Sars guns for your bitcoin profits
Sars believes investors in currencies such as bitcoin and ethereum should be slapped with capital gains tax
The free lunch for cryptocurrency investors may soon be over, as local and international revenue authorities inch towards effective taxation models. The SA Revenue Service (Sars) has told the Financial Mail it plans to "clarify" the tax implications of buying and selling cryptocurrencies early this year, through either an interpretation or a practice note. The revenue body believes cryptocurrencies should be subject to capital gains tax, though their decentralised nature could make this difficult to enforce. As such, the matter will require further consideration. "It is an area that we need to explore further," says Sars spokesman Sandile Memela, adding that the revenue service is in discussions with its global peers and will "continue to explore options". Lawmakers around the world are grappling with how to tax and regulate the burgeoning cryptocurrency market, which had a spectacular year in 2017. Flagship virtual currency bitcoin soared more than 1,000%, which helped push the mar...
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