Through the “Ámbito” website, the financier Juan Frers explains how taxation works for profits from crypto assets. This is due to the adoption of Bitcoins (BTC) as a legal currency in El Salvador, beginning a wave of regulation regarding crypto in the region, as can be seen in drafts in Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Paraguay, among others.
1. Argentine Regulations
As the expert comments, the Argentine regulatory scenario is still premature, as there is still no regulation defining the concept of virtual currency clearly and concisely. In that regard, it can be seen the obligation generated by this type of assets can be:
- The income generated and obtained as a result of the disposal of virtual assets in its own head or third parties.
- Holding crypto-assets in equity.
First, the income tax or revenue tax is configured, where the profit obtained from trading fits directly as a capital gain or 2nd category income, according to Frers.
Secondly, the Personal Property Tax is materialized, where that scenario two different positions are configured: a) crypto-assets should be taxed and assimilated to the treatment of financial assets, and b) virtual assets should not be taxed because they are intangible assets.
2. Legislative developments
An advance in the Argentine legislation is the General Resolution 4614/2019 that created an information regime for exchanges, requiring intermediaries to provide certain information on a monthly basis related to their customers, such as:
- List of clients. (including registrations and cancellations)
- Customer account balances.
In this sense, Juan concludes that little by little, the normative current of the region will begin to impact the Argentine legal system, where the tax authorities will seek to regulate the tax treatment of virtual assets.
Source: Ámbito 25/08/21
