For many years, Portugal was a tax haven for cryptocurrencies like bitcoin (BTC). The country has not levied a tax on crypto transactions since 2018, but that seemed to be coming to an end recently. Portuguese Finance Minister Fernando Media indicated last week that the country would still levy a tax on crypto, and even soon.
Portugal rejects bitcoin and crypto tax bills
Two bills were subsequently introduced, coming from two minority parties. But the Portuguese parliament, the Assembleia da República, has rejected both proposals. That reports the Portuguese economic daily ECO on May 25.
That will be good news for crypto investors in Portugal. This is especially welcome news for investors who recently moved to the southern European country in order not to pay tax on their crypto. For example, the Dutch bitcoin investor Didi Taihuttu left for the country with his “bitcoin family” earlier this year.
Nevertheless, this does not mean that parties will not try again in the future to get such a law through the Portuguese Parliament. The government is now given the task of conducting research into tax on profits with crypto above 5,000 euros.
Portugal wants to attract crypto industry
Portugal currently does not levy a capital gains tax on crypto transactions, but it does on other financial instruments. The Portuguese finance minister wanted to straighten this out, but it looks like the government wants to wait even longer. Portugal is expected to first attract the crypto industry more strongly to the country. For now, Portugal remains a tax haven for bitcoin and crypto.
Last month, ECO reported that Portugal’s first major bank has been officially authorized to offer crypto-related services to customers. Shortly before that, an exclusive interview with Taihuttu could be read on Crypto Insiders in which the well-known investor tells how he started his bitcoin adventure.