In another sign of intensifying work on crypto-related legislation among European countries, the Slovenian Ministry of Finance has released a draft bill that is to introduce a tax on cryptoasset trading. As a next step, the government could submit the draft bill to the Slovenian parliament for further legislative work.
In the draft legislation’s financial impact assessment, the ministry quotes data obtained from the country’s tax agency, the Financial administration of the Republic of Slovenia (FURS), according to which, over the past few years, Slovenian taxpayers have paid an average of EUR 150m (USD 170.3m) in income tax on capital gains annually.
“Data available online shows that the share of the market capitalization of virtual currencies, compared to the market capitalization of companies listed on world stock exchanges, is 1-2%,” the ministry says.
The ministry added:
“Thus, we estimate that the revenues of the state budget from this title will amount to EUR 100,000 [USD 113,600] to EUR 500,000 [USD 567,870] per year in the first few years.”
Under the draft bill, taxes would not be paid on crypto used to purchase goods, services, or other assets worth up to EUR 15,000 (USD 17,000).
Meanwhile, the proposed measure has secured the backing of the Slovenian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS) which declared its support for the proposed fiscal measures. The GZS said in a statement that, by generating additional revenue for the state budget, the Finance Ministry could reduce the tax burden on net wages.
“At the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, we support the bill. We believe that additional revenues of the state budget from this title (EUR 100,000 to 500,000 per year, according to statistical estimates) can contribute to the planned tax (income tax) relief of net wages in … Slovenia for which we have been lobbying for many years,” said Aleš Cantarutti, General Director of the GZS.
Source: Cryptonews
