Last week, Poland’s Finance Ministry unveiled a new tax law interpretation for digital currency transactions – an interpretation that many have called draconian in its approach. Now, Polish cryptocurrency traders have responded by launching a petition on Change.org. That petition calls upon the government to reverse its decision so that the Polish people can take an active role in the digital currency and blockchain revolution.
The petition’s complaint is clear:
“The Government of the Republic of Poland restricted access of Poles to the constantly growing market of cryptocurrencies, through tax regulations that were not consulted with any of the parties. As a result of these regulations, many people lost, or in the near future, lose their capital, which was taxed a hundred or even a thousand times.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, the petitioners were well on the way to achieving their goal of obtaining at least 5,000 signatures, with 2,989 people signing the online demand. Their goal is to force the government to reverse course, and allow the industry to continue to grow and innovate without interference:
“As Poles, we are demanding the release of the blockchain technology market and the abolition of all taxes related to this industry. We want to be active creators of this technology, not just its passive recipients in the coming years, from centralized Polish institutions or foreign entities.”
The current government interpretation of the country’s laws would require traders to pay a 1% tax on every transaction, regardless of its profitability, according to a report from Bloomberg. Any income earned from those transactions would be covered by the existing income tax rules, making them subject to a tax of either 18 or 32 percent.
Meanwhile, Poland’s citizens are facing an April 30 deadline for filing their yearly income statements.
