Are the IRS Capital Asset Rules Realistic for Small Transactions?
Does the IRS really want you to track your capital gains on bitcoin every time you buy a sandwich or a sweater in the digital currency? After our analysis of the Internal Revenue Service guidelines on bitcoin, released in March, some people expressed surprise. They were amazed that the IRS could seriously be applying capital gains rules to something that the bitcoin community sees as a currency, and which in many cases uses as such. "This can't be good for bitcoin", said one commenter privately to Coindesk. "If it's not a currency, then how are you supposed to use it like one?" But as far....
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The Canada Revenue Agency has clarified its position on bitcoin. It has laid out two different tax rules, covering transactions made for goods or services in bitcoin, and for profits made through speculative trades. According to a report by Canada's CBC, the CRA will invoke its barter transaction rules when bitcoins are used to buy goods or services. These are laid out in paragraph 3 of its Interpretation Bulletin. The document says that the value of whatever is received is at least equal to the value of what is given up. The CRA also has a document called Transactions in Securities, which....
The Canada Revenue Agency issued an official release on how to treat bitcoin and other virtual currencies for taxation this week after signalling its intent to do so back in May. The guidance gives tax advisors working with Canadian bitcoin companies something to go on when working within the bitcoin space. Although it contains no new information, it does reinforce the CRA's previous statement on the subject. The fact sheet, entitled 'What you should know about Digital Currency', is a very brief outline that simply states that tax rules apply when it is used to pay for goods and services....
The SEC has just made equity crowdfunding legal. Here's our take on how this applies to bitcoin and the blockchain. Last October, the US Securities and Exchange Commission released this update, which detailed the adoption of the final rules surrounding equity based crowdfunding offerings. The concept was first addressed as part of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) act way back in 2012, which was signed in by Barack Obama, as a tool that would facilitate the process through which small and medium business enterprises gain access to operating and development capital. Up until now,....
Thailand has reportedly revised its net capital rules which help securities firms launch cryptocurrency exchanges. The country now has 15 licensed crypto service providers. New Thai Rules and Crypto Exchanges The Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has revised its net capital (NC) rules which help securities companies provide crypto services, the Bangkok Post reported Wednesday. “The revised NC rules are expected to help free up liquidity for securities firms that plan to enter new business such as open digital or cryptocurrency exchanges,” the publication conveyed,....
Coinbase, the bitcoin wallet and exchange payment processor, has announced that it will begin processing off-block chain microtransactions. These transactions will be free for users, and once a user has accumulated 0.01 BTC they can withdraw funds, which then incurs the normal block chain fees. The new microtransactions are handled internally at Coinbase and are instant. For instance, you can even send a unit as small as a Satoshi (0.00000001 BTC). This will be a useful feature for Coinbase users because while miner's fees are relatively low for most transactions, they become significant....