1. Home
  2. News
  3. Bitcoin news
  4. Swiss Canton Zug will accept tax payments in Bitcoin and Ether from next year

Swiss Canton Zug will accept tax payments in Bitcoin and Ether from next year

Photo of: Sangeetha Golchha
by Sangeetha Golchha

A Swiss region that has proclaimed itself as the nucleus and focal point for high-technology finance said that it is now planning to accept major cryptocurrencies namely Bitcoin and Ether for tax payments starting from next year. Switzerland’s Canton of Zug joins its titular main city with many other Swiss-based towns and regions to agree to accept tax payments now in cryptocurrencies. Zug is considered one of the first regions in the rich Alpine Country to make this decision.  The Zug administration pronounced this decision on Thursday, saying that by February 2021 beginning, companies as well as individuals will be able to pay their taxes in these two cryptocurrencies for an amount ceiling of CHF 100,000 equivalent to $110,000. 

The self-billed ‘Crypto Valley’ and its administration is planning to start with a pilot phase that will take place in the coming weeks. The pilot phase will help them nip the shortcomings in the bud so that then February beginning is without hiccups. The Zug Department of Finance has collaborated with the world’s most revered Bitcoin Suisse for this initiative which is bound to open doors for cryptocurrency in the Swiss markets. This clearly means that Swiss crypto forms will be able to convert the user’s BTC and ETH tax payments into francs for the agency. As of now, the authorities have stated clearly that the tax payments if made in crypto will be full in the digital currencies. This implies that the authorities will not be accepting partial payments in cryptos. 

The cantonal finance director Heinz Taennler said in a statement

“We are not taking any risks with the new payment method, as we always receive the amount in Swiss francs, even when paying in Bitcoin or Ether.”

Those taxpayers who would wish to pay their taxes in cryptos will have to notify the tax authorities in advance. To do this they would have to send digitized QR code which will allow for such payments to take place. With the country putting up a great move to increase the adoption of cryptocurrencies, there are other regions in the world that have explored the possibility of tax payments with cryptos. In fact, former treasurers in the U.S. state of Ohio launched OhioCrypto.com in 2018 so that businesses could pay off their taxes in crypto. But the plans were bounced back and shattered at the nascent stage itself when the State’s attorney general ruled last year implying that the entire thing was purely illegal and presents an ambiguous future. Important to note is that the Zug city, the capital of Canton is already accepting Bitcoin for tax payments also through Bitcoin Suisse since 2016. Zermatt and Chiasso the Swiss municipalities also accept bitcoin for smaller tax payments.

With the Swiss regions now gearing up for the new disruption, the cryptocurrency game in the country will undergo a massive transformation. Demand, utility, and adoption will increase giving more people the confidence to go for it.