Study claims 99.5% of crypto investors did not pay taxes in 2022

Study claims 99.5% of crypto investors did not pay taxes in 2022

April 06. 2023

By Ciaran Lyons

Finland and Australia had the highest proportion of tax-paying crypto investors, while the United States ranked 10th on the list, according to the study.

Swedish crypto tax firm Divly has released a new report that estimates that only 0.53% of crypto investors globally paid tax on their crypto in 2022 — however, tax experts have cast doubt on the figures and methodology.

Published on April 5, the Divly report came up with the estimate after analyzing the relationship between the number of people who declared cryptocurrency in their tax returns and the search volume for crypto tax-related keywords in various countries. It also used the number of crypto holders in each country according to Statista’s Global Cryptocurrency Report in its calculations.

The report estimates that Finland has the highest proportion of crypto investors who paid the required taxes on crypto in 2022 at 4.09%, with Australia following closely behind with 3.65%.

The United States ranked 10th on the list, with an estimated 1.62% of crypto holders paying taxes, while India, Indonesia and the Philippines had the lowest rates of tax-paying crypto investors, at just 0.07%, 0.04% and 0.03%, respectively.

The methodology used to arrive at the estimates is questionable. The report itself qualifies the results by noting that search volume data may not accurately reflect the actual number of crypto taxpayers, as not everyone who pays tax searches for crypto tax-related information online.