Interesting.... I thought that taxes would only count when cashing out as a "capital gains tax"
I think that if someone gives you a physical gold bar "for free", in some cases you should pay taxes for that, even if you not sell it for money. Same for cryptocurrency "airdrops".
That is insane... that would mean anything that I have ever been given "for free" in life I would have to pay taxes on.....
This is the exact reason why we need cryptocurrencies..... greedy governments want their cut of something that is not theirs.... THIEVES!!!
Insane, yes. The government wants you pay taxes on every source of income.
Remember we're supposed to be in control of our government. If you don't like what they are doing, make sure your "representatives" are aware of your displeasure and that you vote for those people who really decrease taxes, not just those who say they do.
That said, also remember there's no such thing as a "free lunch". Everything the government doles out is stolen from others. If you are a large recipient of those handouts, don't complain about the taxes unless you want the "free" stuff to disappear.
For the rest of us "Peters" who are robbed to pay the "Pauls", however, sorry Paul, your days of free lunches are coming to an end.
You say "Everything the government doles out is stolen from others". I think that is a selfish way to look at it.
I live in the UK, and am quite happy to pay my taxes in order to fund out National Health Service, benefits for those less fortunate than myself (yes, some people do take the p*ss, but the vast majority need this assistance), investment in infrastructure (even if I may disagree on some of the choices the Government make), etc.
At the end of this tax year I will be declaring my cryptocurrency investments and gains (hopefully!). That's not to say that I will not be taking advantage of my tax allowances where it makes sense, since our allowed gains are low (
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-and-allowances-capital-gains-tax/capital-gains-tax-rates-and-annual-tax-free-allowances) and I no longer have income - in the sense of being paid to work - to use my tax allowance from (
https://www.gov.uk/income-tax-rates). I will still be paying, quite happily, tax on most of what I have made.
Expect Governments to monitor transactions on major coins more and more if they think people are dodging taxes that way. See
https://www.technocracy.news/index.php/2017/08/28/bitcoin-loses-anonymity-irs-tracks-bitcoiners-new-blockchain-analysis-tools/ and
http://bitcoinist.com/irs-catch-bitcoin-tax-cheats/ for example. Trying to dodge taxes via this method is going to get harder and make it more likely that you will face investigation, fines and perhaps jail-time for significant amounts.