Regions

The British government is planning to remove the 20% value-added tax (VAT) on Bitcoin trading, according to TechCrunch.

A Coindesk news blog cited by the report said a formal announcement about the decision will be released this week. The blog also explained that "the ruling would find HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the UK's customs and tax department, classifying virtual currencies as assets or private money, not as vouchers that required a tax on the value of the coins."

Other taxes, like the corporation tax, however, will still be levied upon the cryptocurrency, the report added.

Following the announcement by the British tax division, US-based non-profit organization Bitcoin Foundation told the Financial Times that it would move its headquarters to Britain in the coming spring, wrote Business Spectator.

This move by Britain, which puts Bitcoin at par with other currencies circulating in the country, contradicts the move that other governments are taking in relation to the digital currency. Because of Bitcoin's volatility and the recent theft and black markets associated with it, Russia and other countries have sought to ban it. The US, on the other hand, has yet to make a definite decision about the currency's regulation, TechCrunch reported.