Bitcoins and Customs...

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Forums › Finance and wealth management › Bitcoins and Customs...

LennonNZ

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#133559 26-Oct-2013 15:36

Does anyone know if New Zealand recognises bitcoins as a currency?

Ie if I created my own bitcoins and I buy something with the bitcoins from overseas with a value of 10 Bitcoins (and thats the declared value) what will they do?

sbiddle

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#922104 26-Oct-2013 16:04

LennonNZ: Does anyone know if New Zealand recognises bitcoins as a currency?

Ie if I created my own bitcoins and I buy something with the bitcoins from overseas with a value of 10 Bitcoins (and thats the declared value) what will they do?

Customs values are all in $NZ - it doesn't matter what foreign currently the product is invoiced in.

Bitcoins aren't a currency on their list (here) so I suspect you're going to create mass confusion for them.

coffeebaron

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#922120 26-Oct-2013 17:14

Do it and let us know how you get on :)

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JimmyH

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#922235 26-Oct-2013 21:35

They will probably do the same as if you purchased an item in Zambian Kwacha, or any other obscure currency. Either convert it to NZ (if there is a quoted bitcoin/NZD exchange rate?) to get a value, or assign the purchase a deemed value if this can't be done. Then use this value to determine what duty is due.

jpoc

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#922311 27-Oct-2013 07:45

JimmyH: They will probably do the same as if you purchased an item in Zambian Kwacha, or any other obscure currency. Either convert it to NZ (if there is a quoted bitcoin/NZD exchange rate?) to get a value, or assign the purchase a deemed value if this can't be done. Then use this value to determine what duty is due.

The most recent trade on bitnz would probably be acceptable for that.

khull

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#922381 27-Oct-2013 10:42

sbiddle:
LennonNZ: Does anyone know if New Zealand recognises bitcoins as a currency?

Ie if I created my own bitcoins and I buy something with the bitcoins from overseas with a value of 10 Bitcoins (and thats the declared value) what will they do?

Customs values are all in $NZ - it doesn't matter what foreign currently the product is invoiced in.

Bitcoins aren't a currency on their list (here) so I suspect you're going to create mass confusion for them.

makes sense - otherwise people would import 'magical beans' and declare them as a 'cow' as the value

sampler

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#922389 27-Oct-2013 11:03

Gee if im reading the conversion rate right its 1BTC = ~$200NZD at the moment.
So your looking to purchase something around $2000 NZD so you should be paying ~$300 NZD GST or about 1.5BTC.

I assume any purchase within NZ that's completed needs to attract GST no matter the currency involved, Would be an interesting issue having to convert the amount back to NZD based on the exchange rate at the time to pay/claim via the IRD. Must ask Mr Accountant.

Cheers

Lee