Inland Revenue Department of New Zealand has officially authorized the legal issuance of salaries in cryptocurrency.
According to the Tax Information Bulletin, cryptocurrency payments are legalized as a part of paid services performed by the employee under an employment agreement at a fixed amount.
The permission for crypto salaries applies only to settlements with hired employees — self-employed taxpayers were not included in it. In order for the cryptocurrency salary to be taxable, the assets transferred to the employee must not have restrictions associated with their immediate expenditure and be available for conversion into fiat.
"In the Commissioner’s view, crypto-assets that cannot be converted or sold by the employee for a material period of timeafter payment does not sufficiently resemble a payment of salary or wages," states the document.
Last year, the New Zealand innovation agency Callaghan Innovation provided $300,000 to Vimba, a local crypto wallet and trading service.
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