Starting September 1, in New Zealand companies will be able to pay employees in cryptocurrencies.
As Crowdfund Insider previously reported, a Tax Bulletin published by the Commissioner of Inland Revenue, the New Zealand tax authority, cryptocurrency may be used to pay employees as long as it adheres to certain guidelines. Some industry followers view New Zealand’s move as a sign of growing acceptance of digital assets and as cryptocurrency being a more established form of payment or transfers.
Mike Minihan, partner and tax expert at BX3 Capital – a crypto-focused consultancy, contacted CI with the following thoughts:
“An alternative payment format for employees has received national (and in fact, international) recognition. Sure, not everyone wants to be paid with an asset that is still highly volatile. But despite its volatility, it is readily exchangeable into fiat currencies, or can be used to buy goods and services in a global economy.”
Minihan added that he believes the move by New Zealand is a “forward-thinking view on how its citizens and residents transact with each other, and the world as a whole.”
In fact, crypto has been used as a form of both legal and illicit payments since its emergence. This is largely due to the ease of transfer across borders – minus annoying bank fees. Payments in crypto have taken place largely without any type of formal government guidelines. New Zealand is just codifying the process and adding some guardrails.
As crypto-assets become more regulated, as well as more monitored, the illicit sector should decline.
