Tax office to crack down on Bitcoin capital gains and GST(AUS)

Investors and businesses that trade using the digital currency Bitcoin are on notice as the Australian Taxation Office plans to be among the first to crack down on undisclosed capital gains and GST at tax time this year.

In a statement provided to Financial Review Sunday on Channel 9, ATO senior assistant commissioner Michael Hardy said the tax office has been monitoring the growth in Bitcoins along with other alternative payment systems and will provide further advice to taxpayers before June 30.

“The ATO is working on a holistic understanding of the taxation treatment of Bitcoin to be in a position to provide certainty for the Australian community,” he says.

The ATO’s US counterpart, the Internal Revenue Service, is looking to release similar guidelines this year.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has also confirmed to The Australian Financial Review that Bitcoins are on its regulatory radar.

“Electronic currencies or crypto currencies – which include Bitcoins – are a developing area globally. Like other regulatory bodies around the world, ASIC is considering whether and how current legislation (such as the Corporations Act) might apply to these arrangements,” ASIC spokeswoman Hilarie Dunn says.

http://www.afr.com/p/professions/tax_office_gst_crack_down_on_bitcoin_O4BpwSZm9A1yYvVKG32a8O