Thailand is relaxing tax rules for crypto trading until the end of 2023 in order to boost the industry, the country’s finance minister said at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
This is aimed at promoting Crypto and blockchain in the country. Some of the agreement of the during the cabinet meetings are;
- Starting April 1, trades of digital assets on government-approved exchanges will be exempt from a 7% value-added-tax (VAT), said the minister, Arkhom Termpittayapaisith, according to the meeting minutes posted on the government’s website.
- Transfers involving Thailand’s retail central bank digital currency will also be exempt from the VAT over the same time period, he said.
- Traders will also be able to deduct losses from crypto trading from taxes due on gains, the minister said.
- A draft decree of the new tax exemptions has been proposed under Thailand’s Revenue Code, said Ekniti Nitithanpraphas, general director of the finance ministry’s revenue department, according to the meeting minutes.
- The draft aims to increase the competitiveness of the industry and develop payment system infrastructure that is ready for the digital economy, he said.
- In January, the government scrapped a proposed 15% tax on crypto gains following pushback from traders.
- Crypto trading has been growing over the past years in the second-largest Southeast Asian economy, with the number of new crypto investors reportedly outpacing new stock market traders in September.
