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On Monday, the Venezuelan government published the official gazette No. 6,420 dated December 28, which contains a decree No. 3,719 that points towards new tax payment rules for cryptocurrency users, reported Bitcoin.com. Dinero publication stated that:
“The government of President Nicolás Maduro published a decree that will require taxpayers who carry out operations in foreign currencies or cryptocurrencies to pay their taxes in that same currency and not in bolivars.”
The decree also stated:
“the Venezuelan people are currently facing a fierce war waged by internal and external factors that pursue the deterioration of the economy, which is why it is necessary to adopt sufficient measures to ensure the strengthening of the current fiscal regime.”
The Ministry of Popular Power of Economy and Finance is in charge of the execution of the decree which is in effect, at the time of press.
The Article one of the decree notes that taxpayers in Venezuela who carry out operations in cryptocurrencies or any foreign currency authorized by the law must “determine and pay [their tax] obligations in a foreign currency or cryptocurrency”.
The decree enlists two exemptions; transactions of securities traded on a stock exchange and the export of goods and services carried out by public bodies or entities. The decree also mentioned that the tax refunds for cases established in the decree will be made in the national currency and not otherwise.
Maracaibo Municipality in Zulia state clarified that it will use the national cryptocurrency, the petro for the calculation of business tax, reported the publication. There was confusion amongst the residents as they thought it meant for non-cryptocurrency users to also pay their taxes in petro.
The intendant of Servicio Desconcentrado de Administración Tributaria [Sedemat], Jean Carlos Martínez clarified to Noticia al Dia publication, a local publication that “taxpayers will not be charged taxes in petros.” He further added:
“We are using the value of the petro as a reference unit to be able to determine the minimum tax since the ordinance of the current economic unit is still stipulated in percentages of gross income.”
He also clarified that the national cryptocurrency, petro has two values, one as a cryptocurrency and the other as a unit of account that translates into 9,000 sovereign bolivars, which will be used in passport procedures or current salaries.
The decree also mentions that the payment of taxes will be carried out depending on the economic activity of each company or microenterprise. Martinez was quoted in the publication saying:
“If someone had transactions in petro, bitcoin or other currency, [they] should declare [their income] according to the currency that [they] manage.”