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Topic: [2019-07-26] The IRS is warning thousands of cryptocurrency holders to pay taxes - page 3. (Read 1220 times)

legendary
Activity: 1652
Merit: 1483
Receiving coin usually means that you had some kind of income that you were paid via coin. Sending coin means that you probably exchanged coin in a way that you need to report a profit/loss via a barter transaction.

I would imagine that sending coin to yourself would be exempt from having to check 'yes' on the above box. Receiving or sending coin would almost always mean you have something to report on one or more tax form anyway.

the way it's worded, it's a catch-all for any and all cryptocurrency activity. even if you only sent coins to yourself, you first must have acquired a financial interest in it.

they're asking for confirmation even where there is no taxable event, eg buying and holding. it's almost like a stripped down FBAR filing that's required with your tax return! if you have any involvement with crypto, they want to know about it. Undecided
copper member
Activity: 1652
Merit: 1901
Amazon Prime Member #7
Receiving coin usually means that you had some kind of income that you were paid via coin. Sending coin means that you probably exchanged coin in a way that you need to report a profit/loss via a barter transaction.

I would imagine that sending coin to yourself would be exempt from having to check 'yes' on the above box. Receiving or sending coin would almost always mean you have something to report on one or more tax form anyway.
legendary
Activity: 3472
Merit: 1722
Wow. What a pain in the ass it must be if someone in the US is KYC verified on exchanges. Here only profits must be declared when cashing out and cryptocurrency-to-cryptocurrency transactions are excluded for simplicity's sake.
legendary
Activity: 1666
Merit: 1196
STOP SNITCHIN'
The IRS is at it again. They circulated a draft of the 2019 Form 1040, Schedule 1. About 150 million people will file this form next April. Check out the highlighted portion:



Given this, the new tax guidance issued this month, and the mass mailing campaign over the summer, it sure seems like the IRS is looking forward to crawling up our asses.
hero member
Activity: 952
Merit: 513
Do you know if this is a follow up to the coinbase subpoena that requested information regarding customers  who have transactions over $20,000 or more?
Yes. As far as I know, the IRS hasn't said where they are getting their info from, and I'd be surprised if they ever did since people would then know to avoid those methods. However, there have been loads of users on this forum and on reddit who have confirmed that Coinbase shared their details and they also received the tax letters.

The IRS are likely receiving similar information from a number of exchanges, and will continue to push harder and harder until all exchanges hand over all customer details. If you have ever completed KYC on any exchange, at some point in the future the IRS will likely find out your trading history.

It's going to be interesting to see how far back they go and how much they go looking for.
The IRS has stated that below a certain amounts unless there is another reason to go after you they don't even try to collect. No letter, no nothing it's just kind of sitting there in their computers.

-Dave

Honestly, the regular and long term holders who don't move their crypto-currencies a lot and only do a bit of trading will be fine, the real issue is with crypto traders.

How will people who buy and sell BTC get taxed? It seems like they will end up losing a lot of money on each transaction, and I could see a chance of every transactions being taxed.


I was really freaked out when I first read the guidelines, but I'm glad Coincenter pointed this out:

Quote
On the other hand, because the value of a coin is typically zero at the moment of a hard fork (given there are no markets yet), then the reportable income would be zero, in which case taxpayers may be incentivized to always hold their own coins rather than end up with new coins from an exchange only after markets have developed and the income event could actually be substantial.

Since hard forks are valued at zero at the time of receipt, this actually seems like a positive development. It means if you ignore the hard forks, you never received any taxable income. And if you sell the fork coins, the taxes are really straightforward.

That definetly looks like a change for the better, they aren't trying to squeeze cash out of their citizens
legendary
Activity: 1666
Merit: 1196
STOP SNITCHIN'

I was really freaked out when I first read the guidelines, but I'm glad Coincenter pointed this out:

Quote
On the other hand, because the value of a coin is typically zero at the moment of a hard fork (given there are no markets yet), then the reportable income would be zero, in which case taxpayers may be incentivized to always hold their own coins rather than end up with new coins from an exchange only after markets have developed and the income event could actually be substantial.

