Tax Regulation of Virtual Currencies in Developed Countries and Russia

The paper explores tax regulation of virtual currencies (cryptocurrencies) as a new class of financial assets. The relevance of the topic is due to the wide development in the world of virtual currencies operations in the absence of a unified the interpretation of virtual currencies and in the absence generally accepted of the regulation of digital financial assets. The research is aiming to identify the economic and legal interpreting of virtual currency, determine taxation of virtual currencies in foreign countries and draft recommendations on taxation of cryptocurrencies transactions in Russia. Based on the study of tax regulation of virtual currencies in Singapore, UK, USA and Japan the paper defines interpretations of cryptocurrencies and outline their tax consequences. No correlation between taxation of virtual currencies and regulation of virtual currencies in the monetary and payment systems has been found. In most studied countries virtual currencies-related incomes are taxable by corporate taxes and the burden of taxation is defined by national approach to corporate taxation. The authors conclude that in Russia implementation of best global practices shall be complemented by considerations of domestic direct and indirect taxation specifics. The paper suggests that cryptocurrencies-related incomes should be subject to corporate income tax but exempted from personal income tax. Virtual currencies-related transactions should be exempted from VAT but without necessarily recognizing cryptocurrencies as official mean of payment.