Portuguese Parliament Dismisses Bill Calling For Taxes On Bitcoin, Ethereum, Other Cryptos

The Portuguese Parliament has voted against two separate bills that sought to tax cryptocurrencies in the country.

What Happened: According to the country’s local media, the two proposals were presented in the parliament by two left-wing minority political parties — Livre and Bloco.

This came after the Portuguese Minister of Finance, Fernando Medina of the ruling Socialist Party, announced last week that cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin BTC/USD, Ethereum ETH/USD, and Dogecoin DOGE/USD would be subject to taxation in the near future.

See Also: India Crypto Exchange CEO Says Exorbitant Taxes Will 'Forcibly' Drive Investors Overseas

“Many countries already have systems, many countries are building their models in relation to this subject, and we will build our own,” Medina had said.

Currently, Portugal has no effective capital gains tax on cryptocurrency, compared to the 28% capital gains tax rate for financial investments such as stocks. The new policy proposed by the government may bring in a law to regulate and tax crypto.

Cryptocurrency trading and mining have gained major interest among investors in recent times, forcing governments around the world to mull bringing in laws to regulate the use and trading of digital currencies.

Experts have previously warned that if governments forcibly impose exorbitant taxes on crypto exchanges, the latter would be forced to move bases to different crypto-friendly countries such as Singapore or the Central African Republic.

Price Action: According to data from Benzinga Pro, Bitcoin was down 0.49% at $29,586.10 in the last 24 hours, while Ethereum and Dogecoin lost 3.27% and 2.88%, respectively.

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