Bitcoin Taxation: Understanding IRS Notice 2014-21

A recent notice from the official taxation authority in Spain sees bitcoin mining fall under the purview of an economic activity, opening cryptocurrency mining to taxation. Bitcoin and cryptocurrency miners in Spain will see taxation of their profits, a recent notice issued by the country’s National Directorate of Tax revealed. First reported Spanish industry publication CriptoNoticias, the new directive would require all cryptocurrency miners to register themselves with Spanish authorities before submitting taxes on mining-earned profits. Citing reasons for the new tax measures, the....

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service appears to be blinded by its own enthusiasm on crypto taxation, instead creating an excessive financial burden. The United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) stretches the tax rules to fit its cryptocurrency agenda. At no time in tax history has pure creation been a taxable event. Yet, the IRS seeks to tax new tokens as income at the time they are created. This is an infringement on traditional tax principles and problematic for several reasons.In 2014, the IRS stated in an FAQ within IRS Notice 2014-21 that mining activities would result in taxable....

The self-declared "first and biggest bitcoin convention in Asia" has been canceled until further notice, according to reports available on the web. It's the second time this convention has been postponed, with the first (which was slated to happen in mid-October) moved to February 2014 at speaker requests - given they needed more time to prepare. The reasoning behind this second cancelation is unclear, but it's not farfetched to assume that the recent turn of events in China may have something to do with it. Either way, the convention is expected to be rescheduled to another date in 2014.....

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has halted its proceedings of how individuals should report the earnings they make from bitcoin after failing to provide additional guidance to a notice released in 2014, according to the Tax Revolution Institute. In March 2014, the IRS was reported to have released Notice 2014-21 to the masses. Their aim was to inform people how they should apply current tax regulations to the digital currency, bitcoin. However, it did the exact opposite when it stated that bitcoin was a property and not a currency for tax purposes. Under the notice, the Tax Revolution....

For now, the proposal only seems to focus on companies dealing with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The country of Italy is currently dealing with a looming banking crisis. The majority of its loans are not performing and are borderline junk. Despite those concerns, the topic of Bitcoin and regulation has to be touched upon as well. Local taxation official recently drafted a proposal to tax Bitcoin transactions in a corporate environment. Similarly to most other countries in the world, Italy has no clear legal definition for Bitcoin. It is not an official currency, nor a commodity.....