Australia’s controversial new guidelines for cryptocurrency taxation should be ignored for being unclear and should probably be seen as “toilet paper,” according to an Australian law firm.
On Nov. 9, the Australian Tax Office (ATO) released guidance that could impact how investors and traders involved in decentralized finance report their taxes.
In a Nov. 27 blog, Cadena Legal noted the guidance was “non-binding” instead of a binding public ruling — arguing that such guidance should be seen as “toilet paper.”
If you hate the ATO’s recent web guidance on crypto, read this:https://t.co/JA5GYsDVFt
— Harry Dell taxpapi.eth (@harrydelltaxlaw) November 27, 2023
The law firm noted there is a lot of confusion about what Australians can do with DeFi without triggering a capital gains tax (CGT). The firm’s founder, Harrison Dell, later remarked to Cointelegraph that the issue would be resolved with a public ruling:
“If the ATO released a public ruling, we could all rely on that, but instead we have this non-binding nonsense which makes everyone more confused and will probably reduce willing tax compliance by the Australian crypto community.”
Dell, who previously worked at the ATO auditor between 2017-2019, said he’s even telling his…
