Legal On 19 August , the German Finance Ministry announced that bitcoin is now essentially a «unit of account» and can be used for the purpose of tax and trading in the country, meaning that purchases made with it must pay VAT as with euro transactions. Retrieved 24 January The Independent. It is characterized by the absence of physical support such as coins, notes, payments by cheque or credit card. Retrieved 24 November Namespaces Article Talk. On 20 November the exchange office issued a public statement in which it declared, «The Office des Changes wishes to inform the general public that the transactions via virtual currencies constitute an infringement of the exchange regulations, liable to penalties and fines provided for by [existing laws] in force.