Health, Wealth, and Happiness

March 20, 2023

"If there is one common theme to the vast range of the world’s financial crises, it is that excessive debt accumulation, whether by the government, banks, corporations, or consumers, often poses greater systemic risks than it seems during a boom."

- Carmen Reinhart

In today's issue: As income generating assets, your crypto is subject to taxation (at least in the US).

This is key data for investors who may have had a taxable event with their cryptocurrency in 2022.

It's just as important to distinguish between taxable and non-taxable events. Some crypto transactions are not taxable. Knowing the difference can help you minimize your tax bill.

In today's newsletter, we take a look at how to determine taxable events in crypto and what you need to know about crypto taxation (you might be surprised). Read on.

Must Read

Today's most important story for crypto investors.

After the Airdrop, How Much Will ARB Be Worth?(Decrypt)

Layer-2 scaling solution Arbitrum will finally airdrop its ARB governance token this Thursday March 23. Crypto markets have long anticipated the release of a token for Arbitrum, which is one of the largest layer-2 solutions for Ethereum.

The big question over the past few days has revolved around the value of ARB once it's airdropped. Pundits have used a number of metrics to theorize the potential value of ARB later this week, but obviously this is all speculation.

Potential ARB pricing via Twitter

As you can see, there are several metrics that might be used to value ARB tokens. These were derived by comparing Arbitrum with its closest competing layer-2 protocol Optimism. The metrics compared are:

Market cap (Mcap)
Fully diluted valuation (FDV)
Mcap adjusted for total value locked
FDV adjusted for total value locked

The metrics give very different valuations. If correct, we could expect ARB to begin trading somewhere in the range of $0.68 to $1.88.

Most airdrops to users will be around 625 ARB tokens, theoretically worth $400-$1,175. However, there are larger allocations, the largest of which is 10,250 ARB. These larger wallet allocations (roughly 4,400 wallets) could receive between $6,500 to nearly $20,000 if the calculations are correct.

ARB airdrop distribution. Image via Dune Analytics.

Investor takeaway: While layer-2 technology remains fairly new, it's an exciting space. Optimism has rallied strongly in 2023 as investors speculate these solutions will continue to overtake Ethereum itself. This could mean Arbitrum sees similar strength after the airdrop, though this is highly speculative (don't invest more than you're willing to lose).

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New NFT Investor Scorecard: Sandbox LAND

Not all NFTs are simply digital artwork. LAND parcels in The Sandbox are good examples. As a digital representation of land within The Sandbox, investing in LAND is an investment in digital real estate.

Today's Premium exclusive looks into our analyst ratings using our NFT Scorecard, highlighting the opportunities and challenges of investing in Sandbox LAND NFTs.

Premium members: Download the Scorecard here and see how we rate LAND as an NFT investment. Is there good potential, or is LAND more hype?

Not yet a Premium member? Sign up now for just $10 a month and get access to the replay, plus our complete on-demand library of past workshops.

2023 Guide to Cryptocurrency Taxes

by Anatol Antonovici

While crypto taxes can be complicated, the key principles aren't. Fix these ideas in your head:

Taxable events:

Selling crypto.
Trading crypto.
Buying stuff with crypto.
Receiving crypto from airdrops, hard forks, staking rewards, and the like.

Not taxable events:

Buying crypto.
Donating crypto to a tax-exempt organization.
Gifting cryptocurrency (though large gifts may trigger a gift tax).
Transferring crypto from one address to another.

How is Crypto Taxed by the IRS?

In the US, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) treats cryptocurrency as property, suggesting that crypto income and capital gains are taxable events, while crypto losses may be tax deductible.

Note that most major centralized crypto exchanges operating in the U.S. are reporting to the IRS. With KYC rules implemented across all reporting exchanges, crypto traders should never ignore their crypto tax obligations.

The IRS treats digital currencies as subject to rules on capital gains and losses, similar to stocks. When you purchase crypto, the original cost becomes its basis. Once you sell it, you are taxed based on the difference between the basis and the sale price.

Capital gains and losses are calculated based on the net total of all transactions in a year. For example, if you sold four different cryptocurrencies for a net profit of $2,000 and two digital assets for a loss of $6,000, you would end up with a net capital loss of $4,000.

You can deduct up to $3,000 in capital losses from your taxable income each year and carry over any remaining losses to the following years. For instance, a net capital loss of $4,000 in 2022 allows you to deduct $3,000 from your taxable income that year and apply the remaining $1,000 to your 2023 taxes.

The tax rate for capital gains depends on how long you hold the asset before selling it. If you hold your crypto for less than a year, you’re subject to short-term capital gains. Otherwise, long-term capital gains apply, and the taxes in this case come at a significantly lower rate compared to short-term gains. Nevertheless, your exact tax rate will depend on your filing status and taxable income, and you may not have to pay any capital gains tax at all.

Necessary Crypto Tax Forms

To begin, crypto exchanges like Coinbase send Forms 1099-MISC (miscellaneous income) to traders who earn $600 and up through crypto rewards and staking. These forms are also sent automatically to the IRS. The Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act enforced by the Biden administration in November 2021 will require crypto exchanges to issue a 1099-B (Proceeds from Broker and Barter Exchange Transactions) beginning this year.

