The book “Cryptocurrency Taxation” will be officially launched next March. Ana Cediel and Emilio Pérez Pombo share a preview of their work.
The innovation originated in 2009 by the first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, which resonates in the fields of finance, taxation, government regulation, and banking, among others. Being a disruptive technology, everything related to this new form of money is yet to be said and written.
Millions of people use Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies daily as a means of payment or an investment mechanism, which has aroused over the years the interest from States in improved control and the establishment of rules for their taxation.
Given the growing demand for information on the accounting and taxation of Bitcoin, researchers Ana Cediel and Emilio Pérez Pombo explain in their book “Cryptocurrency Taxation” the characteristics of this type of taxation from a legal-economic point of view.
To learn more about the book, which will be officially launched next March, and its implications, Cediel and Pérez Pombo delved into the book and the most complicated elements to address. Cediel considers that the book seeks to bring light to those who operate with cryptocurrencies and tax regulations.
Pérez Pombo stressed that, despite some administrative pronouncements, there are still really serious doubts about the accounting and tax regime applicable to cryptocurrencies. The researcher even highlighted the characteristics of the Spanish cryptocurrency user and how he or she is perceived by the tax authorities.
The author is among those that believe that this uncertainty and the related doubts are responsible for harming and hampering the development and growth of the actual use of cryptocurrencies in Spain.
Legal and Economic Aspects
When asked about the legal and economic aspects, Cediel stressed that, undoubtedly, both aspects are extremely complex. She stated that whoever analyzes cryptocurrencies must have an extensive and solid knowledge of the perspective from which it is analyzed, as well as of cryptocurrencies and the technology sustaining them.
The academic, Professor of Financial and Tax Law, believes that the lack of definition of legal nature causes serious harm to the theoretical analysis of cryptocurrencies on both the legal and economic levels. Cediel stressed that the applicable legal regime can be determined at the legal level, but the economic level forces operators to act de facto, as in the case of accounting, which places them in a position compromised by legal indeterminacy.
On this same subject, Pérez Pombo noted that economists may sometimes allow themselves to be inaccurate and set aside debates about essences, to assess or study the economic impact, opportunities, and usefulness of cryptocurrencies and the associated technology.
The analyst explained that tax administrations and governments are like ship captains that, having lost their way, insist that their men continue rowing to exhaustion to lead them adrift or directly against a cliff. The legal aspect is much more complex than the economic one.
Both authors are convinced that with a minimum legal certainty and security, along with a fair and reasonable tax treatment, cryptocurrencies will be able to exponentially increase their use and dissemination among the population.
By Alexander Salazar
