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The British authorities have ordered all cryptocurrency exchanges to pay a 2% tax. The corresponding decision was made by the Kingdom's Tax Office (HMRC).
Digital assets are not recognized as financial instruments by local officials, so crypto exchanges cannot qualify for benefits. A similar fee was introduced back in April 2020 for IT companies Facebook and Google.
In a statement from the tax department, it is noted that cryptocurrencies cannot be classified as goods or money. Therefore, companies working with such assets cannot qualify for benefits.
The expert community and the UK crypto business criticized the actions of the authorities. For example, CryptoUK announced that government policy would only increase costs for traders as exchanges would be forced to raise user service costs to meet government tax obligations.
The Bank of England, meanwhile, is considering options for introducing crypto regulation to increase market transparency and protect investors.