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You can make erroneous money transfers and it doesn't automatically count as a gift, the receiver can be liable if the amount makes it obvious it's an error for

You can make erroneous money transfers and it doesn't automatically count as a gift, the receiver can be liable if the amount makes it obvious it's an error for example and she won't return it. I'm sure this differs between jurisdictions in the details though..

NovemberWhiskey 5y ago
No, of course a mistaken payment isn't a gift, and there's an appropriate mechanism for retrieving mistaken payments through the civil courts (if necessary). But a mistaken payment is also not income and threatening willfully to mis-file a 1099 is completely inappropriate. If they want to get the mistaken payments back, they can ask nicely, they can send threatening letters, they can sue in court; but they can't use the IRS as their cat's paw because the only tax situation that fits the facts here is gift.
- mindslight 5y ago
  It's not a gift - if you take the position that a smart contract is a binding contract, then the payment is pursuant to a contract that itself was entered into for full consideration. Nobody knew how the contract would develop, but the same applies for many contracts - eg options trading. If one wants to claim it's a mistaken payment, then the recipient needs to return the tokens - their legal ownership was never conveyed. Additionally, you can tell the intent is not that of a gift because the transferrer immediately wants it back.
  - porknubbins 5y ago
    But does anyone take the position that a smart contract is a binding contract? I believe even Nick Szabo regrets coining the term since its just a program that can transfer value so including it term “contract” is misleading.
    - mindslight 5y ago
      To me, that's the entire point of them - a single source of truth in an extremely formal language.