The cord is tightening for thousands who own crypto-currencies, as the Ministry of National Economy and Finance decided, after the back-and-forth of the summer where the relevant working group that had been created since February 2024 was abolished, to put “in front of the machines” and set up new.
Cryptocurrency trading
The main objective of the newly rechristened working group will be the tax treatment of cryptocurrencies as well as the various purchases made with money derived from the buying and selling of these modern intangible means of transactions.
One of the key scenarios that the new working group is asked to work out is the possibility of taxing the capital gain resulting from the sale of cryptocurrencies at a rate of 15%.
The new working group
The new working group will most likely be announced and set up before the end of October and this time in Karageorg Serbia they intend to let it complete its work and not abolish it overnight as was done with the established working group beginning of the year and was abolished at the end of August.
The goals
The head of the new committee is expected to be the General Secretary of Tax Policy, Mrs Mary Psilla and the goal of both it and the members that will make it up is to clarify the landscape regarding the procedure that will be followed by the Ministry of National Economy and Finance, in order for these modern but also with many questionable financial products to be accepted by the tax office. It is noted that until now the tax office does not recognize and does not accept the money that is the result of “crypto” sales.
Regarding the “hunting” of cryptocurrencies, the committee that was established in February 2024 and consisted of eighteen members was abolished six months later, in August of this year, by the decision of the Minister of National Economy and Finance Mr. Kostis Hatzidakis.
According to the same information, one of the main reasons that the previous committee was abolished was the fact that its chairman was not a political executive of the Ministry of Finance but a civil servant.
Taxation and Control of Cryptocurrencies
The new decision, which will be signed immediately by the competent minister, will provide for the establishment and establishment of a Working Group at the Ministry of National Economy and Finance, to define the framework for taxation and control of cryptocurrencies and digital assets. The number and names of the members that will make it up will be determined within the week, while the new Working Group will meet regularly in the building where the Office of the Deputy Minister of National Economy and Finance Mr. Christos Dimas is housed or via video conference and to the President, the members and the acting Secretary of the Working Group will not be compensated.
The removal and reconstitution of cryptocurrency controllers
Since the day the committee was formed, then summarily abolished and now set to be resurrected again, global demand for crypto has grown, with crypto kingpin bitcoin still at a very high level as it rises to about 56,800 euros, which is about 14,840 euros below the all-time record of 71,638 it had reached in April of this year.
The group’s recommendation to control cryptocurrencies
The huge demand for cryptocurrencies shows that this new way of investing exists and is constantly growing, and decisions must be made immediately to control and tax cryptocurrencies through the soon-to-be-formed special task force. The group in question will include, in addition to tax officials of the Independent Public Revenue Authority, lawyers, tax advisers of the Hellenic Banking Association and the Bank of Greece, officials of the Authority for the Legalization of Proceeds from Criminal Activities, associates of the Minister and Deputy Minister of Finance, sworn auditors, etc. ..
Huge profits from cryptocurrencies
It is worth emphasizing that every day, owners of crypto-currencies appear at the tax authorities, who had acquired them at very low prices and are now liquidating them, making huge profits and asking to be taxed on the resulting capital gain so that they can then use this money to buy a property or other assets data.
However, the answer they receive from the tax office is that these amounts cannot be declared, nor does it recognize them and, by extension, cannot tax them under the capital gains regime, i.e. the difference between the acquisition price paid by the taxpayer and the sale price received.
Buy real estate with crypto proceeds
At the same time, anyone who proceeds to acquire a property with profits derived from buying and selling crypto-currencies and cannot cover the “whereabouts” with declared incomes from earlier years, the tax office can impose income tax on him with the highest tax rate of up to 42%. At the same time, fines and surcharges can be imposed on him as the tax authorities will claim that these incomes are the product of tax evasion and have not been legally declared to the authorities.
On the other hand, when the Greek state comes to recognize cryptocurrencies as investment products, it will have to at the same time resolve the issue of their owner being able to justify how he acquired them, i.e. with what income. This applies to the purchase of any asset and is therefore most likely to be applied in the case of cryptocurrencies as well.
High risk of fraud from buying and selling cryptocurrencies
However, the taxation and treatment of cryptocurrencies is not an issue that concerns only Greece but the entire European Union, while in the USA the landscape has been clarified regarding how incomes resulting from the purchase and sale of cryptocurrencies are taxed.
Finally, the Bank of Greece has not included them in the accepted currencies, there are no legal rules and therefore there is no legal protection or guarantee and of course there is a great risk of fraud.
Source: ot.gr
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