Revenue is planning to pursue Irish crypto traders who are making large profits from digital currencies such as Bitcoin, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has said.
Responding to a parliamentary question by Social Democrats leader Catherine Murphy about the risk to the State of tax avoidance by individuals concealing crypto profits, Donohoe said that there are “no special rules in Ireland for the tax treatment of crypto assets.”
“The receipt of crypto assets as a form of payment for services or goods rendered will give rise to Income Tax for individuals or Corporation Tax for corporate taxpayers,” he said, adding that VAT should be applied to crypto transactions as well.
He added that the disposal of crypto assets “is treated in the same way as the disposal of all assets for Capital Gains Tax purposes,” and that Revenue “has the power to obtain information on crypto asset or cryptocurrency transactions.”
According to a recent international survey, around 552,000 people in Ireland own some form of cryptocurrency.
Ireland is below the global average for cryptocurrency ownership but above countries like the US and the UK. #crypto #cryptocurrencyhttps://t.co/2YvV6ae25H
— Irish Independent (@Independent_ie) August 23, 2021