Australia: regulators say Bitcoin transactions are subject to GST

The tax office ruled that peer to peer Bitcoin transfers are “supplies” under GST purposes, a ruling which is contrary to the current Australian tax-free cryptocurrency transactions, itnews.com.au reports.

Nevertheless, in exchange for goods and services, the ATO said a supply of Bitcoin is deemed as a barter transaction. The ruling does not mean the ATO considers Bitcoin to be money as such, in keeping with the agencys previous stance on the crypto currency.

The taxation office released its guidance on Bitcoin in August 2014, in which it ruled that Bitcoin trading outside a business context would not be assessed as taxable income for individuals.

Furthermore, the ATO put Bitcoin in the same tradable assets category as art, jewellery, gold and shares. These do not attract capital gains tax as long as the values remain beneath the AUD 10,000 (USD 8, 200) threshold for personal use.