A magistrate judge in Victoria, Bitcoin $104,976.58He ruled that it was a comparable entity with the Australian dollar, and therefore should be exempted from capital income tax. This decision stands out as a stance contrary to the long -standing approach of the Australian Tax Office, which has applied capital earning tax to Bitcoin transaction holders since 2014. The decision was made during a lawsuit in 2019 for playing 81.6 BTC in 2019 by an former Australian Federal Police Officer. The value of Bitcoins, which has approximately 492 thousand Australian dollars at that time, increased above $ 13 million.
New Approach in Bitcoin and Tax Regulations
The decision by the judge Michael O’Connell said that Bitcoin was a type of property, but resembled the Australian dollars rather than gold or stocks. For this reason, Bitcoin transactions should be evaluated as Australian dollars transactions and exempted from the capital gain tax. If the decision is approved in the appeal, hundreds of millions of dollars will be possible for taxes arising from Bitcoin transactions after 2019.
Adrian Cartland, one of the defense lawyers, argued that Bitcoin transactions should not be subject to tax and said that the decision completely upset the Australian Tax Office’s approach to subjecting Bitcoin to the capital gain tax.
“So, this is not the existence of a capital earning tax. Therefore, Bitcoin has no consequences of the tax on the tax.”
Uncertainty in the legal status of crypto currency
The defense side argued that Bitcoin was essentially information, not an property, and therefore it was not possible to play. However, although there is no legal basis for the acceptance of crypto currency in Australia to date, Bitcoin was often considered as property, especially in the laundering of criminal income and family law cases.
The judge said that the opinion that crypto money has not yet been seen as a currency is not convincing.
“I do not find the claim that crypto money cannot be seen as a type of money yet convincing.”
The possible consequences of the decision and the effects of the future
Evaluating the decision, Adrian Cartland said that the recognition of crypto currency as property may cause significant changes not only to the crypto market, but also a large part of the digital economy. Cartland said that everything that is valuable cannot be considered ownership, and that it does not cover abstract values such as love or social media appreciation.
William Wheatley and his lawyers appealed to appeal to the decision that Bitcoin was ownership, but the appeal is expected to be seen towards the end of 2025. If the decision is approved, it will cover only Bitcoin and the transactions performed after 2019; It will not apply to the entire crypto market.
The current decision of the court brought up the uncertainties on how to define and tax digital assets. The Australian Tax Office will be shaped depending on the outcome of the appeal process. Developments on the legal status and tax obligations of digital assets are carefully monitored not only for investors in Australia, but also on a global scale.
Experts say that this decision may have long -term effects not only on Bitcoin, but also on the legal status of digital assets in general. In particular, the definition of property signals that discussions can continue in many fields such as other digital assets, in -game points and social media elements in the following process. In addition, it is foreseen that more clear legislation may be needed in the future in order to eliminate the gaps that may occur in legal and financial regulations.
Responsibility Rejection: The information contained in this article does not contain investment advice. Investors should be aware that crypto currencies carry high volatility and thus risk and carry out their operations in line with their own research.
