The Australian Tax Office (ATO) has provided businesses with some more guidelines on how it intends to deal with bitcoin, stating that income and profits derived from bitcoin transactions are taxable.
The letter, sent to an Australian bitcoin entrepreneur in response to a request made last June, was a private ruling to specific questions and noted its contents were valid only to that case. But it gives digital currency businesses in the country a better idea of how they should act to comply with tax regulations.
The first question asked if transferring bitcoins to a private company in return for shares would count as income, either ordinary or that from a for-profit undertaking. The answer was simply “Yes”.
March 14, 2014 at 11:36AM
