Why use crypto tax experts?
It’s been a bumpy ride for the Crypto market with setbacks such as the bankruptcy of the FTX exchange. Furthermore, the boom and bust cycle over the last few years have been pretty hair raising! Although with Bitcoin recently achieving an all-time high of £93,529 per coin, the crypto space continues to be a buoyant alternative investment. As a result with any potential new revenue raising area, HMRC are keeping a very close eye.
HMRC is actively urging crypto investors and businesses to come clean about past transactions. Therefore, if you failed to report historic crypto activity, you must act now. Importantly, delays increase your risk of investigation and financial penalties. We believe HM Revenue & Customs will soon take a far tougher stance on non-disclosure. In fact, we have seen this pattern before with previous tax amnesty campaigns. As a result, leniency often disappears once HMRC shifts enforcement strategy. Crucially, HMRC now has powerful tools to track crypto tax evasion. Therefore, attempting to hide past activity is increasingly risky and short-sighted. Instead, you should take control and make a voluntary disclosure promptly.
Ultimately, using a specialist accountancy firm helps you minimise penalties and protect your position.
Why choose our firm?
We’ve been working in the crypto space for nearly 12 years – way before most of our competitors! Additionally, we were one of the first to blog online about the tax implications before HMRC published their guidance. What's more, we liaised with HMRC's crypto tax team about tax policy (one of the very few firms outside of the ‘Big 4’ who did this).
Our experience in this sector is now extensive – we’ve dealt with numerous businesses and individuals helping them navigate the uncertainties and confusion in this new market.
And just a little history as to why we consider ourselves to be leading experts in this field:
Our first client was a UK Bitcoin Exchange with a £multi-million turnover and complex business needs. They needed an accountancy firm who could provide a bespoke solution to ensure they were HMRC compliant. At that time, more people were dabbling in Crypto as an investment. Furthermore, Bitcoin was rising in price and there was scant public information about the UK tax treatment. Because of this uncertainty meant they’d tried other firms who weren’t willing or able to help them – so turned to us. Consequently It was a fantastic opportunity to be at the forefront of advising developing market
At the start of 2017 there was no definitive guidance on how cryptocurrency might be taxed in the UK. Therefore, we’re very proud to have been one of the first (if not the first) UK accountancy firm to tackle the topic and give an opinion online (oh - we might already have mentioned this ) .
And because we were recognised as being ‘crypto tax experts’ we are also very proud to be one of the few accountancy firms outside of the 'Big 4' who have consulted directly with HMRC's Crypto Taxes Team about the tax treatment (we might already have mentioned this too!).
And then at the end of 2018, HMRC published their own guidance which confirmed much of our early insights on the tax treatment.
So if you'd like to know how we can help you with your crypto taxes, feel free to give us a call on 01202 048696 or email us at [email protected].