Bitcoin Exempt From VAT Says European Court of Justice

An anonymous reader writes: The European Court of Justice (ECJ) proposes that Bitcoin should be exempt from Value Added Tax (VAT). This news has been positively received by the Bitcoin community in the EU, as member states are not likely going to apply VAT to purchases and sales of Bitcoin. A clear cut argument brought up by Advocate General Juliane Kokott, was that VAT is commonly applied to goods and services which have an end consumer. Bitcoin is neither a good, nor a service and has no end consumer, as Bitcoins are eternally transferable just like normal currency. Bitcoin exchanges such as Coinbase, Kraken, Bitstamp, and Bitfinex will all benefit from this ruling, which may lead to other countries across the globe to follow a similar approach.

Comments

Re:Strange

[mitgib]

The primary goal of bitcoin it to promote trade without central authority. It makes transacting globally very easy for very minimal transaction costs. Bitcoin does much good for the unbanked and poor, so it may be slow adoption., but in many 3rd world countries with unstable national currencies, it has done wonders.