After much buildup and preparation, the Ethereum Merge went smoothly this month. The next test will come during tax season. Cryptocurrency forks, such as Bitcoin Cash, have created headaches for investors and accountants alike in the past. While there has been progress, the United States Internal Revenue Service rules still weren’t ready for something like the Ethereum network upgrade. Nonetheless, there seems to be an interpretation of IRS rules that tax professionals and taxpayers can adopt to achieve simplicity and avoid unexpected tax bills. How Bitcoin Cash broke 2017 tax returns Because of a disagreement over block size, Bitcoin forked …

With the crypto community growing bigger and as trading volumes reach new highs, the United States is also making more effort to ensure that its Internal Revenue Service (IRS) could properly collect cryptocurrency tax. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams, Deputy Assistant Attorney General David Hubbert and IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig announced that US judge Paul Gardephe authorized the IRS to issue a "John Doe summons," a term used when the IRS investigates unknown taxpayers. The summons compels the New York-based M.Y. Safra Bank to submit information about taxpayers that might have failed to report and pay taxes on their crypto transactions. …

The Internal Revenue Service is hiring 87,000 new agents, but taxpayers will not feel the pain for another two to three years. That’s how long it will take the agency to hire and train agents. Few have discussed the extent of this pain. Still, it’s something to think about when you consider the majority of coming audits will be conducted by new agents, many of whom will have been hastily hired and operating with minimal supervision. Playing the audit lottery will not be smart in future tax years. Taxpayers should protect themselves now, especially when profiting from statutory gray areas …

What happens with unreported cryptocurrency? Not reporting Bitcoin despite the obligation to do so may have severe consequences for individuals’ lives and finances. The fine for making an incorrect declaration can be substantial and can even be considered a felony in certain circumstances. Individuals may wonder whether centralized cryptocurrency exchanges actively report to the IRS. Centralized exchanges do issue tax forms to the IRS. Likewise, the IRS has issued so-called John Doe Summons to exchanges, including Coinbase, to request people’s information and catch those who try to cheat on their tax obligations. But, such summonses are not the only law …

Bitcoin (BTC) briefly broke above $25,000 on Aug. 15, but the excitement lasted less than an hour and was followed by a 5% retrace in the next 5 hours. The resistance level proved to be tougher than expected, but may have given bulls false hope for the upcoming $335 million weekly options expiry. Investors’ fleeting optimism reverted to a sellers' market on Aug. 17 after BTC dumped and tested the $23,300 support. The negative move took place hours before the release of the Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC) minutes from its July meeting. Investors expect some insights on whether the …

The provision in the U.S. infrastructure bill signed into law in November, which will require financial institutions and crypto brokers to report additional information, could reportedly be delayed. According to a Wednesday report from Bloomberg, the United States Department of the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service may not be willing to enforce crypto brokers collecting information on certain transactions starting in January 2023, citing people familiar with the matter. The potential delay could reportedly affect billions of dollars related to capital gains taxes — the Biden administration’s budget for the government for the 2023 fiscal year previously estimated modifying the …

Crypto volatility is nerve-wracking, and it may not be over yet. The turmoil may make crypto investors and crypto-related businesses less enthusiastic than when prices seemed ever to be climbing. With the market falling off a cliff, there will be big losses to claim on your taxes, right? Not necessarily. As your United States dollars shake out in the digital world, it is worth asking whether there is any lemonade you can make by claiming losses on your taxes. First, ask what happened from a tax viewpoint. If you’ve been trading and triggering big taxable gains, but then the floor …

Engiven, an enterprise cryptocurrency donation platform, is working to simplify tax reporting for cryptocurrency donors and nonprofits by launching a tax form and appraisal service for crypto donations. The Engiven platform now allows nonprofits and donors to automatically generate the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax form, the firm announced Tuesday. According to Engiven, nonprofits have to file IRS Form 8282 for crypto donations of $500 or more if donated funds are exchanged for the U.S. dollar, while donors must file Form 8283 with their tax return for the donation of $500 and more. The Engiven platform automatically enters the donation …

The profits some investors have incurred through cryptocurrency investing have been comparable to winning the lottery. Unfortunately, these earnings are also taxable like the lottery, turning seemingly big wins into major burdens. To alleviate the amount of taxes they will have to pay, investors are encouraged to use several strategies to help them retain more of their earnings. Conceptually, leveraging tax savings strategies makes sense. However, when an investor has made hundreds or thousands of transactions, making these calculations manually can be time-consuming and lead to overlooked savings. Furthermore, as a new asset class, it can be difficult to navigate …

Cryptocurrency is a hot topic worldwide, especially with prices of Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and other cryptocurrencies hitting higher thresholds and resulting in another banner year for investors. While the earnings look good on paper, one factor is often left to consider –– that is, crypto taxes. It is not uncommon for traders to take advantage of the constant fluctuations, buy the dip, sell the uptrend, and repeat it frequently. Unfortunately, each transaction is considered a taxable event, making the conversation about cryptocurrency taxes a daunting one. The impending crackdown on cryptocurrency taxation only spurs on the need to start …

The seizure by the U.S. Department of Justice of $3.6 billion worth of Bitcoin (BTC) lost during the 2016 hack of Bitfinex’s cryptocurrency exchange has all the ingredients of a Hollywood film — eye-popping sums, colorful protagonists and crypto cloak-and-dagger — so much so that Netflix has already commissioned a docuseries. But, who are the unsung heroes in this action-packed thriller? Federal investigators from multiple agencies including the new National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team have painstakingly followed the money trail to assemble the case. The Feds also seized the Colonial Pipeline ransoms paid in crypto, making headlines last year. The Internal …

As public understanding of how digital assets work becomes more nuanced along with the mainstreaming of crypto, the language of Bitcoin’s (BTC) “anonymity” gradually becomes a thing of the past. High-profile law enforcement operations such as the one that recently led to the U.S. government seizing some $3.6 billion worth of crypto are particularly instrumental in driving home the idea that assets whose transaction history is recorded on an open, distributed ledger are better described as “pseudonymous,” and that such a design is not particularly favorable for those wishing to get away with stolen funds. No matter how hard criminals …