I'm not sure whether I'd prefer Bitcoin to be considered a currency or a commodity. I'm sure there are strong for/against arguments that I could find on Google, but (in the purest expression of HN-as-crowdsourcing) would really appreciate a curated list of blogs, papers, theory, opinions, etc.
In countries with VAT, considering Bitcoin a commodity would make it unusable as means of payment. When paying with a commodity (gold is explicitely excempt, but not silver), the transaction is legally considered as two purchases. The seller selling the car to the buyer, and the buyer selling the Bitcoins to the seller, thus triggering two taxable transactions under VAT law and effectively doubling the tax rate (e.g. from 8% to 16% in Switzerland). It is obvious that this would be catastrophic for Bitcoin when competing with other means of payment.
Edit: note that there also is some middle ground. For example, Germany considers Bitcoin as means of payment for VAT purposes without declaring it a currency or commodity.
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I'm not sure whether I'd prefer Bitcoin to be considered a currency or a commodity. I'm sure there are strong for/against arguments that I could find on Google, but (in the purest expression of HN-as-crowdsourcing) would really appreciate a curated list of blogs, papers, theory, opinions, etc.
In countries with VAT, considering Bitcoin a commodity would make it unusable as means of payment. When paying with a commodity (gold is explicitely excempt, but not silver), the transaction is legally considered as two purchases. The seller selling the car to the buyer, and the buyer selling the Bitcoins to the seller, thus triggering two taxable transactions under VAT law and effectively doubling the tax rate (e.g. from 8% to 16% in Switzerland). It is obvious that this would be catastrophic for Bitcoin when competing with other means of payment.
Edit: note that there also is some middle ground. For example, Germany considers Bitcoin as means of payment for VAT purposes without declaring it a currency or commodity.