Cryptocurrency and taxation have found their way among the main headlines coming out of the latest 2018 G20 meeting in Buenos Aires, alongside further commitments to fight climate change.
The G20 has now announced the desire for universal cryptocurrency taxation legislation to cover all jurisdictions within its remit with the body planning to regard itself as a “huge IT company” going forward. New laws governing the taxation of cryptocurrencies would also include further regulation as promised earlier in the year.
The current problem, which will clearly need to be overcome by some lateral and innovative thinking, is the role of international law in matters of taxation, as current ones do not allow most countries to tax companies without physical bases in that specific country. In the new declaration to commit to a cross-border crypto tax system, the G20 stated:
“We will seek solutions for the international taxation issue accompanying the digitization of the economy and will continue to collaborate.”
Previous G20 meets had already raised the topic; in its July report, the body’s Financial Stability Board (FSB) noted that previous analysis of crypto-asset markets, which included initial coin offerings (ICOs), had brought forth awareness surrounding significant challenges such as rapid market development, lack of transparency (with regard to identity and location of token issuers), as well as governing laws for white papers and gaps in data.
There continues to be some consensus from within the group representing the 20 nations about the value of innovation, although this may be limited to the respect currently being shown for the current impact of DLT and AI in the fintech space and elsewhere. The G20 has asked for further investigations to be launched in cryptocurrencies when Japan takes over the helm as chair in 2020.
Regarding cryptocurrency, the G20 repeatedly cite taking actions which are “balanced between preserving the benefits of innovation and containing various risks, especially those for consumer and investor protection and market integrity” but again AML legislation will be a focus with Japan as the next chair.
As is frequently in the case regarding the G20, it is a matter of getting all members on the same page, particularly given the current political friction between some of the member states. Europe and the UK are interested in developing such a program that they feel could combat money laundering and fraud, particularly in the case of larger organizations, but Japanese news agency Jiji has indicated that the USA and China are far more reticent to endorse such a move.
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