After granting a number of licenses to crypto firms, Italy is looking to impose taxes on cryptocurrency gains.
Italy is reportedly planning to impose a 26% tax on crypto gains.
According to the report shared by Bloomberg, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government aims to impose taxes on crypto profits larger than 2000 euros (approximately $2106).
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If the proposal goes unchallenged, Italian investors will be able to declare the value of their assets as of January 1st, 2023 and pay a 14% tax. Based on a Bloomberg report, this way, Italian authorities are encouraging local investors to declare their holdings in their tax returns.
It is worth noting that previously, crypto gains had lower taxation as Italian tax authorities were treating crypto as foreign currency.
It can be assumed that the move to tax crypto gains comes after another Western European country, Portugal, published a 2023 budget draft, which among other things, aimed to impose a 28% tax on crypto gains. In the draft, the Portuguese government noted that the tax would affect investors' capital gains made within a year. Gains acquired after a year of holding cryptocurrency will be exempted.
On top of that, other countries around the world are also planning to tax crypto gains. On November 21st, the news broke that Kenya is considering imposing taxes on crypto transactions. Kenyan authorities aim to apply crypto taxes similar to the ones imposed on bank transactions. In Kenya, banks take a 20% excise duty “on all commissions and fees charged on transactions.”
Recently, Italy’s Organismo Agenti E Mediatori (OAM) granted regulatory approval to cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, registering it as a Virtual Currency Operator.
The report shared by triple A revealed that cryptocurrencies are held by around 1,33 million Italians, which is approximately 2.26% of the population. 57% of cryptocurrency owners in Italy are males, while 43% are females.