The UK’s crypto tax break for foreign investors using local brokers is now in force

The UK Government’s quest to turn the country into a crypto hub is continuing, it having been confirmed that since Sunday 1^st January, a tax exemption for overseas investors buying crypto through local investment managers or brokers has been in effect. 

It is the latest development in the UK that supports Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s previously stated goal to transform the country into a global crypto hub.  

“An important factor in attracting global investors” 

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the department of the UK Government responsible for tax collection, said in an email to the CoinDesk news outlet that “the exemption is an important factor in attracting global investors, meaning foreign investors won’t be brought into UK tax simply by appointing UK-based investment managers.” 

The email continued: “To build upon the UK’s position as an investment management hub, this exemption has been extended to include crypto assets, so that funds which include them aren’t put off from appointing UK managers.” 

The UK already makes available a tax guide for resident traders of crypto. The UK Government has been consulting on various changes that would impact on the country’s crypto industry, including – last July – publishing a consultation seeking the opinions of investors and professionals on how HMRC should tax decentralised finance (DeFi). 

Parliament is also continuing to debate the broad-based Financial Services and Markets Bill, which – if it becomes law – is set to hand local financial regulators greater powers in relation to crypto. As of the time of this article being written, the bill was receiving its second reading in the House of Lords, which is the UK Parliament’s upper house. 

The UK Treasury is also expected to launch a consultation shortly on the best ways of regulating the crypto sector. Such moves back up the recent pledge by one of the Sunak Government’s ministers, Andrew Griffith, that the still relatively young administration wanted to “tentatively seize” the opportunities crypto presented to the country. 

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