Poland has reviewed its position on cryptocurrencies in the country, as part of a thorough analysis of the crypto space, announcing that it is to temporarily suspend tax collection for digital currencies, according to Cointelegraph.
In a similar move to the French government’s, who recently heavily reduced its taxation on sales of cryptocurrency, Poland’s ministry of finance has been forced to heed public demand for changes to cryptocurrency legislation.
The ministry had issued a statement prior the end of the Polish tax year, which ends at the end of April, informing consumers that cryptocurrency falls into two income tax brackets of 18% and 32%.
These announcements provoked immediate public response through a Change.org petition which gained over 5,000 signatures asking for tax exemption for crypto technology dealings. Although the government has responded positively to the petition, it has stated that “the obligation may arise to pay tax in an amount often exceeding the funds invested”.
The government announcement claimed, “Temporary abandonment of tax collection will allow for an in-depth analysis and preparation of system solutions regulating this economic space, including in the tax context.”
However, the Polish government continues to be wary of cryptocurrency and is continuing its information campaign to the public. The Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) has employed a company to conduct a social media campaign on its behalf which illustrates the dangers associated with cryptocurrencies, such as pyramid schemes and forex trading.
The anti-crypto stance was highlighted recently through a secretly-funded YouTube video about a man who lost all his money from crypto trading, as part of an ongoing collaboration between the Central Bank of Poland and the Polish government’s KNF.
Reports in January had revealed that a group of researchers at Lazarski University in Warsaw had created a digital currency called the dPLN, which could be linked to Poland’s fiat currency, the Polish zloty (PLN). The project was initiated by the Polish Blockchain Technology Accelerator (PATB), which operates under the patronage of the ministry of digitalization.
According to Prof Krzysztof Piech who was in charge of the project, he felt that “multiple countries will soon adopt the blockchain-based nationalized digital coins in 2018, and Poland’s dPLN can be paired with any currency of the world”.
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