Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News – 10-04-2018

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) says it will continue to apply normal income tax rules to cryptocurrencies in the country.

Cryptocurrency, which is typified by Bitcoin, is an internet-based digital currency that exists almost wholly in the virtual realm.

A growing number of proponents support its use as an alternative currency that can pay for goods and services much like conventional currencies.

SARS Andrew Wes says they regard Cryptocurrency taxable in a normal way and are treated as assets.

“Our biggest challenge at the moment is the side of detection. The actual tax implication and how we tax it is a lot more simple. At the moment we’re building a lot of capacity at SARS to be able to deal with these issues.”

Wes says because cryptocurrencies is a new phenomenon and with the recent volatility and media hype surrounding it, SARS has received a number of requests to explain how the new medium would be taxed.

Twitter: @FaizelPatel143