Singapore intends to remove the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from cryptocurrencies. This is according to a manual for digital taxation from the Inland Revenue Authority published on 5 July.
The bill will take effect on January 1, 2020 if it is adopted by the Singaporean parliament. The bill states that digital tokens are exempt from tax if they meet the following requirements:
(a) it is expressed as a unit;
(b) it is fungible;
(c) it is not denominated in another currency or linked to another currency;
(d) it is a means of exchange accepted by the public, without any substantial restrictions on its use
Bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), litecoin (LTC), dash (DASH), monero (XMR), ripple (XRP) and zcash (ZEC) are mentioned as examples of cryptocurrencies that meet the criteria. Cryptocurrency mining might also be exempt from tax if the bill was adopted.
What will not fall under the proposed legislation are the so-called stable coins, cryptocurrencies that are linked to fiat money. Think of tether (USDT), paxos standard token (PAX) and the gemini dollar (GUSD). So that could also mean that Facebook’s upcoming cryptocurrency, the libra, will not be exempt from tax either.
Last week the central bank of Singapore spoke with Facebook about the libra. Singapore then asked for clarification about the security and privacy of the new cryptocurrency.
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