Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) miners in Kazakhstan could soon face a five-fold increase in taxes.
What Happened: According to reports from local publications in the country, Kazakh authorities intend to raise the tax rate imposed on miners from 1 Kazakh tenge to 5 Kazakh tenges per kWh.
The current rate of 1 Kazakh tenge amounts to roughly $0.002 in U.S. dollars. The country’s President, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, stated that the current tax rate was negligible and instructed the government to increase the tax as soon as possible.
“The government should develop a full-fledged package of decisions on the regulation and development of digital mining. I expect the results by April 1,” Tokayev stated in a government meeting.
The President also went on record to say that there was no real socio-economic benefit of mining cryptocurrency for the country.
“Mass jobs are not created, there are no products as such at all. At the same time, this area consumes electricity as several areas. Moreover, some unscrupulous miners frankly use tariffs that are lower than tariffs for the population,” he said.
“Taxes and duties are not paid on imported equipment. And most importantly, using the country's resources to the maximum, these dealers monetize them in other jurisdictions,” the president noted.
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Kazakhstan hosts the largest number of Bitcoin miners after the U.S. The region saw an influx of crypto miners after China clamped down on cryptocurrency mining operations in 2021.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin miners in the U.S. have been shifting to cleaner sources of energy for their operations. A coalition of miners, including Marathon Digital Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:MARA) and Riot Blockchain Inc (NASDAQ:RIOT), formed the Bitcoin Mining Council and regularly publish the amount of renewable energy used in crypto mining operations.
As of Q4, 2021, the Bitcoin Mining Council said the Bitcoin mining electricity mix increased to 58.8% sustainable.
Bitcoin was trading at $44,292.18 on Wednesday morning, up 2.26% in 24 hours.
