Spain’s finance ministry targets crypto, NFTs with new tax reform

The Spanish Ministry of Finance aims to enhance its authority to seize crypto and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as part of a new tax reform.

The Ministry of Finance of Spain is gearing up to push a new tax reform that would grant it new power to seize cryptocurrencies and digital collectibles in case of failure to pay taxes, according to the Spanish daily newspaper El Economista.

The report says the ministry has proposed reforms to the General Tax Law, specifically Article 162, that would empower the local tax agency authority to seize crypto when executing a user debt.

Additionally, amendments to the General Collection Regulations are suggested to enable the embargo of cryptocurrencies. El Economista notes that the ministry already has information on taxpayers’ crypto holdings, adding that individuals and companies starting this year are obligated to declare their crypto held abroad.

The report, however, does not provide specific details regarding the timeline for the initiative.

Spain has taken a pioneering role among European countries by enforcing comprehensive tax controls on cryptocurrencies. Taxpayers are mandated to pay taxes on profits or losses related to crypto in their personal income tax filings.

Moreover, the declaration of crypto assets for wealth tax purposes is required to be done by March of this year. This declaration obligation specifically applies to those whose cryptocurrency holdings exceed €50,000. For individuals with crypto assets stored in self-custodial wallets (like MetaMask or Ledger), the existing wealth tax form, Form 714, is designated for declaration purposes.

As crypto.news earlier reported, Spain’s tax regulator issued over 325,000 warnings to residents who failed to declare their cryptocurrencies in 2023, marking a significant surge from the 150,000 warnings issued in 2022.