Ben Lee and Dion Seymour comment on the Treasury Select Committee’s proposal to regulate crypto in the same way as gambling

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Ben Lee, Crypto Tax Partner, and Dion Seymour, Crypto and Digital Assets Technical Director comment on the Treasury Select Committee’s report which recommends that cryptocurrency be regulated in the same way as gambling, in Accountancy Daily and Compliance+More.

Ben and Dion’s comments were published in Accountancy Daily, 17 May 2023, and in Compliance+More, 18 May 2023.

Dion comments:

“Unfortunately, this report shows little understanding of the sector, and it is doubtful that treating consumer transactions within the sector as gambling will provide consumer protection – this approach is at odds with reality.”

Ben comments:

“Winnings from gambling are generally tax free, and the report is conspicuously silent on the possible impacts that this may have on the established approach to the taxation of cryptoassets.

“HMRC has sought to educate investors that cryptoassets are not tax free, and this may create uncertainty as to whether this position is still correct.

“Going by this rationale I need to have a hard conversation with my eight-year-old stepson that he is likely to have a gambling problem. He’s lost a lot of money on Pokemon cards. And there are a lot of fakes on eBay.”

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