Ministers are planning to crack down on cryptocurrency speculators who evade tax on their profits.
Under new rules, holders of currencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum or Dogecoin will face fines of £300 if they fail to provide personal details to crypto service providers they use to make sure they are paying the right amounts to HMRC.
The Government expects the new rules, which are known as the Cryptoasset Reporting Framework and take effect from January, to raise up to £315 million by April 2030.
Any service provider which fails to provide accurate details about transactions and tax reference numbers will also face fines.
James Murray MP, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, said: ‘We’re going further and faster to crack down on tax dodgers as we close the tax gap.
‘By ensuring everyone pays their fair share, the new crypto reporting rules will make sure tax dodgers have nowhere to hide, helping raise the revenue needed to fund our nurses, police and other vital public services.’
It comes as Rachel Reeves refused to rule out tax rises in the wake of the Government’s U-turn on welfare reforms.
The Chancellor, whose tears in the Commons on Wednesday spooked the financial markets, said: ‘I’m not going to apologise for making sure the numbers add up.
From left to right: Treasury Parliamentary Secretary Emma Reynolds, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury James Murray, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, Economic Secretary to the Treasury Tulip Siddiq, and Financial Secretary to the Treasury Spencer Livermore
Under new rules, holders of currencies such as Bitcoin will face fines of £300 if they fail to provide personal details to crypto service providers they use
‘But we do need to make sure that we’re telling a story, and a Labour story. We did that well in the Budget and Spending Review, we increased taxes on the wealthiest and businesses.’
Asked whether she was prepared to rule out further tax rises, she said: ‘I’m not going to because it would be irresponsible for a Chancellor to do that.
‘We took the decisions last year to draw a line under unfunded commitments and economic mismanagement.
‘So we’ll never have to do something like that again. But there are costs to what happened.’
Reacting to the welfare U-turn, she said: ‘It’s been damaging. I’m not going to deny that.’
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