Austria: cryptocurrency regulation
The Financial Market Authority (FMA) of Austria takes a “technology neutral” approach to crypto, which means that products and services that include crypto assets are subject to the same regulatory framework as traditional products and services. The main rationale for this approach is “the same risk, the same rules”. Whether and to what extent financial services regulation and securities laws are applied depends primarily on the actual characteristics of the product and the business model. At the same time, crypto is not considered "money" and does not have an equal status with either national or foreign fiat currencies.
Business models involving crypto assets may be subject to licensing requirements and are governed by: Banking Law, Payment Services Law 2018, Electronic Money Law ...
Activities related to crypto assets must comply with the Austrian and EU AML requirements if they require a license in accordance with the regulation of financial services, or if they are subject to AML requirements in accordance with trade law: making or receiving cash payments of at least € 10,000 ...
An important aspect of working with crypto is taxation.
Typically, capital gains from the sale of cryptocurrencies used as business assets and income from commercial activities related to cryptocurrencies (e.g., mining, brokerage) are subject to progressive income tax rates of up to 55% for individuals and fixed 25% for companies. ...
Special rules apply to cryptocurrencies treated as investment assets:
• Cryptocurrencies are considered investment assets if the taxpayer uses them to generate interest income. In this case, capital gains from the subsequent sale are taxed at a rate of 27.5% for individuals or 25% for companies.
• In the event that cryptocurrencies are not used to generate interest income, are purchased and sold from time to time (private sales) and are not part of the business (non-commercial assets), capital gains are taxable up to 55% for individuals only, provided the crypto were purchased and sold within 12 months. Tax exemption applies if the capital gain does not exceed € 440 per calendar year or if cryptocurrencies are purchased and sold over 12 months.
VAT for cryptocurrencies.
The exchange of cryptocurrencies (for example, bitcoins) for fiat currencies (for example, euros) and vice versa is not subject to VAT. Bitcoin mining as such is also not subject to VAT.
Purchases / supplies of goods or services subject to VAT and payable in cryptocurrency are accounted for in the same way as payments in fiat currency.
