Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

We will be opposing this. Schedule 2 will provide taxpayers with clarity following El Salvador's decision to adopt bitcoin as legal tender from September 2021, which created uncertainty about the tax status of bitcoin in Australia. Schedule 2 should not be removed. It seeks to maintain the status quo in the taxation of transactions involving digital currency. Repealing schedule 2 would pose a revenue risk, as ongoing uncertainty could see taxpayers in similar situations adopting different tax treatments, with some deliberately choosing the most favourable interpretation.