily 10 buys and 10 sells for 10 000 PLN - 300 transactions monthly - and was not gaining any single penny from this trades, he is anyway obliged to pay approx. 500 000 PLN of tax because from 3 milllion PLN income (in terms of month) he is unable to deduct 3 million PLN costs. It’s worth to add that daytraders or transaction bots are already doing tens or hundreds of transactions each day. If they are doing it in course of their businesses then due taxes can be counted in millions of PLNs.

Are you sure about this? This is completely unreasonable if true. I highlighted the word income because that's all you have to pay for. If you break even with your trades, you can't earn income. I could be mistaken, but I'd say the 3 million is gross sales rather than income. Something is amiss here.

I'm only basing this on my (limited) knowledge of US crypto tax laws though, so I might be completely mistaken. They seem similar to me in first glance. The filing could very well be different though. This post is not meant as legal advice.

Unfortunately, the original article (written in Polish) was checked by some tax lawyers and according to MF statement... it's all impossible to believe but true.
There's however one exception. Transactions below 50 PLN are not a subject of taxation. As PCC is being rounded to wholes. All above 50 PLN however are taxable.
in both cases it is necessary to submit a transaction letter in a special form to the local TAX office within 14 days from its occurance.

darkangel11, people seems to be accustomed to milking.

[1715324089]

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[squatter]

There's however one exception. Transactions below 50 PLN are not a subject of taxation. As PCC is being rounded to wholes. All above 50 PLN however are taxable.

Can you point out where this exception is specified? Is there any mention of structuring regarding the 50 PLN threshold? That amounts to ~$15. Does that mean you can trade in high volume lots of that size without triggering liability?

in both cases it is necessary to submit a transaction letter in a special form to the local TAX office within 14 days from its occurance.

Depressing. This goes far beyond any personal income tax requirements I've ever seen. It seems like the government wants to deter traders outright, rather than collect taxes.

[jseverson]

Unfortunately, the original article (written in Polish) was checked by some tax lawyers and according to MF statement... it's all impossible to believe but true.
There's however one exception. Transactions below 50 PLN are not a subject of taxation. As PCC is being rounded to wholes. All above 50 PLN however are taxable.
in both cases it is necessary to submit a transaction letter in a special form to the local TAX office within 14 days from its occurance.

darkangel11, people seems to be accustomed to milking.

Wait what? You still have to pay taxes even if you didn't profit? Isn't that the point of taxation? I still find that hard to believe, but as I don't know Polish, I'll take your word for it. I'm glad I don't live in Poland.

I've always considered taxation to be fair if crypto played by the same rules as everything else (except some minor differences in filing), but specific rules for crypto is just bad news. If this were truly the case, then people were right in saying that they might as well have banned it.

[darkangel11]

There's however one exception. Transactions below 50 PLN are not a subject of taxation. As PCC is being rounded to wholes. All above 50 PLN however are taxable.

Can you point out where this exception is specified? Is there any mention of structuring regarding the 50 PLN threshold? That amounts to ~$15. Does that mean you can trade in high volume lots of that size without triggering liability?

Yes. The requirement is that the subtracted amount has to be 1% of the transaction, but cannot go below 0.5 PLN. This means that 49 PLN generate tax of 0.49 PLN and as a result no tax can be imposed. It's not the only country that requires people to pay 1% of property sales, like cars and real estate, but nobody has ever tried to extend it to sock or currency trading. It's not only impossible to file, but also impossible to confirm since they want it all on paper. Traders could make a program that will fill the forms and print them automatically, but I'd like to see those poor office clerks struggle with thousands of copies every day.
And what about the environment? How many trees will have to be cut down every year so that the taxpayers can fill out some stupid tax forms?

in both cases it is necessary to submit a transaction letter in a special form to the local TAX office within 14 days from its occurance.

Depressing. This goes far beyond any personal income tax requirements I've ever seen. It seems like the government wants to deter traders outright, rather than collect taxes.

Short-sightedness will ultimately kill them. When the government imposes laws that are impossible to obey it always loses the fight.

