CoinDesk Article- Germany Won't Tax You for Buying Coffee With Bitcoin
Toffer Wayne's Comments
It would seem that Germany might lead the way towards a sensible long-term policy to tax #cryptocurrencies. In Germany they intend to treat #bitcoin and other #altcoins as equivalents to legal tender, meaning they should be taxes with sales taxes or VATs, unlike the current U.S. and Canadian tax regulations which treat Crypto like digital properties requiring cumbersome Capital Gains Taxes which will limit adoption.
The guidance, published Tuesday, sets Germany apart from the U.S., where the Internal Revenue Service treats bitcoin as property for tax purposes - which means that if an American buys a cup of coffee with bitcoin, it's technically considered a sale of property and potentially subject to capital gains tax.
Instead, Germany will regard bitcoin as the equivalent to legal tender for tax purposes when used as a means of payment, according to a new document.
Another promising development is the non-taxability of #crypto mining under these German regulations; in this system mining will be treated as a voluntary service, not the acquisition of an asset (when a block award is granted), meaning that income will not need to be declared or capital gains or losses.
Overall I support treating #crypto like digital legal tender, and taxing it with sales taxes. While Libertarians might disagree, Governments do need to fund services and operations, and a sensible way to do this is to tax consumption.