DEFINING THE DIGITAL ASSET MARKET AND ITS TAX IMPLICATIONS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32782/2786-8273/2025-10-20Keywords:
digital assets, virtual assets, market ecosystem, participants, transactions, taxation, VAT, income tax, NFTs, DeFiAbstract
The article defines the digital asset market as an economic ecosystem that includes participants, types of assets, and transactions between them. The study outlines key issues in the taxation of crypto-asset transactions, including VAT, corporate income tax, and personal income tax. Examples of activities that generate tax consequences are considered: exchange, mining, staking, liquidity provision, lending, airdrops, and NFT transactions. It is determined that the decentralization and global nature of the market complicate the control and fair valuation of assets, which creates challenges for tax authorities. The article concludes that the digital asset market is reshaping the boundaries of traditional tax law. A coherent and internationally aligned tax policy is required to ensure neutrality, administrability, and effective enforcement. Such a policy should reflect the economic realities of decentralised ecosystems while providing clarity for taxpayers and regulators. Based on the results of the study, it can be concluded that a coordinated tax policy is needed that can reflect the economic nature of digital ecosystems.
References
Budak T.; Yılmaz G. (2022) Taxation of Virtual/Crypto Assets/Currencies. Sosyoekonomi, vol. 30(52), pp. 37–54. Available at: https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/sosyoekonomi/issue/69642/939007
OECD. Taxing Virtual Currencies: An Overview of Tax Treatments and Emerging Tax Policy Issues. OECD Publishing. 2020. Available at: https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/2020/10/taxing-virtual-currencies_e787d5db.html
Ankenbrand T.; Bieri D.; Cortivo R.; Hoehener J.; Hardjono T. (2020) Proposal for a Comprehensive (Crypto) Asset Taxonomy. arXiv preprint arXiv:2007.11877. Available at: https://arxiv.org/abs/2007.11877
Haddad Amari Z. (2005) The Legal Challenges of VAT on Bitcoin and NFTs in Light of EU Jurisprudence. ResearchGate preprint. 2025. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/388683114_The_Legal_Challenges_of_VAT_on_Bitcoin_and_NFTs_in_Light_of_EU_Jurisprudence
Alarcón Díaz L. (2023) The VAT Treatment of NFTs in the European Union. International VAT Monitor (IBFD). Available at: https://www.ibfd.org/sites/default/files/2023-06/european-union-the-vat-treatment-of-nfts-in-the-european-union-ibfd.pdf
Parsons S. (2023) Taxing Crypto-Asset Transactions: Foundations for a Globally Coordinated Approach. IBFD. February. Available at: https://www.ibfd.org/sites/default/files/2023-03/tcat_online.pdf
Misra A. (2024) Tax Policy Handbook for Crypto Assets. arXiv preprint arXiv:2403.15074. 2024. Available at:: https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.15074
Marian O. (2013) Are Cryptocurrencies “Super” Tax Havens? Michigan Law Review First Impressions, vol. 112, p. 38. Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr_fi/vol112/iss1/2/ repository.law.umich.edu
Avi-Yonah R.S.; Salaimi M. (2023) A New Framework for Taxing Cryptocurrencies. The Tax Lawyer, vol. 77, no. 1, pp. 3–76. Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/articles/2931/ repository.law.umich.edu
Catalini C.; Gans J.S. Some Simple Economics of the Blockchain. NBER Working Paper No. 22952. 2016 (rev. 2019). Available at: https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w22952/w22952.pdf
Davidson S.; De Filippi P.; Potts J. (2016) Economics of Blockchain. SSRN Working Paper. Available at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2744751
Finck M. (2019) Blockchain Regulation and Governance in Europe. Cambridge University Press. Available at: https://www.cambridge.org/9781108474757 (front matter PDF) Cambridge Assets
Sutherland A. (2019) Cryptocurrency Economics and the Taxation of Block Rewards. Tax Notes Federal. 165 Tax Notes 749 & 953 (Parts 1–2). Available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3466796
Christians A. (2019) Tax Cryptographia: Exploring the Fiscal Design of Cryptocurrencies. McGill Law Journal, vol. 64, no. 4, pp. 683–706. Available at: https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/mlj/2019-v64-n4-mlj05747/1074153ar.pdf
Oei S-Y.; Ring D.M. (2019) When Data Comes Home: Next Steps in International Taxation’s Information Revolution. McGill Law Journal, vol. 64, no. 4. Available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3671133
Zetzsche D.A.; Arner D.W.; Buckley R.P. (2020) Decentralized Finance (DeFi). Journal of Financial Regulation, vol. 6, pp. 172–203. Available at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3539194
Arner D.W.; Barberis J.; Buckley R.P. (2017) FinTech, RegTech, and the Reconceptualization of Financial Regulation. Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business, vol. 37, no. 3, p. 371 (ff.). Available at: https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/njilb/vol37/iss3/2/scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu
de la Feria R. (2015) EU VAT Principles as Interpretative Aids to EU VAT Rules: The Inherent Paradox. In: Recent VAT Case Law of the CJEU. Linde. Available at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2718107
Kofler G.; Sinnig J. (2019) Equalization Taxes and the EU’s Digital Services Tax. In: Haslehner W.; Kofler G.; Pantazatou K. (eds.), Tax and the Digital Economy. Kluwer Law International. Available at: https://koflerge.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/ch.6_georg-kofler-julia-sinnig.pdf
