The global turnover of digital coins exceeded the amount of $ 1 trillion in 2021, and Ukraine contributed to this. Among the most popular assets are still Bitcoin and Ethereum. The legal status of the cryptocurrency in the country has been actively regulated since December 2 last year, when the government adopted a law on the legalization of virtual funds. The purpose of this decision was to provide an opportunity for participants of the cryptocurrency market to use banking services, pay taxes on this income and receive legal protection in the courts in case of violation of their rights.
The new legislation also raised the issue of taxation for the sale of such assets. The project took into account the situation of withdrawal of digital money in the form of fiat funds and income taxes on tokens. Thus, the income received from cryptocurrency transactions is considered individually and is taxed at a rate of 18% for legal entities, and 5% for individuals. At the same time, VAT is not provided for the sale.
Then the Verkhovna Rada introduced fines for cryptocurrency in Ukraine. The law was adopted on April 15, 2021. This provision tightened the procedure for charging liability for the concealment of digital assets by civil servants. The document was approved by 283 deputies in the first reading.
More about the changes
The adoption of the new law was justified by the recent actions of officials and deputies. They declared more than 46,000 BTC, but some of them later reported errors in their declarations and changed the data in a smaller direction to protect themselves from accusations of corruption. Such actions have led to the fact that the new draft toughens the measures for civil servants and politicians.
Ukrainians expect such innovations:
- When concealing assets or real estate in the amount from 40 and a half thousand dollars to 162 thousand 300 dollars, it is assumed that the restriction of freedom is up to 2 years and penalties in the amount of 121,700 dollars to 162,300 dollars.
- If the amount of digital coins worth more than $162,300 is concealed, that is, if the amount of digital coins worth more than $162,300 is not entered in the income declaration, a prison term of 2 years or a fine of $162,300 to $ 202,800 is assumed.
- If officials fail to submit the document, they face a restriction of freedom for 2 years.
But you should know that the violator is not exempt from criminal liability under any circumstances. Remorse and assistance in covering the damage will not change the punishment.
Further development of the issue
The regulation of cryptocurrency in Ukraine continues, and the bill is being prepared for second reading. It provides for the award of criminal penalties for government employees who provided false or erroneous data regarding digital assets in tax documents.
Also, the leaders and members of the Blockchain4Ukraine group are preparing an additional project that will oblige all deputies and officials to specify the addresses of all their cryptocurrency wallets, including coins on hardware accounts. This is necessary to track activities with digital coins and prevent money laundering attempts.
At the same time, The National Agency For the Prevention of Corruption began checking the declarations of civil servants for the last year. 250 monitoring sessions have already been announced, which will help to verify the accuracy of the specified data. The National Agency For the Prevention of Corruption checks:
- whether the declarant really owns the cryptocurrency in the specified amount;
- whether funds transferred for their purchase;
- whether the person can explain where the money for the acquisition of assets came from?
In case of inconsistency of information, deputies face administrative or criminal liability under the new adopted law.