Investing

Only 0.53% Crypto Investors Paid Taxes on Digital Asset Investments in 2022

Tim Fries

Published: April 6, 2023 10:19 pm

According to a recent study conducted by Divly, a tax preparation service based in Stockholm, Sweden, only about half a percent of global cryptocurrency investors paid taxes on their digital assets in 2022. There is a significant difference in the payment rates across regions with Oceania having the highest percentage of crypto tax payers, and Asia having the lowest.

Only 0.53% of Investors Paid Taxes on Their Cryptocurrency in 2022

A recent study conducted by the Swedish tax preparation service called Divly found that only about 0.53% of global crypto holders paid taxes on their digital assets. According to the report, the percentage of taxpayers was the highest in Oceania, and lowest in Asia. About 4% of Finns reported their cryptocurrency gainst to the relevant authorities—the most out of the 24 examined countries.

The United States, while having the largest number of cryptocurrency-related taxpayers, is 10th on the list with only 1.62% paying their digital assets taxes. Out of the examined countries, the Philippines has the lowest percentage of cryptocurrency investors to have paid relevant taxes—0.3%.

There are, however, several caveats to the study, as Divly itself reports. It is dependent on other reports on global cryptocurrency adoption, as well as relevant search volume. Divly’s analysts, when compiling the results, were made to make several assumptions and warn that the study is aimed more at giving a general picture of cryptocurrency-related tax payments, than a definitive data set.

The Contentious Matters of Cryptocurrency Taxation

While cryptocurrencies are well over a decade old, lawmakers haven’t been completely up to date when it comes to passing legislation aimed at governing them. This tardiness has been, so far, best exemplified by the tensions between the industry and digital asset companies that have seemingly reached a boiling point over the last months. The White House also highlighted a problem with a cryptocurrency-focused document released in January that called for Congress to step up its efforts.

Several countries have already taken steps to address the matter of cryptocurrency taxation. Last October, Portugal started considering a change in its lenient policy and took a 28% digital assets tax into consideration. India’s rather harsh approach to the issue recently caused a liquidity crisis in the domestic markets.

Furthermore, cryptocurrencies have not only been considered as something to pay taxes on but as an asset that can be used to pay taxes. While the Swiss Zug Canton was the first to offer the option,  last summer brought several important additions. Argentina’s major wine-making province started allowing its residents to pay their taxes using digital assets. Similarly, Florida’s Ron DeSantis signaled he is willing to enable the state’s residents to do the same around the same time.

This article originally appeared on The Tokenist