What are your capital gains laws on bitcoin?
Discussion
I’m not sure to be honest. I can try to find out though
And the answer:
In sum, the government of Costa Rica has been hesitant to recognize cryptocurrency legally. Costa Rican agencies so far have declined to categorize cryptocurrency as a monetary currency. Specifically, the Central Bank of Costa Rica (CBCR) declared that cryptocurrencies are not “legal tender,” “monetary currency,” or “foreign currency.” Nevertheless, cryptocurrencies may be classified as “quasi-money” or as a “means of payment” under Costa Rican law.
Basically, it’s kinda considered cash but not legally defined as such. Under the legal concept of means of payment, it is considered cash equivalent. Cash has no capital gains.
This response is from a group here that deal a lot with the government relating to bitcoin in CR. PV!
So as a citizen of Costa Rica if you purchase Bitcoin and the prices goes up 100x and you sell it to buy some beachfront property you pay no capital gains taxes on that? I would be somewhat surprised if that is true.
That is apparently the current state of affairs
My own research would suggest that you owe a 15% capital gains tax in addition to a potential VAT
Where are you researching? I would strongly recommend research on Costa Rica and legislation etc to be taken a little with a pinch of salt. When I moved here, my wife disappeared into a room for 3 months and came out having read the laws of the country (she's spanish and loves that kind of thing). It was only then that we truly realised how much of all the research we had done online or by talking to lawyers here was utter rubbish. If you are truly interested in the state of things, I can put you in touch with someone who has a company that deals in bitcoin related endeavours and who are personally sitting down with ministers. Be really careful what you take from online research. The crazy thing there is quite how much can also end up being incorrect on the government sites. When I deal with my tax related things, I went to a couple of lawyers and 3 accountants for advice. Got different stories in each place so just went to the tax office and sat down for a chat with them directly. Nothing I had been told was correct!
Hope doesn't sound blunt, not meant to but there's a lot of gibberish here as many people trying to take advantage of new comers by offering services that simply aren't required.
https://freemanlaw.com/cryptocurrency/costa-rica/
This explains a bit. I think the real issue in CR is not the tax issue, it’s the problem of actually exchanging. I stack and spend. People selling to build property do P2P in cash only and to bring into country there’s 1 btc escrow service that can go to fiat to purchase.
Hope that helps kinda understand!
If you are looking for contact with someone with a lot more legal knowledge than myself, I'll see what I can do.