Category: Cryptocurrency Tax

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Australia Crypto News Cryptocurrency Tax Swyftx

CoinTracking Adds Tax Support For Swyftx Traders

Users of Swyftx, one of the leading cryptocurrency trading platforms in Australia, can now benefit from a service to help them cut down on the hours spent filling out spreadsheets to comply with the tax office requirements.

Since the ATO declared cryptocurrencies as a form of property – therefore making holdings and gains taxable – a sizable amount of traders were reluctantly torn away from candles and graphs to a possibly less fun type of tracking.

Importing Your Transaction Data

Although there are a number of software tools that can help you easily import your transaction data to help you calculate what you may owe the taxman, an integration with a platform you might already be using may help you save some more time.

Earlier this week, CoinTracking announced their integration of the Swyftx API, which will allow Swyftx users to track their trades for any and all purposes.

Considered the world’s first tool dedicated to crypto tax reporting, the team at CoinTracking boasts over a hundred tax professionals that are regularly consulted with to ensure users are kept up to speed.

CoinTracking was founded in 2012 and went online in April 2013 as the world’s first cryptocurrency tax reporting tool and portfolio manager. The company was started with the goal of making cryptocurrency traders’ lives easier – not only during tax season. Since its inception, CoinTracking has accumulated over 802,000 users with currently 24.7 billion US-Dollars total worth of all portfolios. Its worldwide professional network consists of more than 160 tax advisors and tax lawyers to assist with international tax filing.

CoinTracking

On their end, Swyftx – as they call themselves, “the Australian Crypto Exchange that gives a ****” – have shown yet again their commitment to improving the trading experience for their users.

If you’ve been putting off filings out of a sense of dread when confronted with endless rows of numbers, this fresh implementation might be what you need.

Categories
Australia Cryptocurrency Law Cryptocurrency Tax

ATO Sends Out Tax Reminders To Crypto Traders

Not too long ago, the ATO (Australian Tax Office) sent out emails to 350,000 cryptocurrency traders and investors reminding them that they must declare their cryptocurrency income revenue – leading to a massive spike in Google searches for “crypto tax”.

Tax Calculations Simplified

In 2018, software engineer Shane Brunette created a tool called CryptoTaxCalculator when he was confronted with a tangled web of crypto tax laws.

Hoping to prevent other crypto enthusiasts from facing the same challenges, he created the crypto tax calculator tool – which has since been integrated with the Aussie cryptocurrency exchange platform CoinSpot.

Shane noted that the use of the tool has grown exponentially since the emails started doing the rounds.

“The ATO has fired a warning message to all crypto investors to declare their taxes. The next step will be far less forgiving. Although we have been around for two years, we really started to see significant traction after the ATO emails. I think most cryptocurrency users in Australia have been pleading ignorance about their tax obligations, but the market is now more educated about cryptocurrency taxes. There really isn’t any more excuse for not doing your taxes.”

Although calculations for taxes owed due to crypto to crypto transactions can cost you a couple of sleepless nights when done manually, the CryptoTaxCalculator tool can help you do your paperwork in a matter of minutes.

 Crypto traders and investors can simply export their transaction data via a CSV file into the tool. In a couple of minutes, a report will be generated, containing everything an accountant may need.

The move by the Australian government also proves that cryptocurrency will be considered a major player on the financial market, on par with stocks and other investments.

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Cryptocurrencies Cryptocurrency Tax Investing Real Estate

Australian SMSFs Turn Away from Cryptocurrency in Favor of Property Market

Australian self managed super funds have taken a step away from cryptocurrency investments over the last quarter, with property investments once again taking pole position as the number one most popular asset for Australian retirement planning.

The most recent bulletin on SMSF activity published by the ATO indicates that investors are more interested in both commercial and residential property, with an 11 percent increase in property assets held by self-managed super funds over the last 12 months. 

The ATO has only recently begun tracking the rate at which self managed super fund holders invest in cryptocurrency, adding the crypto label to the SMSF statistical report to the 2019 SMSF annual return. The data provided by the report, however, reveals an impressive amount of capital directed towards the cryptocurrency market by SMSF holders.

