The battle is coming: the Parliament is preparing to determine how to tax and regulate virtual assets
22 April 14:56
A complex document of more than 200 pages that combines all the main issues related to crypto assets: regulation of circulation, status of regulators, taxation. This is how Danylo Hetmantsev, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy, described the draft law on virtual assets when announcing its submission to the relevant committee, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
This is to take place next Thursday, and the MP promised to provide details of the consideration after the meeting.
However, he did announce several points:
– Taxation. According to Danylo Hetmantsev, the simplest and most understandable model is proposed – profit taxation. That is, the difference between what the owner of the crypto asset spent on the acquisition of crypto assets during the reporting annual tax period and the income he received from the sale of these assets is taxed.
– Transition period. According to Danylo Hetmantsev, it is assumed that during the year a person can sell and declare his income from crypto assets at a rate of 5% without confirming the costs of their acquisition in the past.
Earlier, Danylo Hetmantsev emphasized that there are no “preferential conditions” for cryptocurrency transactions.
What exactly will be considered in the Parliament
Both this time and earlier, speaking about the working group meeting, Danylo Hetmantsev spoke about one bill, although the committee received two bills with the same title “On Amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine and Other Legislative Acts of Ukraine Regarding the Regulation of the Turnover of Virtual Assets in Ukraine” for consideration in November 2023, with almost identical numbers 10225 and 10225-1, but different authorships.
Draft Law No. 10225 was developed by the National Securities and Stock Market Commission and proposes to amend the Tax Code of Ukraine, establishing mechanisms for taxation of transactions with virtual assets for businesses and individuals.
Alternative draft law No. 10225-1, initiated by the Ministry of Digital Transformation. This document adapts Ukrainian legislation to European standards, defines the legal status of virtual assets, classifies them, and establishes rules for service providers related to the circulation of virtual assets.
Apparently, a working group under the parliamentary committee on finance, tax and customs policy, together with representatives of the National Bank and the IMF, was preparing its own version of the draft law on virtual assets and their taxation.
But there are also proposals from outside the parliament
The most notable activity in recent weeks has been the rulemaking activity of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission.
At the end of March, the Commission presented its model for the distribution of powers in the virtual asset market. According to this model, the National Commission is responsible for regulating the market of virtual assets that do not fall under the category of electronic money, while the National Bank of Ukraine focuses on regulating cryptocurrencies that are classified as electronic money or electronic money tokens.
And in early April, the same commission introduced to all interested parties the matrix of taxation of various transactions with virtual assets developed by the same commission.
Danylo Hetmantsev was skeptical about this matrix at the time.
“Unfortunately, the guys from the National Securities and Stock Market Commission have once again failed to understand it and published some kind of “matrix” of crypto taxation known only to them, which has no connection with reality,” he wrote on Telegram.
It is not clear who will regulate this market and how
The issue of the distribution of powers promises to be the subject of debate. For example, Danylo Hetmantsev, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy, has previously stated that he personally favors the decision to have the National Bank as the market regulator.
“An institutionally capable institution that has repeatedly proven its efficiency and professionalism in decision-making. But definitely not the National Securities and Stock Market Commission. This is, unfortunately, a negative example of a regulator,” he explained his opinion.
According to the committee chairman, if the National Bank is the regulator, it could receive broader powers at the level of the law to regulate the market with its own bylaws.
Draft law No. 10225-1, initiated by the Ministry of Digital Transformation, proposed to designate the Ministry of Digital Transformation and the NBU as regulators of the virtual asset market.
Instead, in a recent interview with Interfax-Ukraine, First Deputy Governor of the NBU Kateryna Rozhkova assured that the Ministry of Digital Transformation would definitely not be the regulator due to the position of the International Monetary Fund. Although the involvement of this ministry in the work on the draft law is welcome.
At the same time, the first deputy head of the NBU suggested that a draft law on virtual assets in Ukraine with the distribution of regulatory powers would be prepared by October 2025.
