On 1 December 2014, CoinJar relocated our headquarters to the United Kingdom as part of a global expansion that will provide customers more freedom to buy, sell and use bitcoin as a global digital currency.We are now officially incorporated as a UK company, CoinJar UK Limited, and have taken up residence in London's financial district.We maintain a strong Australian presence, based out of Melbourne, and will continue focusing on the things that have defined us such as facilitating meetup groups, sharing knowledge and highlighting our amazing customers.Aside from catalysing CoinJar’s growth, the UK relocation will mean CoinJar customers will no longer be subject to 10 per cent GST (Goods and Services Tax) when they buy bitcoin using our services.HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs) in the UK exempts digital currency trading from value added tax (VAT), so new and existing CoinJar customers will not be levied any additional taxes.The move coincides with a revamp of our online wallet service, which is open to international users.

You should seek advice from your accountant or tax professional if you have queries about how this information affects you or your business.ethereum long term chartIf you have any questions about generating tax invoices from the period 1 October through 30 November 2014, please get in touch with our Support team.litecoin riseNot quite the information you're looking for?bitcoin seen by 1 peerWhat's the difference between "authentication" and "ID assurance" in the corridors of Whitehall?bitcoin islandiaThe cabinet office certainly doesn't want to offer up an answer, after HMRC said it was "developing its own identity system for individuals, businesses, and agents," adding that other government departments would use the cabinet office's heavily criticised and delayed Verify system.bitcoin akcje

That statement from HMRC's recently-installed IT programmes director, Mike Howes-Roberts, could easily be interpreted as the UK tax office's latest snub of the Government Digital Service, the department behind GOV.UK, which has undergone a number of shaky revisions and management shakeups, but remains a central plank of the cabinet office's online public service plans—which are strongly tied to its huge citizen data grab.litecoins minen 2014The Microsoft-developed Government Gateway system, first introduced in 2002 during the New Labour years under Tony Blair, is set to be shuttered at the end of March 2018.bitcoin fork walletAnd HMRC has decided to go ahead and develop its own replacement system, thereby ringfencing its ID authentication away from the Verify service being developed by GDS.bitcoin central suisse

More than three years ago, the then Tory-led coalition government said that it wanted Verify to be live for "all the services that need identity assurance for individuals" by March 2016.bitcoin denial of service attackAccording to the most recent data, however, 2.6 million accounts "certified by companies" were used by Brits to access government services with Verify.Now, the government's recently-published transformation strategy is saying it wants to see 25 million Brits using Verify by 2020.But to achieve that, the likes of HMRC need to be on board.So-called "certified companies"—such as Experian and Verizon—qualify with GDS if they work to published government standards when tasked with verifying a citizen's ID.The data apparently passes "over a secure channel" which citizens, who might be fretting about how their information is being processed, are told is "identified by the green lock in their browsers."

But HMRC clearly doesn't have faith in that system.Howes-Roberts' blog post (his very first—and maybe last—for the tax department), meanwhile, underwent a makeover after it was published.As noted by Computer Weekly, it now reads: This would be restricted to business and agent-facing services only as Cabinet Office requires all other departments to use GOV.UK Verify: the cross-government service for any citizen-facing services where customers need to prove their identity.Ars asked the cabinet office to explain whether a bunfight was taking place with HMRC over the will-they-won't-they Verify tango.A spokeswoman told us: "we're leaving it to HMRC to answer.It was HMRC's decision to change it [the blog post]."Seemingly seeking a swift settlement deal, HMRC gave Ars this statement: HMRC is committed to Verify as the single identification service for individuals and is fully focused on delivering this.The authentication service that HMRC is developing to replace the Government Gateway will complement the existing Verify service for business representatives.

