Brunei cryptocurrency tax guide

What this guide covers

This guide summarizes Brunei's tax and regulatory position on cryptocurrency for 2025. mofe.gov.bn wasn't directly fetched. This is educational information, not individualized tax advice.

Tax treatment of cryptocurrency

Individual crypto gains face no tax in Brunei, since Brunei doesn't tax individuals' income or gains at all. Brunei levies no personal income tax and no capital gains tax — a long-standing, well-known feature of its tax system, not a crypto-specific ruling — so individual crypto gains are generally reported as untaxed. No tax guidelines specifically address cryptocurrency, consistent with the broader absence of personal income taxation. On the regulatory side, the central bank (the Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam, renamed the Brunei Darussalam Central Bank, BDCB, in 2021) issued an advisory on 22 December 2017 stating crypto isn't legal tender and isn't regulated by AMBD, urging the public to exercise extreme caution — placing it outside the bank's regulatory perimeter without prohibiting it, though the notice flagged that specific crypto-related activities could still fall under AMBD's existing regulated categories (deposits, lending, remittances, forex, securities). A separately reported second advisory in 2018 could not be corroborated beyond one weak source in this pass; what is independently confirmed from 2018 is a different event — AMBD publicly denying it had endorsed a specific local Bitcoin seller's products, in August that year. No dedicated virtual-asset-service-provider licensing framework exists, so trading and holding digital assets exists in a legal gray area, neither clearly licensed nor banned.

Common taxable events

• This guide doesn't identify any individual crypto income or capital gains taxable event in Brunei, consistent with the absence of personal income tax.

Potentially non-taxable events

• Any individual crypto gain — not subject to income or capital gains tax, since neither applies to individuals in Brunei.

Tax rates and thresholds

No individual income or capital gains tax rate applies to crypto, since neither tax exists for individuals in Brunei.

Cost basis and calculation

Not applicable, since no individual income or capital gains tax exists.

Reporting and compliance

• No individual tax filing obligation applies to personal crypto gains.
• No dedicated VASP licensing framework exists, so crypto businesses operate without a specific regulatory registration pathway, per the sources reviewed.

Residency and cross-border issues

The absence of personal income tax applies broadly regardless of residency status for individuals; this guide doesn't resolve how a Brunei resident's crypto gains might be treated by another country where they're also tax-resident.

Example

This example is hypothetical, for illustration only. Hafiz, a Brunei resident, buys and sells crypto personally for a profit. That gain faces no income or capital gains tax in Brunei, since neither applies to individuals — though Hafiz operates in a legal gray area given the absence of a dedicated crypto regulatory framework.

Official resources

• Ministry of Finance and Economy: https://mofe.gov.bn/
• Brunei Darussalam Central Bank (BDCB): https://www.bdcb.gov.bn/

Limitations and review information

Tax year covered: 2025. Last verified: October 28, 2026 (citation-integrity pass; replaced a vague citation with two real, individually verified sources, which downgraded an unconfirmed '2018 advisory' claim and replaced it with a real, different, independently confirmed 2018 event). Known gap: mofe.gov.bn and bdcb.gov.bn weren't directly fetched; no exact advisory/circular number was located for the central bank's 2017 position, and a reported second 2018 advisory remains unconfirmed. This is educational information only, not individualized tax advice — confirm current specifics directly with the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the BDCB, or a qualified Bruneian advisor.