There has been plenty of press coverage on bitcoin, but what are the tax consequences if you decide to join the craze? Well, that depends on whether you are running a business, or if you are acquiring bitcoin for personal investment.
What is bitcoin?
Bitcoin is the term for a type of cryptocurrency, a digital currency, created in 2009. Bitcoin currency transactions are entered on a peer-networked ledger – called the blockchain – agreed at the same time by multiple hosts. Balances are created and kept using public and private “keys”, long strings of numbers and letters linked through mathematical encryption algorithms. The public key serves as an address to which others may send bitcoin, rather like a bank account number. The private key, which is like an ATM PIN number, is meant to be kept secret and is used to authorise bitcoin transmissions.
Personal use and investment vs Carrying on a Business
The tax consequences of bitcoin depend on whether you are are acquiring bitcoin for personal use or investment, or running a business. Whether or not you’re carrying on a business, and whether or not an acquisition or supply is in the course of furtherance of an enterprise, depends on a number of subjective factors. The factors involved in determining whether you are carrying on a business or the furtherance of an enterprise also differ, which means you could be subject to the GST regime and not the income tax regime and vice versa. It is best to consult us to find out about your individual situation and to ensure that your bitcoin activities are correctly classified.
Bitcoin for personal use or investment
Bitcoin is often acquired by an individual as a personal investment, with a view to the asset value appreciating. However, bitcoin is not only for investment purposes and some people use it to generate profits from trading Bitcoin or as a currency in the same way as one would use money.
Income tax and GST
If you decide to acquire bitcoin as a personal investment, (provided you are not carrying on a business of buying and selling bitcoin investment), you will not be assessed on any profits resulting from the sale where the cost of the bitcoin is $10,000 or less. Conversely, you will not be allowed any deductions for any losses made in relation to your bitcoin investment. In addition, there will be no GST consequences for you where the bitcoin transaction is not a supply or acquisition in the course of furtherance of an enterprise.
Bitcoin is a Capital Gains Tax asset and where you hold bitcoin as an investment (provided you are not carrying on a business of buying and selling bitcoin investment) and the cost of the bitcoin is more than $10,000, Capital Gains Tax will apply to a gain made on selling the investment. Also, a capital loss will be realised if your investment results in a loss when it is sold.
Using bitcoin for purchases
Where you use bitcoin to purchase goods or services for personal use or consumption, any capital gain or loss from disposal of the bitcoin will be disregarded (as a personal use asset) provided the cost of the bitcoin is $10,000 or less.
Where the cost of bitcoin is $10,000 or more, there may be CGT consequences on disposal and you need to keep records including the:
- date of the transaction;
- amount in Australian dollars sourced from a reputable online exchange;
- purpose of the transaction (i.e., what it was for); and
- other party’s details (if no other details are available, the bitcoin address would be sufficient).
Bitcoin in business
Bitcoin has varying tax consequences for:
- Businesses that buy and sell bitcoin, or mine bitcoin; and
- Ordinary businesses that use bitcoin in their everyday transactions.
Buying and selling bitcoin as a business
What about if you decide to go big and start a business of buying and selling bitcoin?
According to the ATO, the proceeds you derive from the sale of bitcoin are included in your assessable income and any expenses incurred are allowable as a deduction.
The bitcoin in this situation is treated as trading stock and you are required to bring to account any bitcoin on hand at the end of each income year.
If you are running a business and your turnover is $75,000 or more, you will normally be required to register for GST. However, bitcoin is considered to be an input taxed sale, which is not included in GST turnover. Hence, if your business consists solely of making sales of bitcoin, you would not need to register for GST. Although you may still choose to register taking into consideration such factors as being able to claim reduced GST credits in certain circumstances, and other taxable sales or creditable purchases you may make.
Mining bitcoin
You may have heard that bitcoin can be mined. The process involves compiling recent transactions into blocks and trying to solve a computationally difficult puzzle with the participant who solves the puzzle first claiming a set amount of bitcoin. Anyone in the business of mining bitcoin would have to include income derived from the transfer of the mined bitcoin to a third party. The expenses related to the mining activity would be allowed as a deduction. Note that according to the ATO, the non-commercial loss provisions may apply to limit the losses you can claim from the bitcoin mining activity against other income. Again, the mined bitcoin would be considered to be trading stock and there may also be GST consequences in relation to the supply of bitcoin.
CGT consequences
Where you carry on a business and dispose of bitcoin as a part of that business, there may be capital gains tax consequences. However, the capital gain may be reduced by the amount that is included in the business’ assessable income. The ATO requires records to be kept for such transactions, including the date of the transaction, the amount in Australian dollars taken from a reputable online exchange, the purpose of the transaction and details of the other party to the transaction.
Using bitcoin in transactions
Where you provide goods or services in return for bitcoin, you need to record the value in Australian dollars as a part of your income. This value is fair market value and should be obtained from a reputable bitcoin exchange. You will also be required to remit GST as 1/11th of the payment received for any taxable sale. This will need to be reported on your activity statement and the amount reported has to be in Australian dollars.
When you purchase business items using bitcoin, you may be entitled to a deduction based on the arm’s length value of the item acquired. Using bitcoin as a method of payment has the same GST consequences as using money as payment, that is, there will be no GST on the bitcoin itself, only on the value of goods/services purchased.
You could even use bitcoin to pay employees’ salary and wages. In instances where an employee has a valid salary sacrifice arrangement with you as the employer to receive bitcoin as remuneration instead of Australian dollars, the payment may be subject to fringe benefits tax (FBT). However, where a valid salary sacrifice agreement does not exist, the remuneration is treated as normal salary and wages and you as the employer will need to meet PAYG obligations.
Unsure? Need more information?
The distinction between whether or not you are making a personal investment, carrying on a business or making a supply in furtherance of an enterprise can often be contentious, especially in cases where large numbers of trades and/or sums of bitcoin are involved. If you are actively involved with bitcoin in any way, we strongly encourage you to contact us to ensure your activities are being treated correctly for tax purposes.
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