COMPETENCE TO TAX CRYPTOCURRENCY MINING OPERATIONS

Abstract

The paper discusses, from the perspective of Tax Law, in which field of competence are included cryptocurrency mining operations. This kind of operation consists on the “creation” of new cryptocurrency through the capacity of computers that perform calculations in order to find numerical sequences compatible with series established by previous assumptions. The paper begins with a conceptualist approach to the rules of tax competence, assessing the extent to which current rules allow the taxation of transactions with intangible assets, notably digital goods and services. The paper evaluates the incidence of four distinct taxes – ICMS, IPI, ISS and IOF – on the mining operation. It concludes that mining operations, as they cannot be subsumed under a rule of specific constitutional competence, are taxable by the Union for their residual tax competence.