ConsenSys denies collecting taxes with Metamask

After new terms and conditions (T&Cs) for Metamask raised concerns among wallet users on social networks, ConsenSys explained that the clause only concerned certain products and not crypto transactions directly.

Following an update to the T&Cs of the Metamask wallet, developed by US studio ConsenSys, some users have raised concerns about a clause stating that the wallet “reserves the right to withhold taxes if necessary“.

“Each party will be responsible, as required by applicable law, for identifying and paying all taxes that are imposed on such party on or in connection with transactions and payments. All charges payable by you are exclusive of taxes unless otherwise stated. We reserve the right to withhold taxes if necessary,” reads section 4.3 of Metamask’s TOS.

Concerned users claimed that the new conditions allowed ConsenSys to deduct taxes directly from users’ transactions. “Decentralization is dead,” lamented trader ‘Ash Crypto‘ on Sunday.

As anger mounted on the networks, ConsenSys was forced to defuse the situation in order to reassure its users. Particularly those based in the USA following the example of the blockchain service provider.

In a thread published last night, the Ethereum specialist stated that MetaMask did not collect taxes on crypto transactions.

This claim is false,” tweeted ConsenSys.

The Joseph Lubin-led company went on to say that the taxation applied only to “its products subject to sales tax“.

“The tax section of our terms of use falls under the ‘fees and payment’ section and exclusively concerns the paid products and packages offered by ConsenSys. For example, Infura has credit card developer subscriptions that include sales tax,” ConsenSys wrote, acknowledging that this could be confusing.