'People are not going to be getting refunds': Experts quash tax-free crypto myth
A Victorian court ruling has sparked refund rumours, but crypto tax experts say it changes nothing about how Bitcoin is treated under Australian tax law.
A Victorian judge’s ruling that Bitcoin is roughly comparable to currency has sparked claims that the cryptocurrency may no longer be taxed — and that investors who previously paid capital gains tax on appreciating tokens could be eligible for refunds.
Not so fast, say crypto tax experts.
“There’s a lot of mistruths circulating,” said Joni Pirovich, principal at Blockchain & Digital Assets Services and Law. “People are not going to be getting refunds.”
The confusion stems from a criminal case in a Victorian court involving 81.6 Bitcoin allegedly stolen by a former Australian Federal Police officer. During the trial, defence lawyer Adrian Cartland argued — as reported by the Financial Review — that Bitcoin is information on a ledger, not property, and therefore cannot be stolen.
Judge Michael O’Connell rejected the defence, ruling that Bitcoin is indeed property. While his judgment is not publicly available, the AFR reported that he wrote Bitcoin was “comfortably analogous to a form of money”.
