UK tax authorities are going to treat digital currencies in line with conventional money. It recently became known that HMRC is planning to stop charging VAT on Bitcoin trading, thus abandoning an earlier decision to treat the digital currency as a “voucher” subject to sales tax. The recent briefing disclosed newly clarified rules on the tax liabilities for individuals and businesses who handle cryptocurrencies – of course, including Bitcoin.

The industry experts admitted that the briefing provided much-needed clarity to digital currency businesses, as many of them had been looking to move offshore due to the tax burden. The founder of Bitcoin trader Elliptic and director of the British digital currency association (UKDCA), which is supposed to represent the British cryptocurrency community, claimed that the outfit is looking forward to cooperating with financial regulators to further clarify the legal status of cyber currencies and make sure that the United Kingdom takes the lead in developing this technology.
The briefing in question steers clear of explicitly declaring Bitcoin a currency, but it looks like the rules provided are almost identical to how conventional currencies are treated. The most important part is that not only is the purchase of the currency no longer subject to VAT, neither are the margins miners make when selling their freshly produced coins. At the same time, the HMRC insists that revenues derived by Bitcoin traders and miners are subject to corporation tax, income tax, and capital gains tax.
This ruling comes amid the fallout of the collapse of MtGox, the former largest Bitcoin exchange in the world. A group of ex-members of the exchange, led by tech entrepreneur Josh Weinstein, have banded together to collect data, compare notes, and explore legal options and remedies. The team, dubbed GoxBux, claims to have lost a $79,150 and 2763.302 Bitcoin, which is worth over £1.5m or £70,000 per person.
Such considerable losses have led some American legislators to call for a total ban on the cyber currency, saying that when Bitcoin is inevitably banned in other countries, the US will be left holding the bag on a valueless currency. However, it was recently declared that the US Fed can’t regulate Bitcoin, at least while it continues to be largely separate from the mainstream banking system.