Topic: Australia takes first step toward Bitcoin as currency (Read 896 times)

Nice. Australia becomes more and more attractive as a immigration country i guess.

An alternaive once im rich enough.

yes, i don't think people get it the Aus gov classifies things more to their benefit not to that of the likes of bitcoin.

anyways the whole point of p2p currency is to be indifferent to gov.......just sayin 

Using bitcoin to pay your taxes in Australia?!
Is the Aussie government getting the FOMO, so this is their plan to collect coins?  I'm thinking maybe.

That sounds like a kinky quirk of German law. Anyone can do anything with forex in the UK.

Just a note from someone living in Germany where Bitcoin is treated as a currency. Any trading of the currency requires that you register as a foreign exchange dealer. Bitcoin is severely suppressed in Germany due to its classification as a currency.

Yes, And I think that other countries should learn from Australia and should start following them, when it comes to acceptance of a bitcoin, Once each and every country starts accepting bitcoin as a currency, it would have a greater impact on its value and stability.

But they actually did: CoinJar moved away.
OK, that's just a slowdown to Bitcoin diffusion, but it happened.

Lol. I love it when they tell the truth by accident.

A government listening to it's citizens is now a major step forward. Christ. Where did that errant tyke called 'Democracy' go?

I roll around in concrete jungles shredding paper tigers with my teeth 

pretty amazing that bitcoin is changing minds so quickly 

It could be but i'm not sure how they plan on legislating it. It's so hard to track BTC, it would be hella expensive to try to enforce taxes on BTC by treating it as such.
It's a bit like in the US where people are required to report BTC transactions and pay taxes to the IRS(last i heard), but have no real way to enforce it.

If taxing BTC become something mainstream, the demand for obfuscator services will just rise and become common and people are still not going to want to pay fees/taxes for using BTC.

I personally don't mind paying taxes where due, if i actually profit from BTC, but if BTC transactions were taxed, i would just see it as Government trying to milk BTC. The whole point of BTC is avoiding those fees.

that's a very great news you got there. I really hope that many countries would also accept bitcoin as a real currency since the technology behind it is great and the concept is wonderful

These are very good and positive news about Bitcoin.In coming months/years Bitcoin will rule the world's financial system which is seeming clear day by day .

just ingore the Senate they have no right watsoever over the Crypto Currency Constitution

and they know it

Paper Tigers cant bite

Too late for what?
People can buy Bitcoin anywhere on the net, companies can spawn and go back into Australia, so who cares?
If Australia goes on accepting Bitcoin as a parallel currency, that's only good.
They are only 1-2 years late in understanding this, but no drama please.

Senate inquiry into Crypro

Loldogs

when i contacted them about it they didnt even know wat it was

and i offered my services to the Reserve Bank of Australia

ie Money Printing and Co Central

and they turned me down

but i had to tick all the boxes and do things right

cause Judgement Day is coming ya know

Australia is really open to bitcoin and digital currencies in general. I wouldn't be surprised if Australia would become the beating heart of the digital currency industry..

I think all countries should just treat it like a foreign currency. It's much less confusing for everyone then and I think it makes it seem more legit as a currency to the general public.

This is a much better article for the Senate committee:
http://www.afr.com/technology/bitcoins-slow-journey-to-the-mainstream-takes-an-important-step-20150803-giq8yz

The prospects of removing GST from bitcoin transactions is a major plus for new startups in Australia, but it's too late. CoinJar has already left Australia for UK. Used to be a Bitcoin friendly bank NAB has turned away Bitcoin users.


Users do not need to bank their bitcoins, we just need banks not to label bitcoin users as money launderers.

http://mashable.com/2015/08/04/bitcoin-currency-australia/


Updated: Tuesday, August 4 at 6:00 p.m. AEST with the release of the government report, "Digital currency—game changer or bit player."

In a positive sign for financial technology startups, a government inquiry has set the stage for the digital currency Bitcoin to be treated like a "national or foreign currency" in Australia.

A Senate Economics References Committee review into digital currencies in Australia has found they should be treated like any other currency for the purposes of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

See also: Mt. Gox founder arrested in Japan, former employee details police cooperation on Reddit

The result is a rebuff to the position of the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), which ruled in 2014 that Bitcoin was a commodity and "neither money nor a foreign currency" and was liable for the GST, as well as other taxes.

The ATO's guidance was met with dismay by Australia's nascent Bitcoin business community last year, with many startups warning they would have to move overseas to avoid the debilitating financial penalty.

In the report, the committee concluded that the ATO had placed "an additional burden on Australian digital currency businesses."

Labor Senator Sam Dastyari, who chaired the committee, told the Australian Financial Review he hoped the change would help keep digital innovators at home in Australia.

"Without a doubt, the main benefit will be the confidence and certainty that removing a GST will provide to our own digital entrepreneurs, and the foreign businesses who want to set up here," he said. "Most importantly, it will send the message to local tech entrepreneurs that their government is listening to them, and that in itself is a major step forward."

The committee received submissions from 48 groups and individuals, including Ripple Labs, an online payment transfer company that is currently working with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. In its submission, the company said the lack of global uniformity in the regulation of digital currencies is creating serious uncertainty for the fintech industry.

"Harmonizing a global standard for digital currencies could provide clarity and an even playing field for technologists and companies that innovate using digital currencies," the company wrote.

Chris Mountford, a developer at Atlassian, who also made a submission to the committee, told Mashable Australia the report was a positive step forward. "The current position taken by the ATO is not working for anybody," he said.

"Sam Dastyari is recognising the growth potential of innovative technology, and I take it as a sane step towards the only sensible interpretation of the GST legislation," he added. "[The ATO's ruling] was going to be a barrier for startups, not for Bitcoin. Bitcoin was going to succeed despite Australia."

While it acknowledged the opportunities of digital currencies, the senate committee has flagged that more work needs to be done before Bitcoin can be properly handled by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and other regulators, among other recommendations.

The report is a step towards bringing Australia in line with the UK in the regulation of digital currencies. In 2014, the UK indicated it would treat Bitcoin similarly to other currencies and money. In the U.S., the Internal Revenue Service has ruled for tax purposes, Bitcoin is property and not a currency.