To report crypto on your taxes, you have to fill out the following forms and attach them to your Individual Income Tax ReturnForm 1040 (which is used to determine the total taxable income):

Form 8949 – this form is used to report capital gains or losses from selling or disposing of your crypto.

Form Schedule D (1040) – this form is used to report the overall capital gains and losses. You should list the totals for your short- and long-term capital gains and losses separately here.

Form 1040 Schedule 1 – while crypto profit is often reported as capital gains, it can also be regarded as ordinary income when it comes from mining and staking, airdrops, hard forks, and lending interest. This form covers the mentioned instances.

Form 1040 Schedule C – if you received crypto in the form of salary as a self-employed person (freelancer), you must fill out Schedule C.

Finding Your Tax Basis

Defining the tax basis is essential given it’s used to determine the amount of capital gains or losses. As a rule, the tax basis of cryptocurrency is the amount at which it was purchased including exchange or transaction fees.

It makes sense to keep a record of your cost basis to ensure the accuracy of your capital gains or losses. It's no problem if you have no record. You can make an estimate by looking up the historical price of the asset at the time of the purchase.

For crypto obtained from mining or staking, the cost basis is determined by the fair market value at the time you received it.

Crypto Tax Types

Besides the profits made from price fluctuations, there are other crypto taxes you should know about:

Mining Tax

The crypto generated through mining is taxed as income when earned and as capital gains when sold. If you hold the mined crypto, the capital gain will be calculated based on the cost basis at the time of mining. Individuals can report the crypto mining tax on their Form 1040 Schedule 1 on Line 8 as “Other Income.” Crypto mining businesses are eligible to deduct costs like electricity and equipment.

Airdrop Tax

The crypto funds received from an airdrop are taxed as regular income, which is reported as the value of the asset when it comes into your possession.

When you sell or trade an airdropped asset, you have to report the capital gains tax on any growth in its value from the time of receipt to the time of disposal.

Taxes on Forks

Similar to airdrops, crypto funds resulting from hard forks are taxed as regular income at their fair market value (FMV) at the time they were deposited into your wallet.

Gift/Donation Taxes

If you receive crypto as a gift, you won’t be taxed unless you take part in another taxable event like staking.

Also, you have the option to gift a maximum of $15K per person annually without incurring any taxes (with a higher limit for gifts to spouses). Going beyond that limit will require you to submit a gift tax return, though this usually doesn't lead to immediate tax obligations.

Cryptocurrency Taxation Example

Here is an example of crypto taxation with events arranged chronologically:

Analyzing all the steps during the year:

Bob buys 0.5 BTC. Not a taxable event.
Bob receives 0.1 BTC from mining, which is a taxable event and is treated as ordinary income.
Bob receives 100 USDC as a gift. Not a taxable event.
Prices go up, but no assets are disposed, so there is no taxable event.
Bob moves crypto holdings between his wallets. Not a taxable event.
Bob sells his BTC and receives a net income of $7,000.

Therefore, Bob has accumulated $6,000 of capital gains and $1,000 of ordinary income (from crypto mining).

Crypto Tax Loss Harvesting

Investors use crypto tax loss harvesting as a strategy to reduce overall tax liability. They do this by selling crypto assets at a loss during market downturns or at the end of the tax year, effectively reducing their overall tax obligation by offsetting other capital gains.

This method allows for an unlimited number of assets to be sold at a loss. If capital losses exceed capital gains, up to $3,000 per year can be claimed as a deduction to reduce ordinary income. As mentioned earlier, any remaining losses can be carried over to offset capital gains or income in future tax years, providing an ongoing benefit.

Cryptocurrencies may be even better candidates for tax loss harvesting than stocks, as they don’t fall under the wash sale rule imposed by the IRS. It prevents investors from claiming capital losses and instantly buying back the same stock. The wash sale rule currently applies only to securities per IRS guidelines, while cryptocurrencies are treated as property.

What Happens if You Don't Report Cryptocurrency on Taxes?

In the US, it is mandatory to file taxes. Failure to do so may result in penalties, interest, confiscated refunds, audits, and even imprisonment. This applies even if you don't owe any taxes or are eligible for a refund.

Crypto Tax Help is Available

Managing and monitoring cryptocurrency transactions can be a complex process, particularly when conducting hundreds or thousands of trades during the year. This is where crypto tax services come into play. These software tools are designed to sync with exchanges and wallets to automatically track and calculate gains and losses. You can use these programs to automatically generate a tax report that can be used to file with the government, simplifying the entire process for cryptocurrency traders.

Check ourdedicated article discussing the best crypto tax packages including Cointracker, TaxBit, CoinTracking, and Accointing, among others.

Investor Takeaway

Sell and trade as little as possible. Remember most governments treat crypto as property, so every sale and trade is a taxable event. This means you either have to pay taxes on the profits (capital gains), or you can possibly claim the loss (capital losses).

However, buying crypto is free.

You don’t pay taxes on purchases, which is why steady-drip investing is so powerful. You can keep investing in crypto for as long as you like and only pay taxes when you cash out. Traders have to endure a tax nightmare, while long-term hodlers can sleep well at night.

In other words, KISS (Keep It Simple, Silly).

A buy-and-hold approach…
With a monthly contribution…
On a trusted wallet or exchange…
Can reduce your tax prep to the bare minimum.

Cash out only when you’re ready, pay taxes on the gains, and you’re done.

ICYMI