Australian court ruling may result in $640 million Bitcoin tax refund

According to Cointelegraph, a criminal case verdict in Australia may trigger a $640 million Bitcoin tax refund. Victorian Judge Michael O&39; Connell ruled during the trial of a theft case involving 81.6 bitcoins (currently worth approximately $13 million) that bitcoins should be considered as currency rather than taxable assets. The ruling directly challenges the position of the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) since 2014, which has consistently classified cryptocurrencies as capital gains tax (CGT) assets. Tax lawyer Adrian Cartland pointed out that if the verdict is upheld on appeal, it could bring a total of AUD 1 billion (approximately USD 640 million) in tax refunds to Bitcoin traders. ATO has not yet confirmed the specific amount of tax refund. It is worth noting that the judge analogized Bitcoin to Australian dollars rather than assets such as stocks and gold in the ruling, which may exempt Bitcoin trading from the current CGT system. ATO previously stipulated that any disposal of Bitcoin (including exchanging fiat currency, trading other cryptocurrencies, or purchasing goods) constitutes a CGT taxable event.