British Taxman Hunts For Crypto Income
Last Updated on 5 May 2021 by CryptoTips.eu
After delivering a successful vaccination rollout, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is experiencing some backlash as of late.
The wallpaper decoration for his private office seems to have cost a bit more than foreseen and the Scottish nationalists are set for a win the elections. All this spells trouble.
Luckily he can order his Chancellor of the Exchequer (what other European countries would call the Finance Minister) Rishi Sunak to target a new class of investors. British youngsters have apparently all been investing in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as of late, and in order to fill the UK tax coffers, Rishi is now coming for them.
Hidden wealth
Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs department (or HMRC) has therefore been calling upon British citizens to declare their crypto winnings, to no avail.
A spokesperson for the HMRC stated:
The majority of individuals and businesses pay the tax that is due – however there remains a determined minority who refuse to play by the rules.
We take robust action to make sure that everyone pays the tax due – from individuals operating in the hidden economy through to action against sophisticated organised crime groups, and complex investigations into offshore structures used to hide earnings and other assets.
Seeing Bitcoin’s rise from $10k in 2020 to over $50k this year, it is understandable that the Johnson government wants to claim some taxes on these winnings. But earning these is proving more difficult than ever.
David Jones, a director at accounting firm UHY explained that:
HMRC suspects that an increasing amount of hidden wealth is slipping through its fingers thanks to the rise of cryptocurrencies and other unsanctioned money transfer systems. This demand for information is an important step in HMRC’s fight-back against that. The initiative comes hand in hand with HMRC’s publication of its new Cryptoassets Manual. A defence of ignorance of the law in this booming sector will no longer wash with the taxman.
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