Portugal has decided not to tax Bitcoin and altcoins (as of yet). This goes as Portugal’s parliament rejected the proposal to tax these assets today.
Bloco de Esquerda and Livre – both left-wing parties – wanted to tax the digital assets. This happened during the discussion on the State Budget for 2022 yesterday evening. Still, the proposal faced rejection, according to an online source.
Recalling last week, Portuguese Finance Minister Fernando Medina already announced that the country would begin taxing cryptocurrency.
Taxing Bitcoin and other crypto assets
The Assembly of the Republic continues discussing and voting on the State Budget for 2022, nearing the fourth day of a week-long procedure.
It debated and voted on the relevant criteria in the morning. The protracted voting resumes in the afternoon, article by article and proposal by the proposal. The proposal asked the government to explore taxing cryptocurrency earnings over €5,000, approximately $5,340.
Since 2018, the earnings from the individual sale of cryptocurrencies have been excluded from taxation in Portugal, known for a long time as a Bitcoin tax haven. Additionally, Portugal does not count the buying and selling of digital assets as revenue from an investment.
Because of this, the country became a desirable location for cryptocurrency startups and events.
Subject to taxes soon
However, it looks like that won’t be the case for much longer. Earlier this month, Medina made the announcement that profits on crypto assets held in the country would soon be subject to taxes on capital gains.
Portugal’s government may soon impose a value-added tax, stamp duties, or property taxes on digital assets. During the same parliament session, Antonio Mendonça Mendes, the country’s deputy minister for finance and tax affairs, said that taxing crypto was a “complex reality” and that capital gains might not be enough.