[HereisTommy]

It was such a stupid idea, I have absolutely no words to say. Just disappointment and anger

[becometa.pl]

There's however one exception. Transactions below 50 PLN are not a subject of taxation. As PCC is being rounded to wholes. All above 50 PLN however are taxable.

Can you point out where this exception is specified? Is there any mention of structuring regarding the 50 PLN threshold? That amounts to ~$15. Does that mean you can trade in high volume lots of that size without triggering liability?

It was found later and is not mentioned in article - https://twitter.com/krzysztof_piech/status/983388470705033217

tax bases are rounded to full Zlotys (PLN 0-49 are rounded down, and PLN 50-99 - up)

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Wait what? You still have to pay taxes even if you didn't profit? Isn't that the point of taxation? I still find that hard to believe, but as I don't know Polish, I'll take your word for it. I'm glad I don't live in Poland.

I've always considered taxation to be fair if crypto played by the same rules as everything else (except some minor differences in filing), but specific rules for crypto is just bad news. If this were truly the case, then people were right in saying that they might as well have banned it.

Yup, that's the funniest and scariest thing of PCC tax.
Btw, there is no intention from my and others side to distribute false information.
This article was originally published on biggest Polish bitcoin website - bitcoin.pl, I've only translated it.

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I'm going to post this image once again https://i.imgur.com/PkbC6PE.png
the tax obligation ends on April 30. This message was published on 9th of April. Comedy.

[Baoo]

Well, the governments cannot control the financial transactions of cryptocurrencies, and  in their opinion the only solution is taxing , but the users of crypto do not want this huge exploitation ( because the value of taxes is large and unacceptable) so it is   become like FIAT.  Furthermore, I think that because of these bad  laws, many users will get out of the  cryptocurrency field ( business ) . And I think if that happened , the Polish government will change the laws to benefit users.

In addition to that, unfortunately, many governments attack digital currencies in many ways (Bad laws, banning,...) but I do not think they will continue with those behaviours, especially if the digital currencies continue to evolve, and their popularity of users increases, then I think they will recognize all of them and will even lower the tax rate.

[Bennj Loese]

Thanks for this longread, it was interesting
I think that Polish authorities are making a huge mistake and they will regret it

[becometa.pl]

Thanks for this longread, it was interesting
I think that Polish authorities are making a huge mistake and they will regret it

or they will cancel those inadequate taxation rules and simply ban crypto.
Every Polish citizen know that now, after all of this nonsense, everything is possible.

[TrumpD]

I am a bit on the fence on this one as by law, we are required to pay taxes to the government for income generated. I know that there are loads of under-the-radar and or street businesses which evade tax, even some big companies find a way to evade tax payments. That being said, if taxing the crypto world is going to be expensive, then we might experience an exodus from this industry, only those who can afford to stay will. So, I think the taxes if implemented worldwide should be very affordable.

[pixie85]

I am a bit on the fence on this one as by law, we are required to pay taxes to the government for income generated. I know that there are loads of under-the-radar and or street businesses which evade tax, even some big companies find a way to evade tax payments. That being said, if taxing the crypto world is going to be expensive, then we might experience an exodus from this industry, only those who can afford to stay will. So, I think the taxes if implemented worldwide should be very affordable.

Do you think that what is required by law is the ultimate truth? The law isn't always ethical or just and when it isn't we should question it and oppose it. We shouldn't accept it if we don't like it because the laws are made by people like us and people can be wrong. In this case they were wrong. I read that they misinterpreted the laws and people aren't required to pay 1% of every transaction.

[bambazamba]

Another shitty decision by another government . Honestly , I really don't know what is the percentage of people that are involved with crypto currencies exchange , investment and trade in Poland , but they are definitely going to get high losses if this continues . Isn't it better to put taxes rather than just simply banning it .
The biggest reason why I support imposing taxes on it is that this way both government and the people would be in an equilibrium  . But "destroying" it is just going to develop rage among people .

