The Australian Taxation Office has declared virtual currencies such as Bitcoin a commodity, but that was challenged by a Senate Economics References Committee review in the country that found they should be treated like any other currency.
As a commodity, virtual currencies are subject to the country’s Goods and Services Tax and other taxes. As a currency, they would not be subject to those taxes.
“It is a brand new and, frankly, very exciting technology—and Australia has a real opportunity to be a world leader,” said Senator Sam Dastyari, head of the committee. “Digital currencies could revolutionize aspects of the payments industry, how we conduct financial transactions, or trade existing fiat currencies.”
The committee said further investigation will be needed before virtual currencies can be fully regulated by the Royal Bank of Australia.
In the study, the committee took submissions from interested parties and technology companies.
