The Finance Ministry of Poland recently revealed its official stance on the taxation of cryptocurrency incomes and profits. The department stated that tax returns of citizens should contain details about revenues from trade and exchange for cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, ethereum or litecoin. It has implemented a progressive income tax scale with two brackets - 18% for incomes of up to up to PLN 85,528 (€20,400), and 32% for those that exceed that annual amount.

The ministry insists that the general terms of the Personal Income Tax Act cover income derived from cryptocurrency transactions. The turnover from crypto transactions is to be reported as personal income and taxed according to the country’s current tax code. Trading cryptocurrencies are considered transfers of property rights. And therefore, they are subject to 1% tax rate under the rules governing civil law agreements. All cryptocurrency transactions, regardless of their net results, are subject to taxation, as per the ministry’s interpretation of the tax law.

Following the Finance Ministry’s announcement, the crypto traders of Poland have organized an online petition to protest this decision. The authors of the petition claim that the government has introduced tax regulations without pursuing the affected parties. They believe that the government is coercively limiting access to the growing cryptocurrency market.

The petition demands immediate abolition of all taxes on cryptocurrency trading. They also urge for clear and concise rules for the taxation of profits. The local crypto community fears that investors will be losing capital because their funds can be taxed hundreds of times. The petition is gaining support, and as of writing this, more than 3100 people signed it on change.org

The Poland Finance Ministry has announced that it is working on a more convenient method of taxation for cryptocurrencies while stressing that current regulations are binding. The deadline for filing the annual tax returns in the country is April 30.