LONDON—The U.K.'s tax authority is near to issuing rules that would treat virtual currencies much like regular money, according to a bitcoin-industry executive who said he has seen a draft of regulations being assembled by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.

Tom Robinson, a director of the industry group U.K. Digital Currency Association, said he attended meetings last week where HMRC presented a briefing paper that outlined potential tax rules for digital currencies. Tax authorities around the world are wrestling with how...