ok, the protocol must have definitely changed.
it was probably over a year ago when I initiated mine. at the time, it was for 2 years, and I don't recall being able to choose an amount - but it just started the whole amount.
I think that as long as your trading and gaining steem inside the platform you are not subjected to tax
having said that once you take it out to buy for something then you are subjected to tax
sounds like wishful thinking, based on all what I've read/heard, although I'd love it to be true.
consensus seems to be you're due income tax on rewards earned, and capital gains/losses when sell for any other pair, whether crypto or fiat.
hence, the name of the game becomes figuring out the particulars of how all these differences in payouts works, and how to best calculate precisely to minimize the burden.