[olubams]

There is need for more explanation on what is being put out here because there is absolutely no sense in it whatsoever. I cant imagine telling someone to pay tax based on turnover and not on profit which should be in any ideal country. I see a whole lot of litigations coming up because taxation should not be a way to punish people which this policy is trying to promote. Levy them on profit and not on their losses even in ideal economy, it should be on the net income they get from the exchange sites after deducting the charges they have paid.

[squatter]

There is need for more explanation on what is being put out here because there is absolutely no sense in it whatsoever. I cant imagine telling someone to pay tax based on turnover and not on profit which should be in any ideal country.

Unless this is not really about tax revenues. Maybe it's about deterring cryptocurrency-related activities entirely. By making it virtually impossible to comply, they are effectively banning the activity.

The Polish central bank (in cooperation with the state FSA) has admitted to funding multiple anti-cryptocurrency campaigns on social media to deter Poles from getting involved. I don't think it's a coincidence that Poland has now instituted the most oppressive cryptocurrency tax regime in the world.

[Oilacris]

Another shitty decision by another government . Honestly , I really don't know what is the percentage of people that are involved with crypto currencies exchange , investment and trade in Poland , but they are definitely going to get high losses if this continues . Isn't it better to put taxes rather than just simply banning it .
The biggest reason why I support imposing taxes on it is that this way both government and the people would be in an equilibrium  . But "destroying" it is just going to develop rage among people .

As we know on most government if a certain thing wont passed up into their own standards then they will certainly make decisions and most of the time those would be on final state, there might be some considerations but not all the times such banning would really even more contribute on the rage of crypto people.I do feel that they would either accept it to be regulated rather than to be on total prohibition.

[becometa.pl]

Everything indicates that the protest movements (happening) planned to be held on Friday 20/04/2018 will be overshadowed by the new announcement from MF.

Within a few days, we will announce a mechanism of taxation of cryptocurrencies - Deputy Finance Minister Paweł Gruza announced on Tuesday at the RDC. (Polish Radio Station)

http://biznes.interia.pl/podatki/news/za-kilka-dni-komunikat-w-sprawie-mechanizmu-opodatkowania,2564670,4211 - article in Polish.

[Benni Scherz]

I heard about this stiry with huge taxes and authorities, which don't understand what kind of disaster they did. Polish community is shoked, the whole world thinks that it was weird

[Kingofbitcoin12345]

This is the other way of telling investors to just go away with cryptocurrency.. Their doing big mistakes that this will discourage the enthusiast on trading crypto,, it’s a shame that this government is taking advantage of this technology and holding our neck while doing so.. They won’t banned cryptocurrency,, but in exchange we will taxed you higher that you won’t wanted to invest again..

It’s like giving you freedom with a chain in your arms.. Fü($ that corrupt officials..

[jseverson]

It’s like giving you freedom with a chain in your arms.. Fü($ that corrupt officials..

Yeah, that much is pretty clear:

While Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has called digital currencies “Ponzi schemes” in an effort to turn Poles away from such investments

The problem here is that existing traders will have no option but to pay taxes according to what they come up with. This is worse than a ban in my opinion, because it's also going to tax traders dry and blind apart from discouraging people from getting involved. It's basically robbery. Looks like the noise is working though:

The Finance Ministry said on its website on Monday that it’s working on a “more convenient” method of taxation for cryptocurrencies, while repeating that last week’s statement showed the binding interpretations of the current regulations.

So let's hope they rethink their position.

[cryptojac17]

This is the other way of telling investors to just go away with cryptocurrency.. Their doing big mistakes that this will discourage the enthusiast on trading crypto,, it’s a shame that this government is taking advantage of this technology and holding our neck while doing so.. They won’t banned cryptocurrency,, but in exchange we will taxed you higher that you won’t wanted to invest again..

It’s like giving you freedom with a chain in your arms.. Fü($ that corrupt officials..

I don't know what  is really our direction of patronizing bitcoin, it seems that we will  uses bitcoin to elude taxes which is for  me is unfair, if we do it this way it seems that we will put the government into bankruptcy, to whom are we seek asylum if somebody will  harm us its the government,  so It is just fair to pay taxes according  to law.