Legal Tender in New Zealand has a new face! Crypto-assets are now a legal and taxable form of payment! New Zealand has become one of the first nation states to accept cryptocurrency and recognize it as legal tender in New Zealand!
Part of this work involves New Zealand’s work in properly forming a framework for employees to receive cryptocurrency as part of their wages. This provision does not affect self-employed taxpayers, however. There are also some implied conditions to this ground-breaking decision by the government of New Zealand – no lock-up periods on the coins and easy convertability to fiat currency.
The New Zealand Commissioner of Inland Revenue has also commented that Bitcoin has all of the required qualities to be considered a form of payment – however, the legal status of Bitcoin remains “property” rather than money.
Despite this, the Inland Revenue clarified that BTC payments to employees are taxable events regardless of “non-money” legal status and community narrative. BTC, it should be noted, was mentioned no fewer than 18 times within the commentary.
It’s important to point out that the tax rate in New Zealand is 33% and citizens must make the payments in NZD. With this respect, the Inland Revenue Department does not accept BTC – they expect taxpayers to convert their crypto into fiat.
#StackingSats is becoming more and more easy – more so for New Zealanders. Even the US is trying to make the country more friendly to Crypto! This is great news for Bitcoin! What do you think? Do you participate in #StackingSats? How do you do it? Do you receive part of your pay in Bitcoin or cryptocurrency? Let us know how you do it on our Facebook page!
