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Senators move to exempt Bitcoin, crypto miners from proposed U.S. tax rules

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Re: Senators move to exempt Bitcoin, crypto miners from proposed U.S. tax rules

#81
post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's very unlikely there are US citizens in the US who are Bitcoin billionaires and have not reported it and paid taxes to the government. Unless you're planning to flee the country, at some point the IRS will catch up with you. Remember that Bitcoin is an open, public ledger of every transaction. If someone is a billionaire, paying capital gains taxes is worth their freedom without a doubt.

There is currently absolutely no requirement in the US to report crypto holdings, only crypto sales. So it is very likely there are such people, especially since it is common to divide large holdings between many separate addresses, making it impossible to infer holdings from sales income.

Good point. By "Bitcoin Billionaire" I mean people who had cashed out. If you haven't ever sold, you don't owe taxes.

Re: Senators move to exempt Bitcoin, crypto miners from proposed U.S. tax rules

#82
post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not a big deal. It isn't that different than finding a significant amount of oil/precious metals on your land. As soon as you try to extract the value of the resource/crypto, the government will know. If you just sell it, the crypto exchange will report it to the IRS. If you try to trade/buy goods with it directly, any assets you get will create a paper trail that the IRS will eventually discover. Consider the f…

The problem is, you can't transfer the oil to others with the click of a button for other things. Tax evasion is very easy when you have crypto. You couldn't just sell it all at an exchange tax-free, but you can convert it into foreign currencies, goods, and services all without any oversight.

maybe taxes are bad and we should do something else

Re: Senators move to exempt Bitcoin, crypto miners from proposed U.S. tax rules

#83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess that is the worry of any government: money that could fuel the economy gets spirited away into dubious Crypto ventures - e.g. Dogecoin. BTC might be old news but it isn't a deliberate scam.

Wasn't Dogecoin originally intended as a joke, not a scam?

Yes, I realized that once I submitted the comment it could be interpreted that I was suggesting Dogecoin is a scam when actually I just think it is dubious.

Re: Senators move to exempt Bitcoin, crypto miners from proposed U.S. tax rules

#84

> That means that the IRS will not be able to require that miners, stakers and companies that sell hardware or software for storing digital assets report the activities of their customers or crypto users whose transactions they verify. > In a statement, Wyden said that “investors failing to pay tax they owe through cryptocurrency is a real problem,” but that the law as previously written was too broad and would have…

You’re off base. The original definition was putting tax and KYC requirements on people who don’t have, and can’t get, that information. Network nodes facilitate transactions, they don’t broker them. Its like treating an exchanges electricity provider as part of the equity trade.

It’s not tax evasion. The law as originally stated would have crippled the industry in the US.

Re: Senators move to exempt Bitcoin, crypto miners from proposed U.S. tax rules

#85
post #84

> That means that the IRS will not be able to require that miners, stakers and companies that sell hardware or software for storing digital assets report the activities of their customers or crypto users whose transactions they verify. > In a statement, Wyden said that “investors failing to pay tax they owe through cryptocurrency is a real problem,” but that the law as previously written was too broad and would have…

You’re off base. The original definition was putting tax and KYC requirements on people who don’t have, and can’t get, that information. Network nodes facilitate transactions, they don’t broker them. Its like treating an exchanges electricity provider as part of the equity trade. It’s not tax evasion. The law as originally stated would have crippled the industry in the US.

Interesting, thank you

Re: Senators move to exempt Bitcoin, crypto miners from proposed U.S. tax rules

#86
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess we need a proper CO2 tax to encourage better technology than proof of work

ETH PoS mainnet transition is underway and will be completed early 2022. With this holders of ETH will be able to earn fees from transactions, just by running an application on their standard normal computer. The only encouragement you need to move off of POW is profit motive.

Hasn’t PoS been something “in the works” for ETH for something like 6 years now[1]? I don’t think anything guarantees its delivery in early 2022, it all seems like hopeful speculation until they deliver something.

[1] This stackexchange question dates back to 2016, the earliest evidence I could find of ETH proposing PoS. https://ethereum.stackexchange.com/questions/9/why-does-ethe...

Re: Senators move to exempt Bitcoin, crypto miners from proposed U.S. tax rules

#87
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess we need a proper CO2 tax to encourage better technology than proof of work

This would just increase the cost of electricity and thus the cost of living for everybody, and won't affect crypto miners much.

The parent is simply pointing out that all consumption taxes are regressive. A CO2 tax by itself is a tax on the poor, especially the rural poor who have longer commutes and are more dependent on automobile travel.

A CO2 tax is only fair if it's paired with progressive tax breaks in other areas and/or subsidies for transition to renewable energy. An example would be a progressive subsidy for electric vehicle purchases and for upgrades to CO2-heavy (coal) electricity generation infrastructure in poorer areas.

Re: Senators move to exempt Bitcoin, crypto miners from proposed U.S. tax rules

#88
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess we need a proper CO2 tax to encourage better technology than proof of work

ETH PoS mainnet transition is underway and will be completed early 2022. With this holders of ETH will be able to earn fees from transactions, just by running an application on their standard normal computer. The only encouragement you need to move off of POW is profit motive.

Haven't they been saying POS will be "ready soon" for years? Seems like maybe vaporware used for hype?

"The Ethereum proof of stake date has been set for December 1, 2020. While the proof of stake Ethereum date was originally set for January 2020, this deadline was missed."

https://www.exodus.com/blog/ethereum-proof-of-stake-date/

Re: Senators move to exempt Bitcoin, crypto miners from proposed U.S. tax rules

#89
post #2

Obviously HN community is down on crypto. This exemption is a sign that Bitcoin is getting closer to the mainstream of finance. Like most flanker-moves, Governments should be incorporating it in to their tax policies rather than shunning it. Cannabis is a good proxy, states can keep it illegal and not make tax revenue or they can legalize it, control it and tax it. The feds should do the same. Same for crypto, keepin…

Bitcoin is built on a house of Tether. https://www.coindesk.com/tether-first-reserve-composition-re...

Re: Senators move to exempt Bitcoin, crypto miners from proposed U.S. tax rules

#90
post #46

Finally found the text of the amendment: https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Wyden%20Lummis%... The amendment is short and explicitly notes that that the following categories do not count as brokers: (A) validating distributed ledger transactions (B) selling hardware or software for which the sole function is to permit a person to control private keys which are used for accessing digital assets on a distribu…

I guess we need a proper CO2 tax to encourage better technology than proof of work

If you use your brain to think through the initial 3-4 domino effects of a carbon tax, you'll quickly realize that the end result is the little guy paying the actual tax via inflation while the big guy actually enjoys larger profit totals (maintaining profit margin % on newly inflated prices = more profit).

The tricky part is actually using your brain to think it through.

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