Digital currencies will be treated as real money in Australia after July 1, 2017

Australia has announced it will be treating digital currencies the same as normal currency, ending the double taxation through GST and opening up regulatory restrictions on innovation. This is exciting news for the entire cryptocurrency industry!

An excerpt from the announcement is below:

Removing the double taxation of digital currency

The Government will make it easier for new innovative digital currency businesses to operate in Australia. From 1 July 2017, purchases of digital currency will no longer be subject to the GST, allowing digital currencies to be treated just like money for GST purposes. Currently, consumers who use digital currencies can effectively bear GST twice: once on the purchase of the digital currency and once again on its use in exchange for other goods and services subject to the GST.

Extending crowd-sourced equity funding

The Government is making it easier for start-ups and innovative small businesses to raise capital.The Government released draft legislation to extend crowd-sourced equity funding (CSEF) to proprietary companies with the 2017‑18 Budget. This will open up CSEF for a wider range of businesses and provide additional sources of capital.Proprietary companies using CSEF will be able to have an unlimited number of CSEF shareholders.Shareholders will be protected by the higher governance and reporting obligations that CSEF proprietary companies must meet. These obligations include: a minimum of two directors; financial reporting in accordance with accounting standards; audit requirements; restrictions on related party transactions; and minimum shareholder rights to participate in exit events.

What are your thoughts on how this will affect other governments' regulation of cryptocurrency?

----------------------

Thanks for reading, you can follow me here for more interesting articles: @coinnews