Crypto Tax AMA - 2019 Edition (first since new guidance came out)

[cryptotax]

Hello Steemians! The sun is setting on 2019, and tax season is near!

Do you have a U.S. cryptocurrency tax question? Ask me anything - 2019 Edition. Even if not crypto related, feel free to ask.

Terms

Feel free to ask a basic question and I will reply with a basic answer, and a link to any prior articles I may have written on the matter (if related to crypto).

Note: The information obtained through the AMA is not a substitute for consulting a tax advisor. This AMA does not create a client relationship between the author and any reader. This is not specific tax advice, just general guidance with to help the general public understand the basic U.S. tax consequences of crypto investing. By posting a question, you acknowledge these terms and you agree to hold me harmless for any adverse consequence of relying on any response (including responses of other posters). Again, consult your own tax advisor before taking any action.

Picture Credit

https://pixabay.com/photos/tree-sunset-amazing-beautiful-736885/

Comments

[joshman]

Love that you are offering this.

That being said. It's been a couple of months since you posted, so just to let you know: Buying votes is going to get you unwanted attention post HF22 in the form of downvotes.

My question: cryptocurrencies such as steem invoke a ton of micropayments, do you need to record every time you get a .001 steem memo, or can you aggregate them?

[cryptotax]

Thank you for the heads up, it has been a while.

Technically, each 0.001 STEEM transaction is occurring on-chain and needs to be separately valued based on the exact date and time it occurred, so the guidance wouldn't allow aggregating multiple days of activity. See Q&A 26: https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/frequently-asked-questions-on-virtual-currency-transactions

My practical approach

• 0.001 BTC is worth tracking.
• 0.001 STEEM or EOS etc. (insert other currency with low value) will likely have a zero US dollar value. For example, curation income of 0.001 STEEM would be $0 taxable revenue, and the cost basis in that 0.001 STEEM is zero. Although it's not worth tracking for me especially with all the EOSIO spam transactions I receive, I wouldn't go out of my way to remove it if it's getting scooped into an excel look-up or crypto calculating software.

By the way, the SteemDB website is pretty useful for extracting data on wallet activity: https://steemdb.com/@joshman/authoring https://steemdb.com/@joshman/transfers

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