Australian SMSFs currently invest $137 million in the cryptocurrency market. The total amount of SMSF capital invested in crypto has fallen over the last quarter from $142 million, but represents a significant amount of confidence in the relatively volatile crypto market when compared to traditional asset classes.

Younger Generation Actively Investing in Cryptocurrency SMSFs

While cryptocurrency remains a popular asset for SMSFs, a return to property investments has seen residential property assets held by SMSFs increasing by 11 percent to $39 billion, with commercial property assets increasing by 9 percent to $73 billion.

Asset distribution data published by the ATO reveals that the SMSFs valued at less than $50,000 hold the greatest percentage of cryptocurrency investments, reflecting the relative popularity of cryptocurrency investments with younger investors and SMSF holders.

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Bitcoin Cryptocurrencies Cryptocurrency Tax

Over 340,000 Australians Won’t Be Getting a Tax Refund — Including Aussie Crypto Traders

The Australian Taxation office has received over 1.7 individual tax returns in 2020, a 12 percent increase over last year. As online lodgements spiked over 640 percent on July 1, however, the ATO has been quick to remind Australian taxpayers that not everybody is going to get a tax return, based on the rate of mistakes made in this year’s returns.

Tax returns filed from the 1st of July have broken an all-time record for online lodgements, with the ATO receiving in excess of 740,000 returns, compared to the 100,000 returns received in the same time period in 2019.

Despite a large number of early tax return lodgers, it’s highly likely that many Australian taxpayers won’t receive a tax return in the first batch of payments —of which $1 billion has already been distributed — due to a number of common mistakes.

The ATO has highlighted a number of major errors that are commonly made in tax returns, which are likely to prevent over 20 percent of early lodgers from receiving a payment. 

ATO Warns Crypto Holders to Declare Crypto Gains

ATO assistant commissioner Karen Foat highlighted the importance of manually adding any and all sources of income when lodging a tax return in a statement this week — specifically mentioning cryptocurrency gains.

“We are asking taxpayers to add any amounts that aren’t automatically included to your return. This includes cash wages, foreign-sourced income, or even gains from cryptocurrency,”

While cryptocurrency gains can be accessed in a wide variety of ways, the ATO has recently taken specific measures to combat cryptocurrency-based tax evasion — notably issuing over 350,00 tax warning letters to Australian taxpayers associated with cryptocurrency usage. 

Cryptocurrency tax can be relatively complex in Australia. If you’re not sure of your tax obligations regarding cryptocurrency in Australia, check out Crypto News Australia’s cryptocurrency taxation guides.

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Crypto Exchange Cryptocurrency Tax Regulation Trading

Crypto Exchanges Provide ATO, US Secret Service With Trade Data & Analysis Tools

Cryptocurrency is widely touted as a pseudo-anonymous means of value transfer free from the restrictions of government bodies and related oversight. Anonymous digital currencies, however, are only as private as the platforms that are used to trade them.

Government bodies around the world, including the Australian Taxation Office, now have access to a broad spectrum of data delivered to them by major exchanges such as Coinbase — including advanced blockchain analysis tools.

US Secret Service Gains Access to Blockchain Analysis Tools

Recent public records published by the US Government reveals that the US Secret Service, part of the US Department of Homeland Security, has signed a four-year agreement with Coinbase that will provide the agency with access to the platform’s advanced blockchain analysis software.

Coinbase Analytics is a cryptocurrency analysis platform that allows government agencies and other parties to track the flow of cryptocurrency across multiple blockchains, facilitating the identification of cryptocurrency users by linking transactions and wallets to specific exchange accounts and fiat/crypto bridges.

ATO Leverages Exchange Data to Target Aussie Traders

The US Government isn’t the only authority making use of cryptocurrency exchange data. The Australian Taxation Office now has access to bulk records from Australian cryptocurrency exchanges, which is used to ensure that Australian crypto traders are meeting their tax obligations.  

The ATO currently operates a joint effort with the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) and the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) to link cryptocurrency balances and trades to Australian traders. 

While Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are often referred to as “anonymous” value transfer systems, there are many ways through which cryptocurrency exchange users can be tracked and identified. The ATO issued over 350,000 tax warning letters to Australian crypto traders earlier this year, demonstrating the results of exchange data gathering and analysis.