Saint Kitts and Nevis passed Virtual Asset Bill 2020 legalizes cryptocurrency like Bitcoin

By Selena 02/7/20 10:13 AM

More and more countries are adopting cryptocurrency-friendly policies. In particular, Saint Kitts and Nevis, located in the West Indies, recently passed a bill to legalize cryptocurrencies. This law, called the Virtual Asset Bill 2020, is intended to provide crypto regulation to businesses and residents of Saint Kitts and Nevis.

Virtual Asset Bill 2020 is approved in Saint Kitts and Nevis

The Virtual Asset Bill 2020 Code was created by the Financial Services Regulatory Commission of Saint Kitts and Nevis. This is a bill designed to apply the legal framework for cryptocurrencies used in the region. The new law will ensure that each provider participating in cryptocurrency services in the Federation must register and comply with the monitoring regime.

PDF version of Virtual Asset Bill 2020. Source: Sknis

The bill will allow compliance with the existing anti-money laundering / AML / CFT legislative framework in St. Kitts and Nevis by extending and complying with the relevant international standards set forth by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

Residents and businesses in Saint Kitts and Nevis are legally allowed to do the following:

Exchange between cryptocurrency and fiat.
Exchange between one or more types of cryptocurrency.
Transfer a cryptocurrency whether it’s worth it or not.
Virtual asset protection or management or virtual asset authoring tool.
Join and provide financial services related to a problem or sell cryptocurrency.

The islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis are famous for being friendly with tax policy

In December 2019, Saint Kitts and Nevis were a popular choice for those wishing to acquire dual citizenship. Like the Virtual Asset Bill 2020, the country’s tax laws are quite mild compared to places like the US or other countries in Europe. The rules here are simple and only tricky unless you try to sell an asset within a year of the acquisition, with no capital gains tax collected in the Union. If you sell before the one-year holding period, then the property will be subject to a 20% interest rate tax.

Capital’s profit tax is taxable only if the property is sold within 12 months from the date of acquisition (tax rate is 20%). After the Virtual Asset Bill 2020 was approved, civhipbyinvestment.ch said that payment by cryptocurrency offers the cheapest alternative to bank fees and agent bank problems facing the Caribbean. For example, many cars in St. Kitts were purchased from Japan using cryptocurrency and paid only one-tenth of a cent. Meanwhile, with bank transfer, you will lose a significant amount and take at least a few days.

Friendly tax law practitioners in Saint Kitts and Nevis will recognize the tax system as one of the most gentle in the world. With its helpful capital-raising tax law and the latest bill was legalizing cryptocurrencies, Saint Kitts and Nevis Federation maybe even more appealing to those seeking dual nationality.