Australian exchange Coin Loft has received an official ruling exempting it from having to charge Goods and Services Tax (GST) on local bitcoin sales, according to the company.The exchange claims the private ruling from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) means that it need not apply the GST to its bitcoin exchange price.As a result, the firm ceased charging the tax on 26th January and says it is the first Australia-based exchange to do so.The tax must still be charged on the commission component of the order, however, and a Coin Loft blog post also stated that commission fees would increase from 3 to 5% as a result of the process, though the overall price would remain competitive with its GST-charging competitors.Coin Loft's David Temple told CoinDesk that the company submitted its private ruling application in October and that it was the only Australian exchange charging GST at the time."Our business was severely affected by this, so we decided we had nothing to lose by making the application."

Other exchanges began adding GST in the weeks following, but after consulting with its legal team Coin Loft decided that pursuing the ruling could produce a favorable result for its customers.The application process came with "significant costs", though, Temple added, so the company decided a commission fee increase of 2% was reasonable as a means to recoup some of that expense."Effectively for the customer we swapped a 10% GST for a 2% commission increase," he said.Coin Loft is not disclosing any specific details of its ruling, knowing that the advantage it gains by being first to have such a ruling will be temporary if competitors follow the same path.ATO private rulings are valid only for the specific case in question and are not binding in other situations, even if circumstances are similar.The office has issued other private rulings pertaining to bitcoin in the past.The ATO's position on bitcoin has been controversial since it released a ruling on how tax laws apply to bitcoin businesses in August last year.

The ruling stated that 10% GST must be applied to all sales of bitcoins themselves, rendering local exchanges unable to compete with overseas exchanges on price.Melbourne-based Coin Loft, founded by two software developers, has operated as a fixed-price exchange serving the Australian market since January 2014.It announced it would suspend bitcoin trading after the ATO's ruling was released, although this did not come about.Another local exchange, CoinJar, decided to move offshore to the UK, while bill paying service Living Room of Satoshi said it would use some international exchanges to avoid passing extra charges to its users.Melbourne city image via Shutterstock The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is an independent media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies.* You can temporarily lift this restriction by proving that you're human:UPD: The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), the federal government agency for scientific research in Australia, stated that Blockchain technology will have a profound impact on the Australian economy.

Bitcoin will be treated as money in Australia by July 1, 2017, and will be exempt from goods and services tax (GST).Bitcoin traders and investors will not be taxed for purchasing and selling Bitcoin through regulated exchanges and trading platforms.Over the past two years, the Australian Bitcoin exchange market significantly fell behind growing markets such as South Korea, Japan and South Korea, that control more than half of the global Bitcoin exchange market share.live dogecoin valueTwo majors factors which drove startups, exchanges and businesses dealing with Bitcoin and other digital currencies in Australia away from the country where the termination of banking services by leading Australian banks due to their anti-competitive nature and the double taxation of Bitcoin trading by the Australian government.litecoin mining 2 different cards

Starting July 1 however, double taxation and trading and goods and services taxation on Bitcoin will be exempted.In its 2017 to 2018 budget for “Backing innovation and FinTech,” the Australian government wrote: “The Government will make it easier for new innovative digital currency businesses to operate in Australia.bitcoin nyteknikFrom 1 July 2017, purchases of digital currency will no longer be subject to the GST, allowing digital currencies to be treated just like money for GST purposes.ethereum prison key dropCurrently, consumers who use digital currencies can effectively bear GST twice: once on the purchase of the digital currency and once again on its use in exchange for other goods and services subject to the GST.” More importantly, the Australian government’s new vision to spur the growth of fintech and the digital currency market would most likely prevent local banks and financial institutions for unfairly denying banking services to Bitcoin businesses and exchanges.maison du bitcoin

If the above mentioned issues can be resolved by July 1, the Australian Bitcoin market could potentially experience a rapid growth in terms of user base and trading volumes.The document further read: “Innovation will drive productivity growth in Australia.That is why the Government’s $1.1 bln National Innovation and Science Agenda (NISA) is designed to enable Australia to take full advantage of new economic opportunities.free litecoin mining poolThe Government is committed to establishing Australia as a leading global financial technology (fintech) hub and is announcing a new package that aims to position our local fintech industry as a world leader.” At the Blockchain NZ conference held in Auckland, New Zealand earlier this week, Bitcoin and security expert Andreas Antonopoulos emphasized the Australian government’s uninvolvement in its local Bitcoin market and the impact of such actions on Bitcoin businesses and exchanges.ethereum github