Since hard forks are valued at zero at the time of receipt, this actually seems like a positive development. It means if you ignore the hard forks, you never received any taxable income. And if you sell the fork coins, the taxes are really straightforward.
legendary
Activity: 2590
Merit: 3015
Welt Am Draht
Things just a whole lot sillier/fruitier - https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/frequently-asked-questions-on-virtual-currency-transactions

https://coincenter.org/entry/irs-cryptocurrency-guidance-answers-some-questions-while-raising-messy-new-ones

https://www.coindesk.com/the-irs-just-issued-its-first-cryptocurrency-tax-guidance-in-5-years

I can't believe they let something this woolly and illogical out in the wild. It reads like something a drunk Indian bureaucrat would come up with that no one else could be bothered to check before signing it off.

https://twitter.com/brucefenton/status/1181981988221329413

legendary
Activity: 3346
Merit: 1352
Leading Crypto Sports Betting & Casino Platform
Most of the people pay their taxes not because they think that it is the "right" thing to do. Also nobody thinks that it is their "duty" to pay the taxes on time.
I wish you was right, but unfortunately, that's not the case. Most of the people around me feel it as their duty to pay tax, all because they think that otherwise the country will run out of finances. In other words, they are purposely serving as a cash cow and they're proud of it too, because it's their tax money that keeps the country up and running they think.

Well.. it is tough. I am a resident of India and here 99% of the citizens will tell you that if someone refuses to pay his taxes, then he deserves to be imprisoned. They'll even label such individuals as unpatriotic and anti-national. Recently we had a few scandals related to tax evasion, and the public opinion was heavily favoring the government authorities.

And if you analyze the government expenses, then you will be surprised. Most of the tax revenue collected from tax payers like us is used to give freebies to the lazy people and to pay salaries to the government employees (who are one of the most unproductive group of people in India). It is a bit complicated. People always complain that the tax rates are high. But they are very much against any sort of tax evasion.
legendary
Activity: 3430
Merit: 3080
From what I understand, he's not voluntarily paying his taxes, but does so out of force and the fear of imprisonment.

you could always start by reading his post, what people say gives a general impression of what their stance is Roll Eyes

he said I (and tax evaders like me) are the problem, and that we should all be good boy and girls


If he's comfortable doing that, then that's up to him. I don't see much wrong with people doing so.

how many genocides paid for with your tax dollars would you like me to post?
legendary
Activity: 1526
Merit: 1179
If you think it's ethical to just pay though, @bryant coleman, I would suggest it is you that is the unethical one.
From what I understand, he's not voluntarily paying his taxes, but does so out of force and the fear of imprisonment. If he's comfortable doing that, then that's up to him. I don't see much wrong with people doing so.

I'm kinda in a similar boat. It's not as easy as you make it look to just avoid taxation and clean after your paper/digital trails. Another thing is that it requires you to pretty much dig yourself into the ground and give up on a lot of things.

It's fantastic and all that you have made it your top priority to not pay any or as little taxes as possible, but that doesn't justify your behavior towards those who do pay taxes and make them feel like they are a problem.
legendary
Activity: 2170
Merit: 1427
Most of the people pay their taxes not because they think that it is the "right" thing to do. Also nobody thinks that it is their "duty" to pay the taxes on time.
I wish you was right, but unfortunately, that's not the case. Most of the people around me feel it as their duty to pay tax, all because they think that otherwise the country will run out of finances. In other words, they are purposely serving as a cash cow and they're proud of it too, because it's their tax money that keeps the country up and running they think.

A lot of us pay the taxes because we know that the others are doing the same, and if we refuse to pay the taxes then the authorities will seize all of our assets and throw us in the prison to rot. 
Common joes actually consider that to be a rightful punishment for tax evaders. They have been far gone already and can't be helped anymore.

