Ukrainian MPs Want to Jail People Who Don’t Disclose Crypto Holdings

Legal Regulation Tax Ukraine

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Tim Alper

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Tim Alper

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Tim Alper is a British journalist and features writer who has worked at Cryptonews.com since 2018. He has written for media outlets such as the BBC, the Guardian, and Chosun Ilbo. He has also worked...

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June 26, 2023 06:54 EDT

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The Ukrainian parliament has voted in favor of a bill that proposes to hit people hiding large crypto holdings with lengthy jail terms.

Per an official document from the Verkhovna Rada, the nation’s parliament, the bill passed with a majority of 283 votes, but will now return to the committee stage ahead of a second reading.

The proposed act would criminalize false statements and erroneous data recorded on tax declarations, and comes after a number of public officials backtracked on the scale of their crypto holdings following ominous noises from an anti-corruption agency.

The terms of the bill state that in instances where undeclared crypto holdings exceed USD 4,050, offenders could be handed jail time of up to two years behind bars. Courts would also be allowed to hand out fines of between USD 162,000 and USD 203,000.

Even those who, confronted with evidence that proves their wrongdoing, confess and agree to pay tax bills will not be excused from criminal liability, the bill’s authors wrote.

Worryingly perhaps for the public officials who recently declared a massive crypto stash that includes a collective BTC 46,351 – with many of their number then suddenly claiming that they had made mistakes on their declarations – the proposed new law promises even harsher measures for civil servants and politicians. A failure to declare any amount of crypto from this group would see public officials sent to prison for a possible two-year term.

Yesterday, Forklog reported that it had seen a document from the Blockchain4Ukraine inter-party group of MPs and industry leaders that proposed forcing public officials to list the addresses of any crypto wallets they own in order to prove how much they currently hold – a measure that could be complicated by any civil servants or MPs who choose to store their crypto offline.

As reported, one MP, Kira Rudik, the leader of the Holos (Voice) Party, recently cashed in her crypto holdings.
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