JUST-IN: Australian court ruled #Bitcoin officially as MONEY, not a taxable asset. Up to 640 million dollars in capital gains tax refunds. This could change EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE. 🇦🇺
Discussion
Another incentive for our Australian brothers to buy the corn and not the wrapper.
Looks like some Australians are Austrians 😁
About time an Aussie court made sense for a change
Interesting timing considering the economic suicide they are on the verge of committing with unrealized cap gains taxes. If the unrealized cap gains legislation passes and bitcoin is officially recognized as money and therefore not subject to them, I can imagine a mass exodus into BTC occurring.
Would be quite a humorous providence.
So far the American federal government isn't doing much to be the global leader other than rhetoric. Trump & Co. better get on it or the highly dysfunctional and ineffective US federal government will once again find itself sucking hind tit. As Churchill said, "Americans can always be trusted to do the right thing, once all other possibilities have been exhausted.”
Finally! Down here in Aus, we are waiting for our ‘leaders’ to make a decision rather than follow muppets, this will be good. But they still want to take unrealised gains on Superannuation at 30%!
Let’s hope they find another way to make their money, without hitting or printing. 🇦🇺⚡️
Big if true
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Could?
Not optimistic that this won’t lead to no CGT on 🌽
So the actual story is that a member of the AFP (Australian Federal police) stole Bitcoin from people who were accused of selling drugs but we're innocent.
And because of this ruling the police can now legally steal Bitcoin from people. (Like they already could with money)
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Wealth
Personal Finance
Capital gains tax
This court case could make your bitcoin profits tax-free
Joanna Mather
Joanna MatherWealth editor
Updated May 19, 2025 – 4.38pm,
first published at 12.18pm
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4 min
A judge says bitcoin is just another form of money, which means it could be exempt from capital gains tax – a decision that upends the Australian Taxation Office’s approach to taxing cryptocurrency and could open the door to millions in refunds.
The judgment – made public for the first time here – was made as part of a criminal case brought against a former Australian Federal Police officer who allegedly stole 81.6 bitcoin in 2019, then valued at approximately $492,000. Today it would be worth just over $13 million.
Wheatley’s defence team argued that bitcoin is information, not property, and therefore cannot be stolen. Michaela Pollock
Victorian magistrate Michael O’Connell said bitcoin was property, but akin to Australian dollars rather than foreign currency, shares or gold.
The implication is that just like exchanging a $20 note for two $10 notes, no tax is payable.
If upheld on appeal, the interlocutory decision could mean taxpayers who’ve paid capital gains tax on bitcoin transactions are eligible for refunds collectively worth as much as $1 billion, said tax lawyer Adrian Cartland, who acted as co-barrister for the defence.
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“The reasoning totally upends the ATO’s view because it was held that bitcoin is Australian money,” he said. “That is, it is not a CGT asset. Therefore, acquisitions and disposals of bitcoin have no tax consequences.”
Tax lawyer Adrian Cartland. Ben Searcy Photography
Ex-AFP cop William Wheatley’s defence team argued that bitcoin is information – specifically, a credit entry on a ledger in software – not property, and therefore cannot be stolen.
The ATO has treated cryptocurrency as though it is property with CGT applicable since 2014. Over that period, it has accrued between $500 million and $1 billion in CGT and income tax, Cartland estimates, although the ATO said there were no official figures.
Prosecutors from Australia’s National Anti-Corruption Commission alleged Wheatley stole 81.616 bitcoin from a cryptocurrency wallet identified as part of an investigation targeting drug traffickers.
“Mere information is not property,” Cartland told The Australian Financial Review.
This story is being misrepresented somewhat.
Yes the court said that Bitcoin is money not an asset.
But the actual reason, is so that police in Australia can now confiscate Bitcoin legally.
This ruling only came after a AFP member got caught stealing Bitcoin, and this ruling protects the police and gives them permission to steal your Bitcoin..
Don't get too excited yet
O: The ATO has consistently treated Bitcoin as a CGT asset since 2014, and they are committed to appealing. (This is our observed evidence).