Thailand Eases Crypto Tax Rules to Promote Industry Development

Lawmakers in Thailand have relaxed crypto tax laws for traders and investors due to the boom in crypto activity in the rapidly growing Asian market.

Thailand’s ministry of finance has decided to ease tax rules for crypto investments and traders, Reuters reported on March 8. The announcement from the Thai finance cabinet stated that due to an upsurge in crypto trading, it had decided to implement rules to promote investment in digital assets.

Crypto trader tax exemption

This comes after the ministry previously dropped the 15% tax rate after receiving pushback from the public. According to Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith, crypto traders will be exempt from the 7% value-added tax (VAT) when trading on government-authorized exchanges.

Crypto traders will also now be able to offset annual losses against gains for taxes due on cryptocurrency investments and include trading of their retail central bank digital currency. The new tax exemption takes effect from April 2022 until December 2023.

Cryptocurrency trading has become massive in Thailand, with the second-largest economy in South East Asia nearly 10x the number of active trading accounts. The market saw a near 600% increase in transaction volume from November 2020 to April 2021 according to data from the country’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

New laws for investors

Besides just giving tax breaks to crypto traders, the ministry has also approved breaks for direct and indirect investments in start-ups. By investing for at least two years in start-ups in the country, investors will be offered a tax break for 10 years until June 2032.

This is quite the step back from banning four different types of tokens and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) less than a year ago. But when compared to the non-existent or stifling regulation put in place by other countries, it seems quite progressive and could possibly serve as a benchmark for other countries.