When quizzed about the tweaks to the wording of Howes-Roberts' blog post, a spokesperson told Ars that it "was amended as it was causing a bit of confusion."Do you know something about HMRC's perceived snub of the cabinet office's Verify system?Please get in touch.We will respect your privacy, and secure communications channels are available.Bitcoin speculators have made millions of pounds in the last few months as the value of the internet-based virtual currency has exploded.But it's unclear if the virtual currency is just a passing fad, or whether it may evolve into a valuable tool for doing business.Today Bitcoin is accepted by a small number of retailers, and David Woo, head of global rates and currencies research at BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research, believes that most do so simply for the publicity it earns them."Companies like Victoria's Secret are probably using it to brand themselves as hip," he says.The other main reason for businesses to use Bitcoin is that it is a low-cost way to accept payments, he adds.

"Vendors get charged 2% to 3% by credit card companies, but the cost of using Bitcoin is zero," says Mr Woo.Bitcoin can also be used as a cost-free way to send money around the world.But there's a big problem with using Bitcoin for business purposes at the moment."The overriding reason not to accept it is because of volatility," says Mr Woo."This is the biggest challenge for Bitcoin."That'sbecause while speculators welcome volatility - big price movements provide opportunities to make money - businesses generally don't like such risks.Huge swings in the value of Bitcoin mean profits on goods or services supplied can be wiped out when it depreciates; prices listed in Bitcoins have to be monitored and adjusted frequently.The conventional way for businesses to manage currency risks is by using derivative instruments such as futures and options, but even if these were readily available for virtual currencies they would not be practical at the moment, Mr Woo explains."As a US exporter to the UK, I could buy sterling 'put' options against the dollar," he says.

These would give the option to exchange sterling into dollars in the future at a set rate, regardless of the actual exchange rate on the day, mitigating the currency risk of accepting payments in sterling."The problem is that the price of these 'puts' is a function of the currency's volatility, so with Bitcoin they would be very expensive."Butin order for Bitcoin's volatility to diminish, Mr Woo believes the virtual currency needs to become far more liquid, and for that to happen, more people need to buy and use the currency.And although Bitcoins can be divided into tiny subunits, the supply is ultimately finite."That means if more people start adopting them then prices have to go up, and that creates more volatility," he says.Another problem with using Bitcoin for business is that trading it is far from easy.Its value varies significantly in different countries - Marc Warne, director of London-based Bitcoin exchange Bittylicious, says this can often be as much as 10%.In an efficient global market these price differentials could be exploited by some investors.But Mr Warne says the cost of sending money to overseas markets and the time it takes, coupled with trading fees, makes the overall market inefficient and means these international price differences persist.

"In a way this proves the value of Bitcoin, because unlike bank transfers, transferring them is free and almost instant," he adds.One thing that may have to happen before Bitcoin is more widely used by businesses in Europe is clarification of its legal status and some sort of regulation.A key question that needs to be answered is whether it has the legal status of a currency, according to Angus McFadyen, a technology and payments law expert at Pinsent Masons."Some people say it is an investment, and others say it is a currency.If it is a currency then it should be treated as such by the Payment Services Directive.This provides the basis of refund rights for unauthorised transactions."MrMcFadyen adds that this European Commission directive currently deals with the currencies of EU member states, which clearly does not include Bitcoin.But the directive is currently under review, and new proposals talk about "any currency", he says."So it could be designed to include virtual currencies, but as yet there is no official news about whether it will."Bitcoin's

uncertain status as a currency will also need to be clarified before more British exchanges, like Bittylicious and competitor BitBargain, appear and improve market liquidity.That's because of the tax implications of trading in Bitcoin: if it's classified as a currency then no VAT is due on the value of Bitcoins sold, only on the trading commission, according to Eitan Jankelewitz, a digital media lawyer at Sheridans.He would like to see the UK's tax authority following the lead of Singapore by offering specific tax guidance for Bitcoin businesses.But he doesn't expect HMRC to accept it should be treated as a currency in the foreseeable future."That would be a big deal, but you need to be realistic and expect some sort of halfway measure."IfBitcoin does mature into a regulated, liquid, relatively stable currency, could it be used as more than a cheap way of making payments and moving money around the world?Michael Jackson, formerly chief operating officer of Skype and now a partner at venture capital firm Mangrove Capital Partners, believes so.