Australian Taxation Office Issues Warning To Crypto Investors As BTC Prices Climb

Table of Contents

• Crypto Profits Under Tax Radar
• BTC Rally Looks Promising

Australian Taxation official Tim Loh has warned his fellow countrymen against trying to hide their BTC investment profits as it slowly approaches the US$ 50k mark. 

Crypto Profits Under Tax Radar

The market crash in July sent the prices of the cryptocurrency plummeting. However, a record number of Australians have been putting their money in the coin, hoping to cash in on the lower prices. Tim Loh, the Assistant Commissioner of the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), believes that most of these BTC buyers might attempt to hide their incomes and investments from taxation reporting. Loh has explained that crypto investments can incur a capital gains tax if they make a profit and thereby must be declared on a tax return. 

He stated, 

“The ATO matches cryptocurrency to individuals' tax returns helping us ensure investors are paying the right amount of tax. We estimate that over 600,000 taxpayers have invested in crypto assets in recent years.”

Loh has also revealed that the tax office was focusing its attention on crypto investors and work-from-home claims for this year. For crypto investments, tracking the transaction data is convenient when its conducted through exchange platforms. However, the difficulty arises in peer-to-peer trades between individuals. In these cases, the tax office needs to obtain phone records. 

BTC Rally Looks Promising

Earlier this month, Fred Schebesta, the millionaire co-founder of Finder, predicted that BTC would hit US$ 44,000 price value by the end of 2021. However, after witnessing the latest rally of the crypto where it inched closer to the US$ 50k mark, Schebesta has revised his forecast, predicting the crypto to hit US$ 63,000 by Christmas 2021 and US$ 245,000 by 2025.

Discussing the rise of the coin since the market crash in May, Schebesta said, 

"Bitcoin going up in value is great. But what's better is when Bitcoin goes up in value slowly because it shows strength. When it goes up too fast, it means it's going to potentially come crashing back. Whereas this run-up has been really nice and slow and considered. This shows extreme strength, for me, and I think this will create a real strong base for Bitcoin to go much much, much higher."

He also talked about how the upward motion of BTC is likely influenced by the interest in altcoins like Ethereum. 

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.