The wealth in bitcoins will soon be officially recognized by Serbia.
The draft law on digital property, which enables the trade in digital currencies, is ready, and it is accompanied by costs that we did not know until now.
The bottom line is that if you get bitcoin as a gift, you also have to pay taxes. The new obligation is provided by the mentioned law, and it is another tax that citizens should take into account.
And it’s not impossible to get bitcoin as a gift. Remember the story when the citizens of Serbia often received units of investment funds as gifts for some special dates from friends and colleagues. And that happened right at the beginning of the development of this industry in our country.
A digital asset is a digital record that can be digitally bought, sold, exchanged or transferred. It can be used as a medium of exchange or for investment purposes, but they are not legal tender.
The law also states that digital property is not necessarily tied to a legal tender and does not have the legal status of money or currency, but citizens and companies accept it as a medium of exchange.
The Ministry of Finance says that regulating this issue will enable easier financing for many innovative companies.
There are online services where you can buy and sell cryptocurrencies. Also, there are vending machines in several cities (Belgrade, Novi Sad, Nis, Subotica and Indjija) where cryptocurrency is bought and sold for cash.
According to the Law on Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, which has been applied since April 1, 2018, it is necessary for users to go through the verification procedure, similar to opening a bank account.
Also, if you are buying cryptocurrencies, you need to have a crypto wallet to which they are transferred when you make a purchase. Payment can be made to a bank account or payment card. If you sell through an online service, a bank account is necessary, because it is used to pay the dinar equivalent.
There are also alternative ways of trading, for example – people find themselves through advertisements, so they trade without intermediaries. Although this option is the most financially advantageous, because it enables exchange without commission, you should be very careful. It often happened that in such transactions one of the parties was left without cryptocurrency and without cash.
Who trades cryptocurrencies in Serbia?
Statistics show that cryptocurrency users are mostly men in their twenties and thirties who are solidly technically savvy. However, in periods when the price rises sharply, a large number of people outside the above category also appear.
Cryptocurrencies can be paid for mainly in some restaurants and cafes, although it is also possible to buy computer equipment or pay a gym membership fee.
– When it comes to online payment, there are practically no restrictions. Almost everything that you can pay with other methods, you can also pay with cryptocurrencies, either through traders who sell directly for cryptocurrencies, or through intermediary services that enable that – explained Aleksandar Matanovic, one of the founders of the Bitcoin Association of Serbia, Srbija Danas reports.
