Albania Looks to Introduce Crypto Taxation From 2023, Says Report

Albania is reportedly planning to tax income generated from crypto assets from 2023, according to a new draft law.

Exit News reported that the tax draft will become law by end of this year, making way for a new crypto taxation regime the following year. The draft is said to be at the public consultation stage at the moment.

The draft also underlines the definition of the virtual asset class, emphasizing: “A digital representation of a value that can be deposited, traded or transferred in digital form, and that can be used for payment or investment purposes or as a medium of exchange, including but not limited to cryptocurrencies.”

Notably, the definition excludes central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

Albania looks to define crypto mining

The countryis also looking to define cryptocurrency mining as “the activity of using the computer power of system users to solve cryptographic algorithms, to confirm transactions and gain virtual tools in exchange, as well as processing and confirmation activity of transactions through the investment of a virtual tool designated by users of computer nodes participating in this process.”

The development also follows Jan’s news of three people being arrested for crypto mining on stolen power. Since then, Albanian authorities have been trying to reduce power wastage.

With the new draft bill, any income from crypto transactions or mining will reportedly be classified as income from business, at varying rates based on the types of business where applicable. In other cases, individuals will be subject to income tax of 15% minus dividends, as per the report.  

Earlier this month, the Albanian parliamentary assembly called on the Financial Supervisory Authority (AFSA) to approve crypto regulations and “intensify cooperation with international regulatory authorities to obtain better experiences for this market.”

However, work on a domestic crypto framework started out in the last quarter of 2021. This was when AFSA Board reportedly approved two regulations, stating: “On the capital adequacy and own funds of entities operating in financial markets based on distributed registry technology” and “For the licensing of entities that exercise the activity as a digital token agent.”