Ukrainian Parliament Considers Making Cryptocurrencies Tax-Exempt

Europe is a pretty interesting region when it comes to cryptocurrency. Although there is no clear regulation on this front just yet, things are undergoing some big changes as we speak. Over in Ukraine, a new proposal revolves around making Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies tax-exempt in the near future. Whether or not this bill will be approved by the country’s parliament remains to be determined.

Making Bitcoin Tax-Exempt in Ukraine

Considering Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have been around for quite some time now, one would expect most countries to have some form of Bitcoin regulation on the books by now. That is not the case in Europe, though, as the lack of unified rules has made things pretty difficult for now. Some countries will introduce regulation, whereas others may not necessarily pay much attention to cryptocurrency just yet.

More specifically, there are a handful of European countries attempting to create their own sets of cryptocurrency rules right now. In most European states, there is no such thing as Bitcoin taxation, and it’s unknown if and when that will change. If a particular government decides to tax Bitcoin tomorrow, there is nothing to prevent it from doing so whatsoever.

This is why a few Ukrainian government officials want to get ahead of the curve in that regard. Last week, several Members of Parliament submitted Bill 7264, which amends the Ukrainian tax code to make all income generated through cryptocurrencies tax-exempt. This would apply to buying, selling, trading, and mining of Bitcoin and all other cryptocurrencies in existence today and in the future.

For the time being, the Ukrainian government has not shown any hostility toward Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. That fact does not guarantee automatic approval of this bill without modifications, though. Cryptocurrency regulation is something the government and central bank are actively discussing right now. No one knows for sure how things will play out in the coming months. It seems everyone is keeping an open mind about this new form of money, which is more than people could have hoped for at this point in time.

Ukraine has seen cryptocurrency grow in popularity over the past few months. Considering that the country is one of Europe’s biggest freelancer hubs, that is not entirely surprising. People want to work for the highest bidder without dealing with cumbersome payment options, and using Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies makes a lot of sense in this regard. However, until the proper regulation is put in place, cryptocurrency will always be considered controversial in this country.

Depending on how Ukraine’s parliament decides to vote on this proposal, an interesting precedent for other European countries may be created. The European Union and ECB have no plans to issue any form of taxation or regulatory guidelines when it comes to cryptocurrency right now. Nor should they, as no government has any superpowers in this regard. Then again, some people still feel this type of regulation will legitimize cryptocurrencies. Only time will tell if that is actually the case, though.