I like the general thinking of Bitcoiners, because they don't only have a better understanding of economics, but they know they have the tools needed to actually make it work to their advantage.
legendary
Activity: 3430
Merit: 3080
Most of the people pay their taxes not because they think that it is the "right" thing to do. Also nobody thinks that it is their "duty" to pay the taxes on time. A lot of us pay the taxes because we know that the others are doing the same, and if we refuse to pay the taxes then the authorities will seize all of our assets and throw us in the prison to rot.

easy problem to solve

digital individual's checklist:

  • own digital assets that are protected by cryptography
  • own internet assets (VPS) anonymously
  • rent physical assets as much as possible
  • have backup plans for theft of physical assets (laptops, PGP keys etc)


It is always risky to go against the status quo. If 20% or 30% of the population refuse to pay their taxes, or try to evade, then it gives us confidence. We know that they will not be able to go after this many people. But as long as the tax evaders constitute a minuscule proportion of the population, it gives the authorities the power to destroy them and to make an example out of them. Well... it is always the question of who will bell the cat first.

that would be people like me Grin

feel free to do the same, we're taking alot of the risk atm in order that you can do so too
legendary
Activity: 3346
Merit: 1352
Leading Crypto Sports Betting & Casino Platform
With the middle class, there is no such risk, as they can't afford to shift.

Perhaps that's what they taught themselves throughout the years. If you convince yourself that you're stuck in a situation with no possible way out, you will actually believe and act like that.

I'm not saying it's easy for the middle class to shift, but with will, dedication and education, a lot can be accomplished. Even if there is no possible way out of the tax rates the middle class is subject to, there are always other fields where you can get an advantage tax wise. People need to get over the believe that they are screwing over their country by avoiding taxation legally or "illegally".

Even such a thing as not declaring your cold wallet or physical Gold holdings helps. As long as you have obtained and stored them without any logs pointing in your direction, you're pretty safe.

Most of the people pay their taxes not because they think that it is the "right" thing to do. Also nobody thinks that it is their "duty" to pay the taxes on time. A lot of us pay the taxes because we know that the others are doing the same, and if we refuse to pay the taxes then the authorities will seize all of our assets and throw us in the prison to rot.

It is always risky to go against the status quo. If 20% or 30% of the population refuse to pay their taxes, or try to evade, then it gives us confidence. We know that they will not be able to go after this many people. But as long as the tax evaders constitute a minuscule proportion of the population, it gives the authorities the power to destroy them and to make an example out of them. Well... it is always the question of who will bell the cat first.
legendary
Activity: 2170
Merit: 1427
With the middle class, there is no such risk, as they can't afford to shift.

Perhaps that's what they taught themselves throughout the years. If you convince yourself that you're stuck in a situation with no possible way out, you will actually believe and act like that.

I'm not saying it's easy for the middle class to shift, but with will, dedication and education, a lot can be accomplished. Even if there is no possible way out of the tax rates the middle class is subject to, there are always other fields where you can get an advantage tax wise. People need to get over the believe that they are screwing over their country by avoiding taxation legally or "illegally".

Even such a thing as not declaring your cold wallet or physical Gold holdings helps. As long as you have obtained and stored them without any logs pointing in your direction, you're pretty safe.
legendary
Activity: 3430
Merit: 3080
Oligarchs and billionaires have talented CAs out there to help them, and they normally pay much lower taxes rates when compared to the middle class (making use of all the loopholes and tax breaks). What they are doing is entirely legal, even if it is not very ethical.

ethics and morality are subjective

I would entirely approve of the ethical stance of a US or EU citizen refusing to pay taxes, on the basis that they would be repaying the money borrowed to conduct:

  • WWII
  • Korean War
  • Vietnam War
  • Cambodian War
  • Afghan War I
  • Iraq War I
  • Yugoslav War
  • Afghan War II
  • Iraq War II
  • 2011 Libyan Annihilation (can't really call that a war)
  • Syrian War
  • Yemen War

and several I probably forgot

So many people weren't even alive to vote against any of this, and yet they must pay the massive bill for these turf-war genocides. If you think it's ethical to just pay though, @bryant coleman, I would suggest it is you that is the unethical one.
legendary
Activity: 3766
Merit: 1217
Tax evasion is not very rare in my country.
Tax evasion is more common than people think, and those who usually blame others for evading taxes, do the exact same thing without realizing, or they are just a bunch of hypocrites and only point at the wrongdoing of others.

