Rendimentos de Tokens após ICOs: um estudo sobre a Tributação da Renda das pessoas físicas

Abstract

This investigative academic work addresses the influence of technological evolution on the transformation of the economy, highlighting digitalization as a global phenomenon that alters everything from daily routines to global economic and political decisions. The research explores how the digital economy, driven by information and communication technologies, has reshaped markets, creating new forms of business and driving innovation. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has identified characteristics relevant to the tax approach of the digital economy, including the mobility of intangibles and business functions, the importance of data and the volatility of business models. The starting point for this research is tokenization, facilitated by blockchain technology and other Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT). Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), the central object of this research due to tokenization, represent a new form of fundraising in which investors receive tokens in exchange for their capital. The OECD recognizes the potential of tokenization to transform a variety of assets into digital formats, opening up new markets and digital opportunities. The research examines different types of tokens and offerings, including payment and utility tokens, and how they are treated in regulatory and tax terms. The main point of the investigative study addresses the question of how Brazilian tax legislation treats gains obtained through investments in ICOs, focusing on the taxation of capital gains revealing a gap in tax legislation, which does not adequately address the taxation of income from these digital assets, disregarding Art. 43, inc. I of the CTN and 38, II and 47, IV of the RIR 2018. The research methodology includes legislative analysis of crypto-assets and income from tokens in other selected jurisdictions, such as the United Kingdom, Germany and the United States. The research contributes to the legal understanding of cryptoassets and proposes a path for the harmonious integration of these new digital assets into the Brazilian tax framework, promoting tax justice and considering the principles of equality and ability to pay (subjective and objective). The study proves that income from tokens obtained through investments in ICOs, which provide individual investors with income in the form of returns, benefits, products and services, are classified as income or proceeds of any nature and should be considered for the annual calculation of Individual Income Tax. This classification must be aligned with the constitutional concept of income. In its conclusion, the research highlights the importance of adapting tax legislation to effectively cover gains derived from cryptoassets, an emerging and rapidly evolving area. The legal-descriptive and legal-interpretive approach adopted in the research, of the legislation of the three jurisdictions selected, contributes to an in-depth understanding of the tax challenges presented by the digitalization of the economy and crypto-assets. By addressing these issues, the work positions itself at the forefront of the debate on taxation in the digital age, proposing an effective integration of these new digital assets into the Brazilian tax system, respecting the principles of tax justice, equality, existential minimum and contributory capacity (objective and subjective).