Thailand Relaxes Taxation on Digital Assets Through 2023

Cryptocurrency dealers using government-approved exchanges would be excluded from a 7% VAT tax, the finance minister said at a cabinet meeting.

Thailand’s finance minister said Tuesday that the nation would loosen tax laws on cryptocurrency trading until the end of 2023 in order to encourage the business.

Beginning April 1, transactions in digital assets on government-approved exchanges will be free from a 7% value-added tax (VAT), according to meeting minutes posted on the government’s website. Transfers using Thailand’s retail central bank’s digital currency would also be VAT-free over the same time period, he said. Traders would also be permitted to deduct cryptocurrency trading losses from capital gains taxes, the minister added.

According to the meeting minutes, Ekniti Nitithanpraphas, general director of the finance ministry’s revenue department, offered a draught order establishing the new tax exemptions under Thailand’s Revenue Code. The proposal intends to boost the industry’s competitiveness and build a payment system infrastructure that is suited for the digital economy, he said.

Following opposition from traders, the government abandoned a planned 15% tax on cryptocurrency earnings in January.

In the second-largest Southeast Asian economy, crypto trading has been expanding over the last year, with new crypto investors apparently outperforming new stock market participants in September.

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