2022 was tough for the crypto market. A recent report published by security services platform Immunefi found that the crypto industry lost a total of $3.9 billion in 2022. Detrimental losses such as these are often concerning for crypto investors, yet there may be a silver lining behind decreasing assets for investors reporting crypto on their taxes. Lisa Greene-Lewis, a certified public accountant at TurboTax, told Cointelegraph that while crypto investors made huge gains in 2021, this changed drastically in 2022. “We have seen a crypto winter occur, and TurboTax wants to help investors cope with their losses,” she said. …

Cryptocurrency and blockchain technology found no mention in India’s union budget for the year 2023, bringing down the hopes of millions of crypto holders in the country. Many in the Indian crypto community were hoping for some reduction to the high crypto tax, implemented in March 2022. Indian finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the union budget on Feb. 1, announcing key changes to the income tax slabs, but didn’t mention crypto or central bank digital currency or blockchain tech during the session. Last year, India levied a 30% tax on crypto profits and a 1% tax deducted at source (TDS) …

Business intelligence firm MicroStrategy made headlines ahead of New Year's Eve as the sale of a portion of its Bitcoin (BTC) holdings drew the attention of industry experts and critics. A regulatory filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Dec. 28 detailed the first time the firm sold some of its BTC since its high-profile adoption of the preeminent cryptocurrency as its primary treasury asset. MicroStrategy made waves in the industry in 2021 as it began amassing significant holdings of BTC, with founder Michael Saylor touting the asset as a superior store of value to fiat …

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has received official criminal charges after the collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange, which is more than just a moral victory for the exchange’s roughly 1 million individual investors. While not locked in yet, things appear to be on track for these investors to take a more favorable tax position as SBF’s fate continues to unravel. What kinds of losses can FTX investors claim on their taxes? Earlier this fall, it appeared that assets lost in the FTX collapse would be considered a capital loss under the United States tax code for the tax year 2022. This …

In his regular column, J.W. Verret, a law professor, attorney, CPA, and head of the Crypto Freedom Lab, covers law and regulation of cryptocurrency with a focus on decentralized finance (DeFi) and financial privacy. Institutional adoption is an exciting yet frustrating topic in crypto. The true modern-day crypto inheritors of the 90s cypherpunk legacy have a vision for crypto as human empowerment through decentralization. That vision includes breaking down the intermediaries that charge rents and threaten human freedom and privacy. On the other hand, Crypto Twitter becomes abuzz when a large financial institution makes new moves into crypto. Dogecoin (DOGE) …

Ethereum’s Merge dominated the crypto world in September with promises of quicker transaction times, improved security and a 99% reduction in energy consumption. However, will you end up with a surprise tax bill too? Let’s examine. During the Merge event, the Ethereum mainnet — the then current proof-of-work (PoW) blockchain — merged with the proof-of-stake (PoS) Beacon Chain, marking the end of PoW as the consensus mechanism for the Ethereum blockchain. On the Beacon Chain, Ethereum joined ranks of other major PoS blockchains such as BNB Chain, Cardano and Solana. Ether (ETH) is the second largest cryptocurrency by market cap …

After much buildup and preparation, the Ethereum Merge went smoothly this month. The next test will come during tax season. Cryptocurrency forks, such as Bitcoin Cash, have created headaches for investors and accountants alike in the past. While there has been progress, the United States Internal Revenue Service rules still weren’t ready for something like the Ethereum network upgrade. Nonetheless, there seems to be an interpretation of IRS rules that tax professionals and taxpayers can adopt to achieve simplicity and avoid unexpected tax bills. How Bitcoin Cash broke 2017 tax returns Because of a disagreement over block size, Bitcoin forked …

Modern parents are going to need to keep an even closer eye on their kids’ gaming habits, as some of them may be accumulating a hefty tax bill, according to a crypto tax specialist. Speaking to Cointelegraph during last week’s Australian Crypto Convention, Adam Saville-Brown, regional head of tax software firm Koinly said that many don’t realize that earnings from play-to-earn (P2E) games can be subject to tax consequences in the same way as crypto trading and investing. This is particularly true for play-to-earn blockchain games that offer in-game tokens that can be traded on exchanges and thus have real-world …

Australia’s ministerial department of Treasury reached out to the public to seek consultation regarding draft legislation that would exclude cryptocurrencies from being taxed as a foreign currency if passed. In a press release, Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones highlighted the Australian government’s intent to exclude crypto assets from being regarded as a foreign currency for tax purposes. However, the legislation would have no impact on the collection of capital gains taxes on crypto held as investments. The public has been provided with 25 days, from Sept. 6 to Sept. 30, to share their opinion on the proposed legislation. If signed into …

The South Korean Ministry of Strategy and Finance on Monday cleared that virtual asset airdrops, staking rewards and hard forked tokens would be subject to a "gift tax" under the Inheritance and Gift Tax Act despite the postponement of crypto gains tax to 2025. Cryptocurrencies are officially referred to as part of virtual assets under South Korean law. In response to a tax law inquiry about transfers of virtual asset airdrops by crypto exchanges, the South Korean tax authority said that any free virtual asset transfer by crypto exchanges in the form of airdrops, staking rewards and hard-forked tokens would …

The Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law this month by President Joe Biden, empowers the IRS with nearly $80 billion in new funds. The world’s most powerful tax collection agency is using the money to go on a hiring spree to fuel much tougher enforcement efforts. It is widely assumed that the audits will be brutal and widespread. Taxes start with tax returns, which must be signed under penalties of perjury. The Biden administration has said that the audits on steroids are for fat cats who have escaped having to pay their fair share for too long. The administration has …

The State Duma, the lower house of the Russian legislature, has passed a bill on the taxation of digital assets that exempts their sale from value-added tax (VAT) in the Russian Federation. Some other services of digital asset exchanges will also be exempted, according to state-run news service RIA Novosti. In addition, the bill established income tax rates of 13% for Russian exchanges on the first 5 million rubles (currently about U$93,000) of the taxable base annually, 15% on amounts above that limit and 15% across the board for foreign exchange operators. The current tax rate for companies is 20%. …