© Reuters Portugal, end of the tax haven for cryptocurrencies?
Brian Bujalance
Lisbon, May 20 (.).- Tax advantages and a favorable legal vacuum have turned Portugal into a “paradise” for cryptocurrencies, but not indefinitely. The Government of António Costa is preparing a law that will tax the benefits of this business.
While in countries like Spain or France the capital gains obtained from cryptoactive operations, such as , are subject to taxes, Portugal is one of the few where they are still exempt.
“Portugal is a perfect tax haven for cryptocurrencies,” Lázaro Ramos, who a few months ago created RHP, the first Portuguese cryptocurrency exclusively for the real estate market, explains to Efe.
Added to the legal vacuum is Portugal’s attempt to attract population to the interior with advantageous tax programs and other benefits for young people, immigrants and digital nomads.
“Portugal has received many young people related to ‘startups’, many technological investments have been made and digital nomads have arrived” who are looking for a more sustainable place, with a cheaper standard of living than in other EU cities and a good climate, adds the Bastonary of the Order of Notaries, Jorge Batista da Silva.
TAX HAVEN UNTIL WHEN?
But how long will this tax haven last? The Center for Fiscal Studies began to prepare a study on the taxation of cryptocurrencies in March 2021, but only now does the Government seem determined to take action.
The Minister of Finance, Fernando Medina, stated this Thursday that Portugal is preparing a tax regime for cryptocurrencies that ends the legal vacuum.
It will be “effective and fair”, in line with “the best practices from the international point of view and the country’s competitive position”, he pointed out in a meeting with foreign correspondents in which he avoided specifying when the regulations will be ready: “The fastest that we get”.
If cryptocurrencies are taxed, Rhamos predicts that Portugal will make cash in the short term, but in the long term it could lose “many millionaires”.
Batista da Silva thinks, however, that when talking about virtual assets and taxation “one should opt for fixed and relatively low rates, because most people want to comply and if the rates are low, it is easier to pay than try to avoid the tax.
FIRST HOUSE IN EUROPE .PRADA WITH BITCOINES
The cryptocurrency business has reached the real estate sector in Portugal, with the first transaction for the sale of a home with bitcoins registered in Europe.
The interest in buying real estate with crypto assets “is a prolonged phenomenon of people who wanted to come to Portugal, have virtual assets and want to convert them into assets,” adds Batista da Silva.
The first public deed of sale of a house with cryptocurrencies in Europe was formalized in Braga, the third Portuguese city, for almost three bitcoins (2.9848), about 110,000 euros.
“This deed represents a historical milestone, the transfer of a digital asset to a physical asset (a house) without any conversion into euros,” said Zome, one of the real estate companies involved in the operation.
Zome has just launched the first portal in Portugal to acquire real estate with cryptocurrency, where you can consult information about properties, transaction values converted into various cryptoactives and request visits.
“People who normally invested and acquired virtual assets in the past and have arrived in Portugal, it is normal for them to try to buy houses with cryptocurrencies,” adds the bastonary of the Order of Notaries.
HIGH INTEREST
The interest in investing in cryptocurrencies and buying assets in Portugal fuels projects such as Rhamos Propertis, the company run by Lázaro Rhamos.
He decided to unite “two great markets”, real estate and crypto assets, and created RHP, a stable cryptocurrency that links its value to the price of physical properties and market demand.
The first step will be to market real estate in Portugal to later expand its business to countries such as the United Kingdom, Spain and Dubai, “a very hot market both in real estate and in crypto assets.”
There are four entities authorized by the Bank of Portugal to operate in the country with virtual assets: Mind The Coin, Criptoloja, Utrust and Luso Digital Assets – Unipessoa.
Others such as the Spanish emerging company BitBase, dedicated to the sale of cryptocurrencies and which is still awaiting authorization from the Portuguese issuing entity, are lagging behind for the moment.
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