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Sure, it makes sense to tax earnings from cryptocurrency trading. But aren't there bigger fish to fry, richer people more flagrantly evading taxes? Let's sort

Sure, it makes sense to tax earnings from cryptocurrency trading. But aren't there bigger fish to fry, richer people more flagrantly evading taxes? Let's sort that out first, k

roywiggins 7y ago
We've underfunded the IRS, and investigating the rich is really hard, because the rich can pay for armies of tax lawyers. You can't go after them without substantial resources, and anti-government extremists have teamed up with pro-business extremists to throttle the IRS' enforcement capabilities. https://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-irs-was-gutted https://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-irs-was-gutted
- a_bitcoin 7y ago
  The alliance between individualists and corporatists is the most bizarre thing about the US to me.
  - roywiggins 7y ago
    The corporations have the money and the "individualists" have the rhetoric that can persuade voters. It's a match made in hell.
banachtarski 7y ago
There are two separate matters here. Defining the law and enforcing the law. Misreporting capital gains on crypto violates existing law and is illegal today. Tax evasion by legitimate means (401ks, IRAs, writing off losses) is perfectly legal, and if you or I have complaints, this should be taken up with policy makers and at voting booths.
- JumpCrisscross 7y ago
  > Tax evasion by legitimate means Tax avoidance is legal. Tax evasion is illegally not paying taxes. (The distinction is purely legal.) If you don't like someone's tax avoidance, you change the law. If you don't like someone's tax evasion, you prosecute them.
  - banachtarski 7y ago
    Thanks for the correction, totally mixed up the terms.
- ascagnel_ 7y ago
  > Tax evasion by legitimate means A nitpick on your language: "tax evasion" specifically refers to _illegal_ actions (eg misreporting capital gains); "tax avoidance" is the term to describe _legal_ actions that reduce a tax burden.
  - banachtarski 7y ago
    Thanks! Duly noted
pault 7y ago
Maybe the rich old baddies are using Bitcoin to evade taxes.

Sure, it makes sense to tax earnings from cryptocurrency trading. But aren't there bigger fish to fry, richer people more flagrantly evading taxes? Let's sort that out first, k

roywiggins 7y ago

We've underfunded the IRS, and investigating the rich is really hard, because the rich can pay for armies of tax lawyers. You can't go after them without substantial resources, and anti-government extremists have teamed up with pro-business extremists to throttle the IRS' enforcement capabilities. https://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-irs-was-gutted https://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-irs-was-gutted

a_bitcoin 7y ago
The alliance between individualists and corporatists is the most bizarre thing about the US to me.
- roywiggins 7y ago
  The corporations have the money and the "individualists" have the rhetoric that can persuade voters. It's a match made in hell.

banachtarski 7y ago

There are two separate matters here. Defining the law and enforcing the law. Misreporting capital gains on crypto violates existing law and is illegal today. Tax evasion by legitimate means (401ks, IRAs, writing off losses) is perfectly legal, and if you or I have complaints, this should be taken up with policy makers and at voting booths.

JumpCrisscross 7y ago
> Tax evasion by legitimate means Tax avoidance is legal. Tax evasion is illegally not paying taxes. (The distinction is purely legal.) If you don't like someone's tax avoidance, you change the law. If you don't like someone's tax evasion, you prosecute them.
- banachtarski 7y ago
  Thanks for the correction, totally mixed up the terms.
ascagnel_ 7y ago
> Tax evasion by legitimate means A nitpick on your language: "tax evasion" specifically refers to _illegal_ actions (eg misreporting capital gains); "tax avoidance" is the term to describe _legal_ actions that reduce a tax burden.
- banachtarski 7y ago
  Thanks! Duly noted

pault 7y ago

Maybe the rich old baddies are using Bitcoin to evade taxes.