Hungary plans Bitcoin tax cut as part of economic recovery program

Lawmakers are reportedly planning to cut taxes on Bitcoin earnings in half, maybe as early as 2022.

Cryptocurrency investors in Hungary could be receiving a major tax break very soon, as lawmakers want to create the central European country more competitive in the wake of this COVID-19 pandemic.

In a movie that appeared on Facebook Tuesday, Finance Minister Mihály Varga outlined the government's stimulation program through 2022. Included in their post-COVID-19 relief efforts, lawmakers are thinking about decreasing taxes on cryptocurrency trading to 15% of earnings, down from the present rate of 30.5%. Such a move would make Hungary a far more competitive jurisdiction with respect to crypto-based capital gains taxes.

Cryptocurrency regulations are underdeveloped in Hungary, although the buying and selling of digital assets is categorized as"other income" from the perspective of taxation.

After surging through the heights of the 2017 bull market, cryptocurrency trading in Hungary stays fairly modest in comparison with other countries. However, a very clear uptick has been observed since the beginning of 2021.

Hungary was involved in preliminary discussions surrounding a central bank digital money, or CBDC. Back in August 2020, a representative from the National Bank joined a roundtable discussion with colleagues from the Swiss National Bank, the Bank of England and others in discussing the possible rollout of CBDCs in the future.

Hungary, as with other nations, was struck hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. At one point, the central European nation had the worst COVID-19 death rate in the world. Nonetheless, the nation has been gradually unwinding strict shelter-in-place orders since March as daily new cases continue to drop.