The exchange claims the private ruling from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) means that it need not apply the GST to its Bitcoin exchange price. As a result, the company ceased charging the tax on 26th January and says it is the first Australia-based exchange to do so.
ATO private rulings are valid only for the specific case in question and are not binding in other situations, even if circumstances are similar. The office has issued other private rulings pertaining to Bitcoin in the past.
The ATO’s position on Bitcoin has been controversial since it released a ruling on how tax laws apply to Bitcoin businesses in August 2014. The ruling stated that 10% GST must be applied to all sales of Bitcoins themselves, rendering local exchanges unable to compete with overseas exchanges on price.
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