Philippines

In the Philippines, cryptocurrencies are legally classified as "virtual assets" or "property" rather than legal tender. The country has a regulated environment for crypto, meaning that while crypto is legal, Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) and other entities dealing with virtual assets must comply with specific regulations, including Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter-Terrorist Financing (CTF) rules. There isn't a dedicated crypto tax law, instead, existing general tax laws apply. The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is the primary authority governing crypto taxation in the Philippines. All crypto-related income and transactions fall under the purview of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC). For individuals, income derived from crypto activities is treated as ordinary income and is subject to progressive income tax rates ranging from 0% to 35%, depending on your total annual income. There is no separate capital gains tax regime specifically for cryptocurrencies, instead, any gains are simply added to your ordinary income. This also means there are no special benefits or reduced rates for holding crypto for a long period, all gains are taxed at the same progressive rates regardless of the holding duration. Selling crypto for fiat currency is a taxable event, where the gain is calculated as your sale proceeds minus your original cost. Exchanging one cryptocurrency for another is also considered a taxable event, with any gain realized on the trade being subject to tax. A 12% Value Added Tax (VAT) applies if you are actively trading crypto as part of a business and it's classified as ordinary asset or inventory. However, if crypto is held purely as an investment (a capital asset), it is exempt from VAT. Income from staking rewards is taxed as ordinary income at the progressive rates (0-35%) upon receipt. Similarly, income generated from crypto mining is taxed as ordinary income, though legitimate business expenses such as electricity and hardware costs can be deducted if mining is conducted as a business. Decentralized Finance (DeFi) activities, such as yield farming or liquidity pooling, are not yet officially addressed, but any yields or profits from these activities are generally expected to be taxed as ordinary income. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are treated like other cryptocurrencies, their sale can result in ordinary income or capital gains, depending on whether they are classified as business inventory or investment holdings. Looking ahead, the Philippines is committed to adopting the OECD Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) by 2028. This will mandate Virtual Asset Service Providers to report user transactions to the BIR and facilitate international data exchange, signaling increased scrutiny and enforcement of crypto tax compliance.