With bitcoin regulations still not in picture in many countries, the governments are collecting as much information they can about cryptocurrencies and businesses built around it. Bitcoin regulations have been put on hold in many countries as the industry is still in its nascent stages and it will take some time for the industry to grow.
As part of the information collection drive, the Spanish Taxation Department, La Agencia Tributaria Espanola is looking into businesses that have associated themselves with bitcoin in one way or another. Recently ABANLEX – Law Firm received a request for information communication from La Agencia Tributaria Espanola’s Department of Inspections to share information about receiving bitcoin payments.
ABANLEX, in a blog post on its site has mentioned that such request for information circular has been sent to many companies in Spain that accepts bitcoin payments. The request for information seems to have originated from ONIF – National Fraud Investigation Office. ONIF is responsible for investigating instances of fraud, money laundering etc. for the Spanish taxation department. Based on the reports submitted by ONIF, the anti-corruption prosecutor is empowered to initiate legal proceedings against those involved in such activities.
The request for information sent to companies accepting bitcoin shows that La Agencia Tributaria Espanola is actively monitoring the digital currency sector and it is also maintaining a database of all the companies that are accepting bitcoin payments. ONIF has requested for the following information as mentioned in the blog post.
The department has asked businesses to report whether they accept bitcoin payments from their customers. Those who accept bitcoin payments are requested to provide information on the total volume of bitcoin transactions they have made along with any supporting documents to ensure that the company’s accounting is in order. Any bitcoin converted to fiat currency needs to be reported.
This move by La Agencia Tributaria Espanola makes us wonder whether the government has planned to introduce bitcoin regulations or crackdown on bitcoin based businesses.