RE: Crowdsourcing Clarity: Familiarizing Myself with The Laws Regulating Cryptocurrencies in Various Countries (1 SBD Reward for Most Helpful Info)
I am also in the Netherlands, and wish to add to @rvanstel input. I discovered Steemit a couple of month ago, and just in case it explodes, I investigated the tax issue here. As he said, the tax office can be pretty harsh on forgetting to declare stuff (fines up to 300 or 400%...)...
Cryptos are considered like assets and enter what is called BOX 3. You take all the money or cryptos or shares you have, deduce around 25kEuros, and then you are taxed about 1.2% per year. So if for example you have 25kE cash in the bank, and 100kE in crypto, you have to pay
1200EUro/year.
The system has changed this year, it's much more complicated, but it leads to a similar tax due. I understand It can go up to 1.6% for the larger sums.
https://www.orangetax.com/2016/09/box-3-tax-2017-no-1-2/
So in absolute, if the crypto grow massively, well, it is a small price to pay compared to other countries, because it is not based on profit but on capital. On the other hand, if you lose, the tax office will make you lose more ( the sum to declare is [sum on Jan 1st + sum on Dec 31]/2 )
A system based on capital would at least be able to be reported somewhat accurately (though I beleive all taxes are illegitimate and criminal). The system here in Japan however, is literally impossible to abide by if one wishes to report accurately. Thanks for the valuable information about the Netherlands!