Portuguese congress rejects two bills seeking to tax crypto

The proposals were submitted by two leftist parties. The government, which also seeks to apply taxes, hasn’t submitted a proposal so far.

Portugal's Congress, Assembleia da República, rejected on Wednesday two bills that sought to tax cryptocurrencies.

• The bills were presented by Livre and Bloco, two left-wing parties with little representation in the Portuguese Congress, local media Sapo reported.

• The ruling Socialist Party, which holds the majority of the legislative assembly, did not submit any bill so far, after the Portuguese Minister of Finance Fernando Medina announced last week that cryptocurrencies will be subject to taxation in the near future.

• “Many countries already have systems, many countries are building their models in relation to this subject and we will build our own,” he said.

• Portugal has an effective capital gains rate of zero on crypto, compared to the current capital gains tax rate for financial investment, of 28%.

• The new policy proposed by the government would include a capital gains tax, Susana Duarte, an associated partner at Abreu Advogados law firm in Lisbon, told CoinDesk last week.