THE NEW STANCE IN TERMS OF CRIPTOCHURRENCIES

Unlike the stance taken by the Italian Tax Authority (AE), the EU tends to not consider bitcoin as money and currency. Indeed, the recent sentence of the Berlin Court of Appeals, of last September, expressly excluded bitcoin exchanger activities from the application of the German Banking Legislation.

The reason behind this decision is the consideration of bitcoins such as means of voluntary exchange not included in the concept of unit of account so, this Court has declared bitcoin conversion activity not subjected to banking legislation.

It’s important highlight that, due to continuous and innovative rules in the field of cryptocurrencies, Italian operators often decide to establish companies operating with blockchain technology and ICOs  emission in nearby Countries, for example Malta and Switzerland, Countries with a transparent easier law. The European Court of Justice, indeed, has clarified that the decision of establish companies in a European Country, different from Italy, in order to benefit of a different legislation, is not an abuse of the freedom of establishment. This is a positive issue, considering the limitations of the stance of Italian Authorities.

In any case, every business developed abroad must be based on documents which demonstrate the valid economic reasons of the project in order to avoid tax risks in Italy (stable organization, etc.).

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