Singapore’s Tax Policies Will Affect NFTs; Here’s How

Key Takeaways

• Singapore introduces income tax for NFTs.
• Lawrence Wong, Singapore’s finance minister, added that NFTs will not attract capital gains tax.
• The South East Asian country has been at the forefront of accelerating crypto adoption in the region.

Singapore is persisting in being one of the most crypto-friendly countries at present. Lawrence Wong, Singapore’s finance minister, has said that prevailing income tax rules will apply to NFT transactions.

Income from trading NFTs will be taxed in Singapore 

According to a report by the Singapore-based news outlet Business Times, Wong made the revelation in response to a question during an appearance in parliament.

While income tax will be deducted for traded NFTs, the country is not applying a capital gains tax on the asset class.

“As Singapore does not have a capital gains tax regime, such gains will not be taxable,” said Wong.

The announcement means that earnings made from owning NFTs will not be taxed unless the asset is transferred or sold for profit.

The move is coming after the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) disclosed last month that it had no plans to regulate NFTs. Tharman Shanmugaratnam, senior minister and minister in charge of the MAS, revealed that the country is taking a tech-neutral approach to the budding industry.

NFTs are becoming largely popular in the South East Asian country. Singapore is witnessing a growing number of its artists finding new income streams from NFTs according to a survey by Milieu Insight and reported by Vulcan Post.

Singapore has embraced crypto all round

Since last year, Singapore has been making significant strides to becoming a global crypto hub. It has introduced timely policies to ensure that the industry thrives safely. A case in point is its recently introduced law on the back of massive crypto market volatility earlier this year.

Singapore introduced requirements for crypto companies to show some responsibility in how they advertised investing in cryptocurrencies. Under the law, it prohibited crypto ads and crypto ATMs in all public spaces.

Such laws made for the benefit of market participants have made Coincub rank Singapore as the most crypto-friendly country globally. The ranking which was last updated at the end of last year saw Singapore overtake the US. Coincub stated that “the future is happening in Singapore.” 

“The city-state’s robust economy, positive legislative environment, and high rate of cryptocurrency adoption are key factors that have contributed to its rise to #1,” Coincub said.