After much buildup, Ethereum’s Merge went successfully from the mid of Sept 2022. However, this historic upgrade from the second largest blockchain-based platform could spell tax confusion in the UK, setting a force that pulls back all efforts to become the crypto hub in the world.
After the hard fork, the crypto holder now can choose to stake or lock their coins on as the validators and earn a yield of 5.2% per transaction. On the positive side, the upgrade pushes staking to become mainstream. On the other hand, it could lead to tax issues that crypto holders have to face. It means all earnings from staking could be income and, of course, it would be the tax subject.
According to Staking Rewards, there was $25.2 billion, and approximately 12% of ETH in circulation was staked after the week of upgrade.
Early in this year, the UK’s HM Revenue and Customs issues the guideline regulating taxes for staking that could be applied for Defi (Decentralized Finance platform).
However, there is not still clear regulation of what investors should do for preparation and the tax subject could be based on which platform users choose to hold coins.
For instance, if the platform uses the holders’ coins while staking, it could be capital gains and be a tax trigger. However, if the holders and platform indicate beneficial ownership, these digital assets could be treated as a disposal.
Until now, validators on the blockchain are still not defined as taxpayers. Following the conclusion of whether they have to pay taxes has not yet been “covered within the DeFi guidelines”
Traditionally, UK workers do not have to file taxes annually like the US unless they have an interest in their investments. Consequently, this tax confusion could be a burden for them as they do not aware of new guidelines for it.
Tax confusion problems “are going to give themselves quite a big headache if they suddenly require a lot of people to file tax returns just for their crypto,” the official said, “So it’s not just that the tax position isn’t great, it’s also that the administration is not great on either side.”
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