Colombia taxman cracking down on digital currency tax evaders

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As digital currency adoption in Colombia surges, the country’s tax authority is out to clamp down on BTC owners who evade taxes. In a recent statement that acknowledged that digital currency adoption is booming in the country, the tax agency pledged to initiate actions against the tax evaders.

Like many other jurisdictions in Latin America and beyond, Colombia has not yet set out definitive regulations for the digital asset space. However, the country’s tax agency insists that all Bitcoin owners must pay taxes for their digital currency income, which the country considers an asset. 

Known as the Dirección de Impuestos y Aduanas Nacionales de Colombia (DIAN), the agency revealed that measures are already underway to nab traders who evade taxes. It didn’t reveal exactly what actions it would take, but it shot a stern warning to those who failed to report their tax obligations or underreported them.

“Currently, operations with crypto assets are a reality worldwide and with the boom in the use of so-called virtual currencies or cryptocurrencies, the DIAN has initiated actions aimed to control the taxpayers who carry out operations with them,” DIAN said in its statement. 

“These actions seek to establish a tax control for omitted or inaccurate taxpayers who in the Income and Complementary Tax did not record the income obtained from operations with cryptocurrencies or recorded them inaccurately,” it added. 

Colombia has seen some of the highest adoptions of digital currencies in the Latin American region. And while the sector isn’t as big as it is in Argentina or Venezuela, it’s been growing aggressively in recent years. The country boasts of having the second-highest number of digital currency ATMs in the region after El Salvador, whose ATMs shot up to implement President Nayib Bukele’s misguided BTC initiative. 

While Colombia has laws that bar financial institutions from offering digital currency services, banks in the country have been partnering with some virtual asset service providers to slowly integrate some digital currency services into their systems as they await further regulatory guidance.

Watch: CoinGeek New York panel, Future of Digital Asset Trading & Financial Services