Thailand Approves Tax Relief Measures for Crypto Trading

According to an announcement posted on the Thai government’s website, Tuesday saw new tax relief in Thailand for crypto trading.

Finance Minister Arkhom termpittayapaisith, and Deputy Minister Finance Santi Prompat jointly revealed the results of the meeting. They confirmed that the cabinet had approved the crypto tax relief measures.

A news conference was held by the finance minister. It was revealed that traders will be allowed to offset annual losses with gains for tax due on crypto investments. Transfers of crypto tokens or cryptocurrencies will be exempted from the value-added tax (VAT), of 7%.

He also stated that the tax exemption will apply from April 2022 through December 2023 and include the trading of digital currency (CBDC), issued by the Bank of Thailand, as well as the retail central bank of Thailand.

The Thai Revenue Department released last month a guide that outlines the new tax rules for cryptocurrencies and digital tokens. An executive from a Thai cryptocurrency exchange said that the new tax rules were’much friendlier to both investors as well as industry’.

Thailand had previously proposed to impose a 15% tax on cryptocurrency transactions. After industry opposition, the plan was abandoned.

The country’s cryptocurrency trading market has seen a significant increase in the last year. According to a finance ministry official, the number of accounts for crypto trading in Thailand has increased from 170,000 in the previous year to around 2 million by 2021.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand announced last month its plans to create a digital asset trading platform.