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IANAL. My reading is the same. All BTC transactions -- and by that I mean transactions made in BTC, not currency conversions -- for which the difference in th

IANAL. My reading is the same. All BTC transactions -- and by that I mean transactions made in BTC, not currency conversions -- for which the difference in the basis and current value are less than $200, exclude that difference from income. Note that the transaction does not have to be less than $200; the gain needs to be less than $200. The volatility of BTC might make this relatively hard to qualify for. My big question is how this will work for accounting purposes as far as which basis is used. When you sell, say, a stock, you have to designate exactly which stock you are selling to calculate gains. If this works the same, you can choose in ways that get you as close to that $200 line as possible.

mattferderer 7y ago
> My big question is how this will work for accounting purposes as far as which basis is used. When you sell, say, a stock, you have to designate exactly which stock you are selling to calculate gains. If this works the same, you can choose in ways that get you as close to that $200 line as possible 100% yes. I've heard some arguments about needing to be consistent with a formula, FIFO or LIFO. Though I'm not sure how true that is. I'm also not sure how you would do that if you have currency split among different apps. > transaction does not have to be less than $200; the gain needs to be less than $200 Thank you for this clarification.
- jdmichal 7y ago
  FIFO and LIFO are common options, but for stocks you can also elect to calculate based on specific shares. (Depending, of course, on support from your brokerage.) If one can do the same with BTC transactions, it will make staying under the limit much more achievable... Especially if you can mix lots, allowing losses to offset gains in a single transaction.