Tax regulation of transactions with crypto assets in Russia and abroad

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of crypto assets as a specific category for tax purposes with the allocation of inherent features that affect tax regulation. The purpose of the article is to update the main approaches to taxation of transactions with crypto assets based on the experience of different countries, including Russia. To achieve this goal, the following tasks were set: to identify the features of crypto assets that allow considering crypto assets as a specific category for tax regulation purposes, to formulate theoretical approaches to taxation of crypto assets, to investigate practical experience and trends in taxation of transactions with such digital assets both in the international arena and in the Russian Federation; to identify the main problems in tax regulation transactions with crypto assets and suggest ways to solve them. As a result of the study, conclusions were drawn about the presence of specific characteristics of crypto assets (decentralization, a high degree of anonymity of transactions, the international nature of use, hybridity), which, together with the lag of regulatory legislation due to the rapid development of the crypto industry, complicate the tax regulation of transactions with this type of asset. It has been established that the absence of taxation rules for crypto assets in general does not mean that taxation is impossible and allows the application of tax rules established for similar categories of assets. The presence of special tax regulation of transactions with crypto assets allows both to influence the attractiveness of doing business in this area in certain jurisdictions, and to simplify regulation in this area by providing benefits to participants in crypto relations. The author revealed that a critical problem in this area is the difficulty of tax administration of transactions with crypto assets using traditional methods of tax control due to the difficulty of identifying the transactions, including due to the international nature of the use of crypto assets, which entails tax evasion of subjects of cryptocurrency transactions.