Thai authorities have decided to suspend the implementation of their 15% cryptocurrency capital gains tax for now. The proposal presented earlier this year triggered a lot of opposition, but it seems that some sort of crypto tax will still be implemented.
The Financial Times reports that Thailand will not move forward with its 15% cryptocurrency tax plan due to strong opposition from traders in the nation. According to tax officials, cryptocurrency trading or mining profits are taxable as capital gains on income taxes.
A substantial increase in the size and value of the cryptocurrency market in 2021 prompted the Thai Revenue Department to tighten oversight of cryptocurrency trading. However, industry stakeholders have issued dire warnings that heavy taxes may stifle the future growth of the nascent sector.
In January, the Thai Finance Ministry announced its intention to tax the crypto market, but the idea was deemed difficult to implement. It is unclear, for instance, if the taxes will be levied on yearly reports or if the government will force exchanges to deduct them at source.
In the past week, the Bank of Thailand, Ministry of Finance, and Securities and Exchange Commission announced that they would provide regulations for certain digital assets that do not pose a threat to the financial system.
Cryptocurrency regulation is primarily focused on taxation, investor protection, and anti-money laundering. In recent years, the asset class has grown significantly in terms of adoption due to DeFi and NFTs.
The cryptocurrency market has been the subject of discussions among several nations, particularly South Korea. South Korea’s crypto tax plan has been delayed until 2023 after a great deal of resistance.