Austrac, the country’s financial intelligence agency, has just published a new web page setting out Australian cryptocurrency exchanges new obligations as of April 3. Going forward, exchanges must meet new obligations, which include: registering with the agency, adopting and maintaining an AML/CTF program, identifying and verifying users, and reporting suspicious behaviour and transactions involving fiat currency of AUD 10,000 (USD 7,700) and over. Moreover, they must maintain records for seven years.
Aimed to counter illicit uses of cryptocurrencies, the new regulations were first set in law when the Australian Senate approved the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Amendment Bill 2017 in early December 2017. The bill also gave Austrac oversight of cryptocurrency exchanges, according to CoinDesk.
In October 2017 another approved bill ended the long-controversial “double taxation” of cryptocurrencies. Previously, cryptos were taxed first upon purchase, then effectively again when buying items subject to the tax - a situation that arose from a previous 2014 law that treated cryptocurrencies as bartered goods for goods and services tax (GST) purposes.
With the passing of the bill, as of July 1, 2018, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies will get the same GST treatment as foreign currencies.
Every day we send out a free e-mail with the most important headlines of the last 24 hours.
Subscribe now