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[Tax & Accounting Review] 15-9 A Study on the Legal Nature and Taxation of Bitcoin
＜Abstract＞
A Study on the Legal Nature and Taxation of Bitcoin
Lee, Hyun Jin
The government has recently suggested paying taxes on speculative bitcoin. However, in order to tax a new type, the legal nature (status) must first be defined. This paper analyzed the factors that affect the price of Bitcoin in order to identify the legal nature (or legal status) of the Bitcoin. An empirical analysis was conducted through a regression analysis between the external economic and internal factors. As a result of an empirical analysis, the Bitcoin was not affected by external economic factors, but only by internal factors. This indicates that the risk tendency of the participant in the Bitcoin market is either investment or speculative. It also looked at the standard deviation of the current Bitcoin price and volatility of the nation`s equity markets, KOSPI and KOSDAQ. As a result, the volatility of the Bitcoin was 14 times higher than that of the KOSPI and the KOSDAQ 10 times higher. This indicates that the Bitcoin market has a higher risk and speculation status than the stock market during the analysis period, January 2014 to December 2017. Based on these empirical analysis results, the legal nature (status) of bitcoin should be considered a financial investment instrument with monetary function. Accordingly, the VAT Act should include the Bitcoin in the tax exemption(the type of finance). In the case of corporate taxes, a basis for taxation with the current regulations is provided. It is also possible to levy a corporate tax on Bitcoin even under the current regulations. As for income tax, it was deemed reasonable to tax it within the type of the transfer income tax. However, in such a case, it is desirable to make a tax exception when a purchase of goods or services is made by using Bitcoin as the currency. The purpose of this paper is to conduct an empirical analysis to define the legal nature (status) of bitcoin, and discuss the taxation measures and tax administration accordingly.
▶ Key Words：bitcoin, the legal nature of bitcoin, bitcoin’s corporate tax, bitcoin income tax, VAT on bitcoin
** Published on July 2018
** Full article available in Korean only
** Download here →15-9 A Study on the Legal Nature and Taxation of Bitcoin.pdf
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