The Australian court ruling can stimulate $ 640 million in bitcoin tax recovery operations
Australia’s court’s decision can open the door for up to $ 640 million of capital profit tax (CGT) on Bitcoin transactions after the judge stated that he must be treated as money instead of taxable assets.
On May 19, Australian financial review (AFR) I mentioned The decision arose in a criminal case involved in the Federal Police Officer William Whitley, who was alleged that he stole 81.6 Bitcoin (BTC) In 2019, at the time, the assets were approximately $ 492,000. In current market prices, the value of symbols is estimated at more than $ 13 million.
In this case, Judge Michael Okonel from Victoria spent that Bitcoin is qualified as a form of money instead of property, similar to digital assets in Australian dollar instead of stocks, gold or foreign currency.
The interpretation can put a legal precedent, which may put bitcoin transactions outside the current CGT system in Australia.
The challenges of the new court ruling Australian encryption laws
In an interview with AFR, Tax Lawyer Adrian Cartland said the verdict “completely raises” the current position of the Australian Tax Office (ATO).
Since 2014, at ATO classified Crusion assets as CGT assets. This means that users must pay the tax when selling or trading it. Under the supervision of ATO, any Bitcoin behavior, including selling it to FIAT, exchange it to encrypt or use it to buy goods or services, is the CGT event.
This framework was the basis for imposing taxes on encrypted currency transactions in Australia for more than a decade. However, the last ruler challenges the approach by suggesting that Bitcoin works like money more than property. This is likely to exempt from CGT.
Tax recovers can reach $ 640 million
Cartland said it was considered that Bitcoin is Australian money. “This is, not one of CGT assets. Therefore, the acquisitions and disposal of bitcoin have no tax consequences,” Tax Lawyer added.
If the judgment is supported by the appeal, Cartland estimates that there may be a possible tax recovery of a total of one billion Australian dollars ($ 640 million).
However, while Cartland believes that there can be up to one billion of refundable sums, ATO said there are no official numbers confirming the amount that is likely to be recovered if the case changes how bitcoin taxes are imposed in Australia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
magazine: Binance Wallet ‘Killing’ Metamask and Airdrops, RWA Tokens: Asia Express
https://images.cointelegraph.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,onerror=redirect,quality=90,width=1200/https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-04/019624a0-83e9-75f0-86bc-8944b4e87b3a
