The example 2 in section 2.1.2 is curious. It essentially says that the value of goods purchased with bitcoins is determined by the eur-btc exchange rate at the time of purchase. I find that idea problematic because there afaik is no official exchange rates for bitcoin.
It's simple, you do it just as for any other freely traded currency pair, like EUR-USD - assign some body (central bank or some dept in ministry of finance) a duty to publish 'official accounting rates' and make a procedure on how to calculate such rates such as average rates of multiple large trading bodies.
It doesn't mean an offer to buy/sell at those exact rates (e.g., EUR/USD spot rates at every second will definitely be different from the 'official' accounting rates), but it's a guideline to evaluate value of things nominated in that currency.
It doesn't need to be an official exchange rate, it's what I guess would be best translated as a "fair market value". If there appears to be no fair market value for the virtual currency, one would need to be agreed upon by the parties. (I base this on the accounting rules listed for the receiver of the virtual currency).
What I find curious is the asymmetric handling of realized exchange rate profits vs. losses. Profits are taxed as capital gains, but unlike with e.g. shares, you can't use realized losses to offset the profits.
Comments
The example 2 in section 2.1.2 is curious. It essentially says that the value of goods purchased with bitcoins is determined by the eur-btc exchange rate at the time of purchase. I find that idea problematic because there afaik is no official exchange rates for bitcoin.
It's simple, you do it just as for any other freely traded currency pair, like EUR-USD - assign some body (central bank or some dept in ministry of finance) a duty to publish 'official accounting rates' and make a procedure on how to calculate such rates such as average rates of multiple large trading bodies.
It doesn't mean an offer to buy/sell at those exact rates (e.g., EUR/USD spot rates at every second will definitely be different from the 'official' accounting rates), but it's a guideline to evaluate value of things nominated in that currency.
Sounds like another LIBOR scandal waiting to happen.
It doesn't need to be an official exchange rate, it's what I guess would be best translated as a "fair market value". If there appears to be no fair market value for the virtual currency, one would need to be agreed upon by the parties. (I base this on the accounting rules listed for the receiver of the virtual currency).
What I find curious is the asymmetric handling of realized exchange rate profits vs. losses. Profits are taxed as capital gains, but unlike with e.g. shares, you can't use realized losses to offset the profits.
AFAIK there is no official exchange rate for EURUSD or any other currency pair.
ECB is publishing reference rates: http://www.ecb.europa.eu/stats/exchange/eurofxref/html/index...
I don't know if they quality as "official", but probably good enough for taxation purposes.