Lesser Tax for Crypto Firms, promises New Colombian President

Iván Duque Márquez, who is the current president of the Republic of Colombia, in office since 7 August 2018, has been described as a “jovial figure lending a fresh face to traditional conservative politics”, by the Colombian media. He has already made a move to lay an impact in his presidency and impressed the crypto players of the nation by offering tax exemption for cryptocurrency and blockchain startups.

“Obsessed” with the technology, especially with robotics and artificial intelligence (AI), as confessed by the president, during ANDICOM, an international congress on information and communications technology (ICT) held annually in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, Duque.

Duque emphasized that Colombia needs its own regulator for the ICT industry and also promised to establish a high council for the transformation and digital society, which will define strategies, along with the ministries to create short, medium and long-term politics to uplift the growth and future of the companies related with crypto economy and blockchain.

“We want companies to be constituted in order for Colombia to become an important player in the sector; sometimes tax policies of this country are designed to be an obstacle for them. That is why in the economic reactivation we are proposing, and I’ve been talking about this from a long time, this tax exemption to move forward and benefit all the companies from these sectors, for them to create a minimum amount of jobs in the country and to generate the investment capacity required”.

He also proposed to grip blockchain and AI to track public funds and detect abnormalities. With the use of advanced technologies, the president is focused to tackle corruption along with improving such areas as security, justice, and medicine.

As for the crypto industry, Duque promised tax exemption over income for 5 years to all the startups of the technological sector. Among them, the ones related with cryptocurrencies, crypto assets, and blockchain will get preference, provided they generate a certain number of new jobs.

In May, a national blockchain association was established in the country. Colombian Senate is optimistic about blockchain, stating that it “could change lives” after a debate in June over the same.

Other technology companies with artificial intelligence, big data, cyber security, cloud computing, chatbot and machine learning on focus, might also have a good impact on their growth within the country.