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Davies Lawyers | John J. Lennard, Ariane Hunter-Meunier and Eytan Dishy | May 27, 2019
The Department of Finance (Canada) (Finance Canada) has released, for public comment, draft legislative proposals (Draft Proposals) to amend the Excise Tax Act (ETA) in order to address certain issues regarding the treatment of virtual currencies for the purposes of the goods and services tax/harmonized sales tax (GST/HST).
Finance Canada proposes to exempt most transactions involving cryptocurrencies from GST/HST by incorporating a new defined term, “virtual payment instrument,” in the definition of “financial instrument.” Most transactions involving financial instruments are classified as “financial services,” which are exempt from GST/HST.
More specifically, a “virtual payment instrument” is defined to mean “property that is a digital representation of value, that functions as a medium of exchange and that only exists at a digital address of a publicly distributed ledger.”
The definition sets out two principal exclusions:
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has thus far refrained from commenting in any significant detail on the GST/HST implications of transacting in cryptocurrencies. From an income tax perspective, it has been the CRA’s long-standing position that virtual currencies, such as bitcoin, should be treated as commodities subject to barter rules, given that they are not currencies issued by a government of a country.1 Nevertheless, the lack of guidance from a GST/HST perspective has given rise to uncertainties, including whether (i) cryptocurrencies can plausibly be characterized as “money” for GST/HST purposes; (ii) transactions involving cryptocurrencies are subject to GST/HST; and (iii) activities carried on by industry participants, such as mining, are subject to GST/HST.
With respect to the first uncertainty, by defining a “virtual payment instrument” as “property” within the definition of “financial instrument,” Finance Canada seems to have determined that cryptocurrencies are not “money” as defined in the ETA, since the definition of “property” excludes money. This does not preclude arguments that cryptocurrencies are money in relation to transactions completed before May 18, 2019.
With respect to the second uncertainty, the Draft Proposals primarily address two concerns regarding transacting in cryptocurrencies:
Uncertainty still remains with respect to the status for GST/HST purposes of mining activities and the entitlement for miners to claim input tax credits in this respect. Similarly, due to the anonymity of purchasers of cryptocurrency, inherent uncertainty remains as to the practical application of zero-rating provisions related to the supply of cryptocurrency to non-residents.
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