The Colombian tax agency Dirección de Impuestos y Aduanas Nacionales de Colombia (DIAN) announced through a press release last January 28 that they are working on their cryptocurrency regulations for the country, particularly for its tax recording. In the same statement, they expressed the need for better measures since Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrencies are growing around the world.
‘Currently, operations with crypto assets are a reality worldwide and with the boom in the use of so-called virtual currencies or cryptocurrencies, the DIAN has initiated actions aimed at controlling the taxpayers who carry out operations with them’, the agency stated.
As found in the same press release, DIAN aims to create a framework for better tax control on certain ‘omitted’ or ‘inaccurate’ taxpayers to build a more ‘honest’ Columbia. The previously said taxpayers include all Colombian citizens who have not recorded their income obtained from trading with cryptocurrency and other crypto-related activities.
Although there were no specific protocols disclosed yet, the DIAN plans to make better ground rules about cryptocurrency transactions and the use of digital coins in the country. Moreover, they pointed out that this move was done in line with their anti-money laundering program and terrorism financing policies.
As of writing, Colombia’s laws prohibit its financial institutions from protecting, investing, brokering or managing cryptocurrency operations as reported by crypto news site Cointelegraph. However, Colombians can invest while some legal institutions are finding better ways to adopt cryptocurrencies in the country.
An example of this was when one of the nation’s oldest banks, Banco de Bogotá, announced that they will employ crypto-related services as seen in a report by local news agency Portafolio.
According to its Vice President for technology development, Oscar Bernal Quintero, ‘One of our great motivations is to be an active part of the transformation of the country and we consider it valuable to participate in the construction of the possible regulation that would enable the exchange of crypto assets within the Colombian regulatory framework’.
On another hand, DIAN also looks into forging a partnership with Finland to allow the free trade of information between the two countries.
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