This Is The First Time, UK Tax Authorities Confiscate NFTs Related To Tax Evasion

In the UK, NFTs are starting to be used to evade taxes. (photo: doc. unsplash)

JAKARTA - Britain's tax authorities said on Monday, February 14 that they had made the first seizure of non-exchangeable tokens in a crackdown on suspected criminal activity to hide money.

The United Kingdom's Revenue & Customs Administration has seized three NFTs after investigating an attempt to defraud the public of £1.4 million. Around 5.000 pounds (IDR 96.8 million) of other crypto assets were also seized.

The investigation also led to the arrest of three people on suspicion of fraudulent value-added tax payments involving 250 fake companies.

Nick Sharp, deputy director of economic crime at HMRC, told Reuters the seizure of the NFT, which has not yet been priced, served as a warning to anyone who thought they could use crypto assets to hide money and evade taxes.

"We are constantly adapting to new technology to ensure we are following the way criminals and evaders hide their assets," he said in a statement.

NFT is one of the crypto assets that uses blockchain to record the ownership status of digital files such as images, videos, and even items in online games.

This fact also confirms that digital assets such as NFTs can be misused by someone for unlawful acts such as tax evasion. In the UK, tax evasion is a criminal offense against the law.