French lawmakers push for lower crypto tax

The Finance Commission of France’s lower house of parliament, the National Assembly, has backed a plan to cut the tax on bitcoin sales, Reuters reported.

At present, bitcoin gains are taxed at 36.2 percent in the country while the taxes on other forms of capital gains on other non-real estate assets are set at a flat 30 percent. The lawmakers are now seeking to bring the taxes on bitcoin gains in line with the latter.

On these lines, the finance commission on Wednesday adopted an amendment to the 2019 budget bill that would reduce the tax on the sale of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin to 30 percent.

If approved by the parliament, the new rate will come into effect on January 1, 2019, according to CoinTelegraph.

Earlier this year, French President Emmanuel Macron launched the Action Plan for Business Growth and Transformation (PACTE), Bitcoin.com reported. Among other things, the initiative aims to make it easy for firms to operate in the country and to outline legal guidelines for raising funds via token sales.

In September, the French parliament passed a law which set out guidelines for initial coin offerings (ICOs). The new regulation empowers the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) to issue licenses to firms that seek to raise funds via an ICO.