Post
Topic
Board Bitcoin Discussion
Re: Withdrawing Bitcoin off the radar
by
Ultegra134
on 14/02/2023, 16:00:08 UTC
Your title is wrong: you're not looking to withdraw Bitcoin, you're looking to sell it.

if I were to move funds to a bank account, they'd get taxed at 24%, which is a huge percentage.
Only 24% tax? I wish I could pay that little!

Quote
Is there an actual, reliable way to exchange bitcoin for cash in hand?
Apart from the exchange itself, have you considered what you're going to do with shitloads of cash? The main reason for paying taxes is to be able to legally spend your money. If you have a bag of money "off the radar", you'll raise questions when buying a car/house/jet, and (depending on where you live) you could get in much bigger troubles than just paying your taxes.
If it's €1000 in cash, you can easily spend it and nobody notices. If it's €1,000,000, you can't.

I'm situated in Greece.
In that case, you may just get away with it Wink

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My main concern is to avoid having the money deposited into a bank account. If it's coming from an exchange, there's a decent chance, if it's a high amount, that you'll be asked for further details. I'm not quite sure about splitting deposits from P2P transactions, though. That way, it won't direct back to an exchange, right?
Here, using established exchanges raises less questions from banks than many transactions from different people.

Theoretically, isn't this income something that should be declared? I'm talking about the whole amount of coins.
I know nothing about Greek taxes, but isn't this something you should have declared when you earned it?
You're correct; I'm looking to sell bitcoin, not withdraw. Wrong phrasing. It's actually 15% capital gains tax, unless I declare it as income since the amount was earned from scratch, in which case it's 24%, if I'm not mistaken. But honestly, you're right; I haven't thought about what I'd be doing with practically a bag of cash. Not only is it inconvenient but also dangerous, and there's also a chance to get away with it, just like you said. I could have declared them, but I didn't. Some were earned in the past, quite a few years ago, through various sources, while the rest are from signature campaigns in the past two years.
Depending on the amount of Bitcoins you possess, you may want to try OTC trade, Localbitcoins (according to some previous posters going out of business soon), debit cards by Binance, Coinbase, Wirex etc (limited amounts). You could also try to find someone locally (can be dangerous).

To use these cards, you have to do KYC, and if you do that, you are always exposed to the risk that your data will be shared with your tax institutions - because they can always legally request such data, and if I remember correctly, the IRS requested and received such data from Coinbase in the past. Even if you use so-called "anonymous cards" and pay for something online or in physical stores, you can be located via IP address or you will be recorded by one of the surveillance cameras that are everywhere.

Of course, in the case of small amounts, there is no need to worry too much, because the resources of government agencies are still focused on some more serious tax violations.
Yeah, those debit cards should be fine for smaller amounts, purchases and occasional withdrawals.
Hello there,

As I was driving earlier, this thought came through my mind. I've been accumulating Bitcoin for quite some time now, and at some point eventually I'll have to withdraw it in fiat, at least some of it. I'm not sure when that time will come, and I'm definitely not selling for anything below $50,000, but that's another story. However, I've always kept my bitcoin away from exchanges, and I prefer that it stays that way for obvious reasons that have been discussed numerous times in the forum.

Not only do I want to avoid exchanges but also banks, which is currently the most convenient way to withdraw money, but if I were to move funds to a bank account, they'd get taxed at 24%, which is a huge percentage. I've also thought about Bitcoin ATMs, but the majority of them here require some sort of KYC and feature expensive fees, although they may still be a better option than bank transfers. Is there an actual, reliable way to exchange bitcoin for cash in hand? My best guess would be a P2P transaction in person, but that's quite unlikely.


As far as the KYC, I would say go ahead and accept that if you are cashing out to Fiat.
* Traveling with large sums of fiat, is just asking for trouble.*
https://www.qcnews.com/news/investigations/government-seizes-billions-in-cash-from-air-travelers-without-ever-filing-a-criminal-charge/

You mentioned in a later post , you are in Greece.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1200283/no-legal-framework-for-crypto/
* According to the above their is no VAT for crypto sales.*

If you are waiting for a big win, I would suggest when the time is getting close to selling , contact a Tax Attorney for your Country 1st.
That way you know exactly what you are doing and what is the extent and timeline for any Tax implications.
* if you wait 5 years, the crypto tax laws might be totally different than now , so any current advice could be completely wrong in 2 or 3 years for you.  *


Thank you for your reply. Yes, regulations may be completely different in a year or two, but as LoyceV already mentioned, it may be best to withdraw through a bank since having a decent amount in cash isn't quite convenient either.