The like-kind exchange tax exemption is not applicable to cryptocurrency transactions, according to the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS). An official at the IRS Office said that U.S. taxpayers have never been authorized to postpone paying tax as part of the like-kind exchange principle even before the 2017 tax overhaul, Bloomberg Tax reports Nov. 13. Suzanne Sinno, an attorney in the IRS Office of the Associate Chief Counsel, delivered her remarks on U.S. crypto taxation at the American Institute of CPAs conference this Wednesday in Washington. According to the report, Sinno worked on recent IRS cryptocurrency guidance that was …

Only a few weeks after the United States Internal Revenue Service published new guidance for crypto taxation, the United Kingdom’s tax, payments and customs authority, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, has updated its cryptocurrency taxation policy paper for businesses and individuals. The HMRC's approach in this policy paper is, as expected, conservative, and it stands in line with other countries’ tax treatment for cryptocurrencies. The HMRC explicitly states that it does not consider crypto as a currency, and the policy paper uses the term "cryptoassets" and not cryptocurrency. The policy paper on individuals considers crypto activity as a personal investment …

On the first day of November, it came to light that popular crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX had accidentally leaked sensitive data related to its users, which occurred as a result of the company failing to apply a blind copy protocol to its mass mail servers. The lapse was acknowledged by the firm just a few hours later. BitMEX’s deputy chief operating officer, Vivien Khoo, released a statement saying that BitMEX had accidentally sent out a message to most of its users containing the email addresses of other users in the “to” field, adding: “We are deeply sorry for the concern …

On Oct. 9, 2019, the United States Internal Revenue Service issued Revenue Ruling 2019-24 and a series of frequently asked questions, identifying rules governing U.S. taxation of digital currencies. Taxation in the U.S. is unbelievably complex, but the new IRS guidance takes a step-by-step approach to address some of the most common issues facing holders of digital currency. The basics are as follows: If you hold digital currency and you sell or exchange it, you are subject to U.S. tax. If you are granted digital currency in the form of salary or as a result of a hard fork, you …

The United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is continuing to focus its efforts in cryptocurrency. After sending a recent enforcement letter, the IRS has released two new pieces of guidance for taxpayers who engage in transactions involving digital currency. The new guidance includes Revenue Ruling 2019–24 and FAQs, including guidance for using the specific identification method. Additionally, the IRS has published a new draft for form 1040 Schedule 1, including a broad declaration regarding crypto holdings or trade. Here is a breakdown of these publications. Revenue Ruling 2019–24: airdrops and hard forks So, what are airdrops and hard forks, and …

Do it yourself or outsource it? Rightly or wrongly, most people seem to fear the IRS, and an IRS audit can be daunting, even if it is entirely by correspondence. Most considerations are arguably the same in many different kinds of tax audits. However, crypto tax matters can be even more sensitive than many others. One reason is return filings and records. Let’s face it, many crypto investors have not been exactly scrupulous about filing taxes on time, reporting consistently, and keeping good records. After all, doing all of that isn’t easy, although it has gotten easier over the last …

The United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has added a question on crypto ownership to the standard 1040 income tax form for the coming tax season. IRS wants to know about your crypto in 2019 On Oct. 11, a draft of the “Additional Income and Adjustments to Income” section of the new 1040 form surfaced that included a change was made to the ‘Additional Income and Adjustments to Income’ section. On the new 1040 form, the additional question reads: “At any time during 2019, did you receive, sell, send, exchange, or otherwise acquire any financial interest in any virtual currency?” …

Just a few months ago in July 2019, the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) sent approximately 10,000 letters to cryptocurrency holders regarding their crypto holdings. The letters detailed that recipients may not have reported their transactions properly, or failed to report income and pay taxes on their digital currency transactions. The IRS asked the recipients to check their reports and submit delinquent returns or file amended returns according to specific requirements. According to the letters, the reports must be “true, correct and complete” in order to be approved by the IRS. But how can the IRS know the submitted …

United States-based accounting firm H&R Block has begun serving as an intermediary between crypto users and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) after the agency began sending letters to crypto traders who may have failed to report income and pay taxes. According to a Sept. 24 news release, H&R Block has rolled out a new service targeting people who have engaged in digital currency transactions, specifically providing consultations on how to properly file their cryptocurrency gains and losses on tax returns. The IRS expands efforts involving virtual currency The IRS initially sent letters to 10,000 crypto investors, asking some to amend …

Some in the crypto community have embraced Puerto Rico, which seems to have done a good job of promoting itself. But is it for you? I can only address the tax issues, not anything else. To a large extent, the tax issues depend on what kind of income you will generate, whether personal or business, from where you generate it, and when the income — or even the appreciation in assets — occurs. Ideally, you want all income and all gain to come from Puerto Rico, and all the income and even the appreciation in assets to occur after you …

Over the past month, we have seen the IRS, the tax collecting agency of the United States, send out more than 10,000 warning and action letters to suspected cryptocurrency holders and traders who may have misreported digital assets on their tax returns. Letters like the 6174-A, 6173 and CP2000 have appeared in the mailboxes of cryptocurrency traders throughout the country, and the crypto tax software company that I run has seen an influx of frantic customers coming to us for tax help out of fear of penalties. The problem here is that the IRS doesn’t have all of the necessary …

Willful and non-willful tax flubs are different. Taxes are complex, and innocent tax mistakes can often be forgiven — maybe with no penalty. Even if there is a penalty, non-willful is vastly lower than willful. In a criminal tax case, this fundamental dichotomy can mean the difference between innocence or guilt, freedom or incarceration. But penalties in civil cases can be plenty bad — and most tax cases are civil — and to the United States Internal Revenue Service, bad intent may not be bad at all. With crypto, the IRS has said it is digging hard, investigating both tax …