- Thus, the country wants to fill the budget
- The initiative sparked condemnation and outrage from the local crypto lobby.
- Not only traders will suffer, but also promoters of cryptocurrency services and products
- They will be required to pay up to 15% of income from affiliate programs and subscriptions
Yesterday, May 4, the government of Kenya submitted for consideration the draft state budget for the next year. Among other things, there featured a 3% tax on income from the transfer of cryptocurrency and NFT, as well as a 15% fee on monetized online content.
Before the draft is accepted, it will go through five rounds of readings. But it is already clear that Kenya plans to fill the budget by taking control of financial flows in cryptocurrency.
The obligation to collect fees will fall on service providers. In this regard, those exchanges that operate in the country without registration will need to obtain a license.
As for the second tax, it will fall on influencers and bloggers. They will be charged up to 15% of the income from the monetization of online content. These are services for the promotion of products and services, including sponsorship and paid subscriptions.
Note that the reaction of the local crypto lobby to the bill was rather negative. The 3% accumulation from each crypto-transaction is similar to the “taxation of loyalty program points”, thinks Rufus Kamau.
He ridiculed the government’s initiative, noting that it would only scare away service providers. The advocacy group Cryptocurrency Kenya said taxing crypto-only is a “targeted harassment” of the industry.
President William Ruto intends to raise government fees to $36.7 billion over the next five years. The new taxes will affect not only the Web3 sector, but also other revenues. In particular, the rate on the maximum wage will jump by 5%. Earlier, we reported that Nigeria adopted the doctrine of the transition to the blockchain. At the same time, the country is actually forcibly implanting CBDC, limiting the circulation of fiat.
