The Portugal Parliament has rejected a proposal presented by Livre and Bloco, two left-wing parties to tax Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and other cryptocurrencies.
The Bill presented by the two parties, which have little representation in the Portuguese Congress, sought to tax crypto profits in excess of €5,000 ($5,340.45).
The country, since 2018 has exempted cryptocurrencies from taxes, while it levies a 28% capital tax on other financial investments.
Ruling Socialist Party has not submitted any tax Bill as yet
While the ruling Socialist Party, holding the majority of the legislative assembly seats has not submitted any tax Bill of its own so far, Portugal’s Finance minister Fernando Medina had earlier this month announced that crypto assets in the country soon would be subject to capital gains taxes.
“Many countries already have systems, many countries are building their models in relation to this subject and we will build our own,” Medina had said.
Crypto taxation complex: Minister
Portugal’s deputy minister for finance and tax affairs Antonio Mendonça Mendes had said Portugal may consider other crypto-related taxes too much longer and that cryptocurrencies are a much more complex reality than taxation in terms of capital gains.
He had also suggested that crypto in Portugal could soon be subject to a value-added tax (VAT), stamp duties (IS), or even property taxes.
“We are evaluating what regulation is in this matter so that we can present not a legislative initiative to appear on the front page of a newspaper, but a legislative initiative that truly serves the country in all its dimensions,” Mendes had said.
Several countries have sought to treat crypto profits as capital gains. Australia’s tax authority on May 17 issued a cautionary reminder to consumers who have failed to disclose taxable earnings made on the sale of cryptocurrencies and NFTs.
