Honduras’ special economic zone, Prospera Zede, has officially recognized Bitcoin (BTC) as a unit of account. This move effectively recognizes the legitimacy of cryptocurrency in various commercial, tax and financial transactions.
The announcement, unveiled by Jorge Colindres, Acting Director and Tax Commissioner of the region, on January 5, sets the conditions under which legal entities can adopt Bitcoin as their unit of account.
“Prospera ZEDE recognizes the right of (e) resident legal entities organized or registered under the authority of the Prospero Entities Registration Act to use Bitcoin (“BTC”) as their unit of account, meaning the monetary unit or measure of value by which their accounts and values are maintained,” the statement said. mentioned.”
For example, entities interested in adopting Bitcoin as their unit of account must submit notification to the Tax Commissioner within thirty days of the relevant tax period. The notice must point to a major approved cryptocurrency exchange, such as Kraken or Coinbase.
Until the final procedure for paying the BTC tax is implemented, the tax liabilities of the Bitcoin electing entities will be determined by reference to BTC for internal accounting purposes but will be reported to Próspera ZEDE in US dollars or the local currency Lempira.
When the final BTC tax payment procedure is implemented, the tax liabilities will be reported in BTC, and the entities will pay the corresponding amount to Prospera ZEDE in Bitcoin.
The statement also includes an approved form that entities can use to elect their Bitcoin. Prospera ZEDE’s public service provider will publish BTC election notification forms and update the eProspera eGovernance platform to include data entry and corresponding files.
Honduras has pushed in the past to make Bitcoin legal
It is worth noting that the economic zone’s decision came after previous rumors spread that Honduras was about to approve Bitcoin as legal tender. Speculation has spread that the country may follow El Salvador’s lead in recognizing the legitimacy of Bitcoin.
Interestingly, in 2022, the Central Bank of Honduras issued a statement refuting the news that the country had declared Bitcoin legal. In the statement, the institution warned against the use of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin in payment scenarios, stressing that there is no legal support for such transactions.