Breaking: No VAT On Cryptocurrency Issuers In Russia, Details

According to Reuters, the Russian draft law that sought to exempt issuers of digital assets and cryptocurrencies from value-added tax has been approved by members of the state Duma today.

Tax exemption draft law approved by members of the state Duma

The crypto regulation discussion in Russia has been on for a while and the country’s financial authorities have expressed distaste for cryptocurrencies and other related assets severally. Russia’s Central Bank approved usage of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets for foreign trade recently.

Also in February, blockchain platform Atomyze was given the first license to exchange digital assets in Russia, soon after, a licence for dominant lender Sberbank followed.

In the approved draft law, the second and third readings on Tuesday, considered exemptions on value-added tax for issuers of digital assets and information systems operators involved, and It establishes tax rates on income earned from the sale of digital assets.

The present rate on transactions is 20%, this is also the rate for standard assets. Under the new law, the tax would be 13% for Russian companies and 15% for foreign ones. However the draft must still receive a final approval by the upper house and signed by the President.

Morocco’s Central Bank to Set Up Crypto Regulatory Framework Soon

In the same vein, the head of Moroccan Central Bank Abdellatif Jouahri, has said that the Central bank is in process of presenting a cryptocurrency regulation framework bill and it aims to upgrade Morocco’s money laundering and anti-terrorism financing regulations, per Bitcoin News.

The central bank committee working on the bill is the Crypto Regulation Best Practices committee and according to the governor of Bank Al-Maghrib (BAM) Jouahri, both the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank would be engaged to work out appropriate benchmarks for regulation.

The central bank had previously banned crypto trading but conceded that Moroccans will likely adopt cryptocurrencies later. BAM had always warned about the risks that comes with usage of cryptocurrencies which was the reason for the ban.

The Moroccan central bank had also had talks with the central banks of France, Sweden, and Switzerland on what would be the best practices for crypto regulation. It appears the country is now taking steps to regulate the industry.