The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) removed wording on its website that put game currencies as examples of a convertible virtual currency. This clarification is important as a new tax filing requirement obliges taxpayers to report whether they dealt with virtual currencies. The move was first reported by Bloomberg Tax on Feb. 13. Official guidelines on the IRS website indicated Fortnite’s V-bucks and Roblox’s Robux as examples of virtual currencies. A screenshot captured by Bloomberg Tax shows a fairly detailed explanation of the concept, even mentioning blockchain alternatives such as the Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG). Source: Bloomberg Tax Poor examples of …

It’s here! The United States tax season officially started on Jan. 27, and this time, crypto tax is in the spotlight. Following developments that culminated in the Internal Revenue Service publishing new guidance in October 2019, the bureau has begun to invest efforts in cryptocurrency tax reporting and investigation and is expecting to see an increase in crypto tax reports. Those who intend to report their crypto activity can skip down to the tips for easy and accurate reports. As for the crypto cypherpunks who are not going to report — these next few lines are for you. Take a …

The municipality of Zermatt, Switzerland — home to the iconic Matterhorn — is now the second location in Switzerland where taxpayers are officially allowed to pay their taxes in Bitcoin (BTC). In order to unlock the new tax payment option, the authorities of the Zermatt have partnered with Switzerland’s major crypto financial services company Bitcoin Suisse. Bitcoin Suisse to convert Bitcoin into Swiss francs According to an announcement by Bitcoin Suisse, Zermatt started accepting Bitcoin as a means of payment for local taxes and transactions on Jan. 28, 2020. By partnering with Bitcoin Suisse, the authorities of Zermatt are now …

Britain’s tax agency is inviting contractors to provide a tech tool to help Britain’s tax agency combat crypto cybercriminals. What the agency wants The technology, which Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) posted on Jan. 17 in an open contract call worth 100,000 pounds sterling, should gather intelligence through cluster analysis. The HMRC’s Cybercrime team hopes this will help them correlate crypto-asset transactions with service providers. As opposed to free online tools and human analysis that exist, HMRC reportedly believes a commercial product would help the agency illuminate the blind spots that currently allow criminal activity to fester. HMRC wants …

Lawmakers in the New Hampshire state legislature have killed a bill that would have allowed state agencies to accept cryptocurrencies as payment for taxes. On Jan. 8, the New Hampshire House of Representatives announced a decision to retract the bill, following a motion from the General Court’s Executive Departments and Administration Committee to deem the initiative as “inexpedient to legislate.” Bitcoin’s volatility was too high for state budgets According to public records, authorities considered the bill ineffective due to the high volatility of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC). If the bill was adopted, expenditures of the Department of Revenue Administration (DRA) …

A bill seeking to exempt personal cryptocurrency transactions from taxation for capital gains has been reintroduced in the Congress of the United States. What the bill looks to change Called “The Virtual Currency Tax Fairness Act of 2020,” the bill would establish an exemption for virtual currency expenditures that qualify as personal transactions. Users would then not have to report instances when they spent crypto whose valued had changed relative to the U.S. dollar on day-to-day expenses. Representatives Suzan DelBene (D-WA) and David Schweikert (R-AZ) introduced the bill today, Jan. 16. Schweikert introduced an earlier version of this bill in …

Major South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb has decided to litigate a near $69 million (80 billion won) tax bill levied by the National Tax Service (NTS). According to a report published by The Korea Times on Jan. 16, Bithumb filed a complaint with the NTS, suggesting that the imposed tax bill is groundless given that cryptocurrency is not a legally recognized currency. The South Korean tax tribunal now has to decide whether to grant or dismiss the exchange’s motion within 90 days. NTS imposed a retention tax — an income tax paid to the government by the payer of the …

New York lawmakers proposed a bill on a peer-to-peer (P2P) savings and payment platform called the “New York Inclusive Value Ledger.” Introduced by New York State Assembly legislator Ron Kim and Senator Julia Salazar, the bill proposes to set up the “empire state inclusive value ledger establishment and administration act” that would create a system of wallets for payments by state entities and residents. According to public records, the bill was proposed in the State Assembly and the State Senate on Oct. 23, 2019, but New York State’s legislative session only reopened on Wednesday Jan. 8. Kim says that implementing …

The Internal Revenue Service is aware that millions of cryptocurrency transactions may still remain unreported. Taxpayers may think they will not be caught, and many Coinbase users may have thought their information would be protected until the John Doe summons proved otherwise. The best way to avoid penalties is to disclose and report as accurately as you can, showing that you did not have a willful intent to avoid taxes. Otherwise you could face large penalties and even potential criminal investigation. Anyone convicted of tax evasion, for example, may face up to five years in prison and a fine that …

TaxBit, a crypto-oriented tax compliance firm, has raised $5 million in a seed round that saw participation from the Winklevoss twins’ family office, Winklevoss Capital. In a Jan. 6 announcement, TaxBit said that it plans to use the raised funds to enhance its software products on an international scale as its tax reporting tool has amassed thousands of everyday crypto users so far. Specifically, the Utah-based firm is planning to accelerate customer growth both in the U.S. and in regions like Canada, United Kingdom and Australia, TaxBit noted. TaxBit’s crypto tax reporting tool is backed by a team of CPAs, …

Cryptocurrency and taxation laws are creating a great deal of confusion in South Korea. On Dec. 30, South Korea’s government stated that under current law, it cannot impose income taxes on individuals’ profits from transactions of cryptocurrency. This, however, contrasts with the National Tax Service’s recent imposition of an 80 billion won ($68.9 million) tax bill on local crypto exchange Bithumb Korea. On Dec. 29, The Korea Herald reported that South Korea’s local tax agency received 80 billion won ($68.9 million) in taxes from the exchange. The following day, Choi Kyo-il, a lawmaker of the Liberty Korea Party and member …

Major South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb is reportedly looking to undertake administrative litigation over an $68.9 million (80 billion won) tax bill. English-language local news outlet KoreaHerald reported on Dec. 29 that the local tax agency has handed down over 80 billion won in taxation on the exchange. A first occurrence of its kind in South Korea The outlet notes that according to documents published by Bithumb’s largest shareholder Vidente via the financial supervisory services, the National Tax Service forced the exchange to pay the withholding taxes on trading activities of foreign customers. Vidente reportedly found out about the tax …