The very fact that a large group of people talking about tax evasion and consider it a crime is already quite shocking, because all it technically is, is self protection.... protection against criminals who want to steal your money by force.

Well.. it depends on your ability to hide your evasion. Oligarchs and billionaires have talented CAs out there to help them, and they normally pay much lower taxes rates when compared to the middle class (making use of all the loopholes and tax breaks). What they are doing is entirely legal, even if it is not very ethical. Also, most of the income for the super-rich comes in the form of capital gains, dividend and stock options and there are enough loopholes available for them to make use of.

On the other hand, the middle class gets most of their income in the form of salary. Now the catch is that there are not many loopholes available with the salary income, to qualify for a lower tax rate. So these guys are forced to pay a higher tax rate when compared to the super-rich. This is not fair, but the system works like that. Because if a particular country increases the tax rate for the super-rich, then they'll just migrate to another country, where the tax rate is low. With the middle class, there is no such risk, as they can't afford to shift.
legendary
Activity: 1652
Merit: 1483
I'm just going to put this out there:

https://www.propublica.org/article/irs-sorry-but-its-just-easier-and-cheaper-to-audit-the-poor

So yeah, they do target the easier people. You can read into that what you will. But, have a bit more money and a more complicated return and you are more likely to get away with stuff.

-Dave

it looks like they specifically target EITC recipients for audits because they are often slam dunk cases. i guess that's a pretty big incentive not to claim the credit!

apparently these audits take IRS agents 5 hours per return. can you imagine how much longer it would take to audit a crypto trader? talk about a more complicated return......
legendary
Activity: 3500
Merit: 6320
Crypto Swap Exchange
I'm just going to put this out there:

https://www.propublica.org/article/irs-sorry-but-its-just-easier-and-cheaper-to-audit-the-poor

So yeah, they do target the easier people. You can read into that what you will. But, have a bit more money and a more complicated return and you are more likely to get away with stuff.

-Dave
legendary
Activity: 1526
Merit: 1179
Tax evasion is not very rare in my country.
Tax evasion is more common than people think, and those who usually blame others for evading taxes, do the exact same thing without realizing, or they are just a bunch of hypocrites and only point at the wrongdoing of others.

The very fact that a large group of people talking about tax evasion and consider it a crime is already quite shocking, because all it technically is, is self protection.... protection against criminals who want to steal your money by force.
legendary
Activity: 3346
Merit: 1352
Leading Crypto Sports Betting & Casino Platform
I like this kind of discussion, taxation is a legitimate robbery which difficult to avoid, and if we don't pay it, be prepared with the consequence.
I know someone who hasn't paid the vehicle tax for 2 years but almost reaches the limit of not paying it as if the officers accidentally find him, it will be the end of the freedom.
However, there are tons of people who don't pay taxes depending on where you live obviously, a different case if we are receiving warning letters from the IRS, nothing we can do to avoid it. Bitcoin holders will be safe only if they have never registered to an Exchanger and comply with the KYC. Even Localbitcoins recently changed its KYC/AML guidelines which required verification as well.

Funny that you mentioned about the vehicle tax. My country previously had very lax rules regarding traffic violations and vehicle taxation. But last month, they increased the penalties by almost 10x and despite widespread protests from the people the government is refusing to back down. I can't blame the government as well. Recently there was a sharp rise in the number of accidents and the deaths and injuries resulting from them. Also, here it is not unusual to find people who drive without having the driving license.

But taxation is a different topic, which is separate from traffic violations. Here they have combined both. The vehicle tax is very high, at least when compared to the neighboring nations. And now everyone is forced to pay this high tax after the new amendment. Tax evasion is not very rare in my country. But it depends on your luck. You commit one mistake, and your free run is over. The penalties can be 300% or more of the defaulted amount, and it can leave you high and dry.
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