“The Blockchain Technology and Crypto-Economy Commission”, with the support of the Digital Rights Center law firm, sent feedback to the Russian Ministry of Finance on the package of bills taxing digital currencies.
The commission proposes not to grant the Federal Tax Service (FTS) the authority to determine the market price of digital currencies for subsequent taxation, given the potential abuse of this right.
Among the proposals is withdrawing the bill on criminal liability for failure to provide tax reporting on operations with digital currencies.
Experts advise reducing administrative fines for violations of rules governing transactions with digital financial assets and digital currencies, and to introduce a new Federal law that will regulate the turnover of digital currencies and DFAs.
According to commission members, adopting the package of bills in its current form could trigger another wave of capital outflows from Russia to jurisdictions with more favourable regulation of the turnover of digital currencies.
The leading lawyer of RosKomSvoboda, Sarkis Darbinyan, noted that prohibitive initiatives create an atmosphere of fear, under which crypto enthusiasts and industry professionals will be extremely cautious in carrying out any activities with cryptocurrencies, if not stop them altogether.
“If we create bad conditions for the development of crypto projects, it is obvious that they will move to more comfortable jurisdictions where the tax rate is significantly lower, the legal system is significantly more stable, and where one can speak freely about how many digital currencies you have on your wallet,” said Darbinyan.
The head of Binance in Russia, Gleb Kostarev, added that many countries are at an early stage of regulation of the DFA market. In the future, regulation should foster innovation and an open market.
“We are confident that the collective experience and expertise of representatives of global financial digital platforms is necessary for developing and implementing a regulatory framework that will form the basis for a sustainable market in Russia,” Kostarev noted.
The commission includes representatives of cryptocurrency exchanges Binance, EXMO, OKEx, the company Xangle, and members of the public organization “RosKomSvoboda”, as well as lawyers and experts.
Earlier in December, the Russian government introduced a bill to the State Duma regulating the declaration of cryptocurrencies. According to the document, digital currencies are recognised as property.
In November, the Russian Ministry of Finance presented a new version of amendments to the Criminal and Criminal Procedure Codes. Under them, holders of digital currencies face up to three years in prison if they fail to report to the tax authorities on operations in the equivalent of 45 million rubles or more.
Experts called these amendments “an inadequate measure”.
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