Italy Brings 26% Capital Gains Tax on Crypto, Morocco Prepares Crypto Draft

As we step into 2023, government institutions across the world are keen on making their next crypto move. Last week on December 29, Italy’s Senate approved the country’s budget for 2023 which also included increase in the taxation for crypto investors to 26%.

Thus, all capital gains on crypto assets over 2000 euros will be taken at the revised rates. As per the approved legislation, cryptocurrencies are “a digital representation of value or rights that can be transferred and stored electronically, using distributed ledger technology or similar technology”.

Earlier, Italy used to treat cryptocurrencies as foreign currencies thereby attracting lower tax rates. The latest bill establishes that tax payers have the option to declare the value of their digital asset holdings by January and would be subject to a 14% tax pay. These incentives are basically to encourage the Italian citizens to declare their crypto holdings.

As per the latest data, nearly 1.3 million people or 2.3% of the Italian population own cryptocurrency assets. By July 2022, nearly 57% of the crypto users were male and 43% of the crypto users were female, and a very large majority of the users belong to the 28–38 age group. 

Giorgia Meloni, the first woman to serve as Italy’s prime minister, has received massive support for the bill from the legislative body. Italy is not the first country to introduce crypto taxes. Last year in October 2022, the crypto-friendly nation of Portugal also levied 28% tax on crypto capital gains derived in one year of the purchase.

The recent passing of legislation by Italy comes after the approval of Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) bill last year in October 2022. The MiCA regulatory framework seeks to establish consistent regulations across 27 member countries of the European Union. The MiCA regulatory framework shall come into effect in 2024.

In another news, Abdellatif Jouahiri, the governor of the Moroccan central bank, recently updated that the country’s crypto draft is ready and will be presented to the interested parties very soon.

As reported by Morocco World News, the central bank of Morocco shall be talking to several stakeholders like the Moroccan Capital Markets Authority (AMMC) and the Insurance Supervisory Authority, and Social Security (ACAPS) before implementing the proposed law.

Jouhari said: “For cryptocurrencies, I can assure you that the project is ready. We worked with the World Bank and the consultant to make it happen. The different chapters are completed. Now we are engaged in the discussion with the different stakeholders. It is long, but necessary to allow everyone to adhere to this project”.