Crypto Investors in Thailand to Pay 15% Capital Gains Tax, Report Unveils

Crypto-related profits, such as those resulting from the trading of digital currencies, will be taxed at a rate of 15%, a finance ministry official has revealed to the local press in Thailand. After last year’s significant market growth, the department intends to improve surveillance of crypto trade in 2022.

Thailand Urges Crypto Traders to Report Profits on Tax Returns

The Ministry of Finance in Thailand advises investors to indicate their income from crypto holdings when they file their tax declarations this year, the Bangkok Post reported on Thursday. Capital gains from cryptocurrency trading will be subject to a 15% tax, the newspaper added, quoting a source from the ministry.

The obligation concerns all taxpayers who made a profit from transactions with cryptocurrencies, including investors and operators of crypto mining facilities, the official clarified. Digital asset exchanges, however, will be exempt from the levy.

Profits from cryptocurrency trading are considered assessable income under Section 40 of the Royal Decree amending Revenue Code No. 19, the report explains. In view of the significant expansion of the digital asset market in 2021, financial authorities now plan to improve their oversight over coin trading activities in the country.

Not all aspects of crypto taxation are clear though, as a representative of the industry has pointed out. Akalarp Yimwilai, co-founder and chief executive of crypto exchange Zipmex, remarked that many questions remain regarding how to calculate profits. One of them is whether gains from a price increase as the U.S. dollar strengthens are considered a profit. He further elaborated:

Tax methods and calculations should be more concise, clear and easy to understand. Many people I know want to pay taxes, but don’t know how to calculate them.

He added that Zipmex has been trying to develop a system that would allow its customers to estimate their profits and losses but the task has proved difficult to solve. “If the Revenue Department really has such an advanced data analytics system that it can precisely calculate gains from cryptocurrencies, it would be a great benefit to share it with the industry,” he noted.

Authorities in Thailand, a major tourist destination, have been trying to demonstrate a friendly attitude towards the growing number of cryptocurrency users, especially among visitors. In September, the country’s tourism authority announced it wanted to foster what it described as a “cryptourism atmosphere” and in November its governor emphasized that Thailand must become a “crypto-positive society.” Last month, Bank of Thailand officials stated that crypto payments are not illegal.

Do you think authorities in Thailand will further clarify taxation rules for cryptocurrency investors? Tell us in the comments section below.

Lubomir Tassev

Lubomir Tassev is a journalist from tech-savvy Eastern Europe who likes Hitchens’s quote: “Being a writer is what I am, rather than what I do.” Besides crypto, blockchain and fintech, international politics and economics are two other sources of inspiration.

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