New Zealand's tax office, Inland Revenue Department (IRD), will now look after the cryptocurrency market as it had required local crypto companies to reveal customers' personal details as well as the type and value of their crypto assets.
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According to RNZ News, IRD wants to enhance New Zealand's understanding of the cryptocurrency environment "to help taxpayers meet their income tax obligations."
Easy Crypto CEO, Janine Grainger, says the watchdog is "just widening its net of the tax base and crypto assets are something that is definitely growing in popularity, and we are seeing a huge increase in New Zealanders getting involved."
However, Grainger pointed out that the requirement to reveal customer's confidential information was "heartbreaking."
"Privacy is really important to us... one of the tenets [of] cryptocurrency in general is around having freedom and autonomy and privacy," she added.
In August 2019, the IRD 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 are not included in it.
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