Status in Norway:
The tax authority thinks that bitcoin is a "remotely delivered digital service", and hence a 25% VAT should be applied to the total amount whenever a company sells bitcoins domestically to a private person. I've never heard anyone paying 25% VAT, and I don't believe this stance would survive a court case, but this is for sure has been a showstopper for most commercial cryptocurrency activity in Norway.
In the same statement, the tax authorities specifies that a capital income tax should be paid by anyone who buy bitcoins and later sell it for profit (or a tax deduction, for those selling with a loss), and that the bitcoin holdings also should count for those paying a wealth tax. This makes sense, but IMO it's totally incompatible with the "digital remote-delivered service"-definition. One of the characteristics with a "service" is that it disappears during delivery.
Comparing bitcoins to gold is probably not a good idea in Norway; Norway has a 25% VAT for gold unlike most of the rest of the world, including the EU.
It's my belief that the VAT-problem will be moot pretty soon; the finance ministry is working on a statement, and the minister of Finance has clearly said that she sees no reason why we should differentiate ourselves from the EU on this point. Currently bitcoins are VAT-excepted in all EU due to a court case.
well it is clear that if states can take their part, they will