​Ukrainian authorities consider imposing a 19,5% tax on cryptocurrencies

What’s new? By September, Ukraine plans to legalize cryptocurrencies and impose a 19,5% tax on this sphere. The National Commission on Securities and Stock Market (NCSSM) has already completed the development of a bill on the taxation of digital assets and made innovations to the law “On Virtual Assets.” Ukraine may become the first country in Europe to implement the pan-European rules for regulating cryptocurrencies (MiCA), Forbes reports.

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What else is known? The updated legislation provides for the appointment of the National Bank of Ukraine and the NCSSM to play the role of regulators of the crypto market. All digital assets will be divided into three categories: e-money tokens, asset-pegged tokens, and other virtual assets. Issuers of digital assets will be required to undergo authorization by the NCSSM.

The bill on taxation will be presented on June 14. For users of cryptocurrencies, there will be a tax of 18% of investment profit and a military fee of 1,5%. In this, the tax rate will be applied to the difference between the amount invested and the final sale amount, if it is positive and the assets received as a result of operations are owned by the user for up to 365 days.

Cryptocurrency regulation in Ukraine. On March 15, 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed the law “On Virtual Assets.” The document set out the rules for the operation of market participants, taxation, income declaration, and interaction with regulators. The document defines the term virtual asset as an intangible benefit, which has value, can be expressed in electronic form, and is not an object of civil rights. In this, virtual assets cannot be used as a means of payment, nor can they be exchanged for goods or services.

In January 2023, the Ukrainian Tascombank conducted a pilot test of digital hryvnia on the Stellar blockchain. The National Bank and the Ministry of Digital Transformation cited transparency, accountability, improved security, and confidentiality as advantages of issuing e-money.