S1E16 Tax Matters for Blockchain and Digital Assets with Rob Massey from Deloitte

Rob Massey may be one of the most influential people in Blockchain that you've never heard of. The man responsible for advising some of the largest ICOs, token issuances, exchanges, consortia and regulators gives us the lowdown on why tax is critical to consider in the digital asset space, and how it can be an agile and collaborative initiative, even where regulation or guidance is limited in a particular jurisdiction.

In this episode we discuss:

- Different digital asset structures and the various tax considerations

- The process of engaging with regulators where guidance is thin on the ground

- How enterprises are looking at digital assets and tokens to create liquidity, capital or new business models

- An introduction to the implications of tax for security tokens, 'property' tokens and utility tokens

- How to 'draw out' the tax implications of different digital asset models and business flows

- Example tax engagements and the differences between enterprises, consortia and foundations

- Tax implications for Decentralised Finance (DeFi) and Distributed Autonomous Organisations (DAOs)

- Different tax considerations for different geographies (the humans, tax treaties, network, and feeling 'natural')

- The potential for digital assets in Financial Services and for IP rights management

Links to topics discussed in this episode:

Rob's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-massey-7571b7b/

Deloitte's 2020 Blockchain Survey: https://www2.deloitte.com/ie/en/pages/technology/articles/Global_Blockchain_survey.html