Bitcoin and several rival forms of cryptocurrency experienced record-breaking growth in recent years, leaving many investors and their CPAs grappling with uncertainty and surprise during tax season. Many returns were put on extension, awaiting further guidance from the IRS, while other taxpayers found themselves faced with an unexpectedly large tax bill as a result of misconceptions surrounding how these transactions are taxed.
Cryptocurrency is digital currency that uses encryption techniques, rather than a central bank, to generate, exchange, and transfer units of currency. Unlike cash transactions, no bank or government authority verifies the transfer of funds. Instead, these virtual transactions are recorded in a digitized public LEDGER called a “blockchain.” Individual units of the currency are called “coins.”
Introduced in 2009, Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency and remains the most widely used. Other forms have grown tremendously in popularity since then, including Litecoin, Ethereum, and Ripple. While cryptocurrency exchanges have experienced booms and busts in the market, experts predict the use of cryptocurrency will continue to increase, making it imperative that CPAs are prepared to understand and educate their clients on the tax implications of these virtual transactions.
IRS Treatment of Cryptocurrency
The IRS addressed the taxation of cryptocurrency transactions in Notice 2014-21, which provides that cryptocurrency is treated as property for federal tax purposes. Therefore, general tax principles that apply to property transactions must be applied to exchanges of cryptocurrencies as well. Notice 2014-21 holds that taxpayers must recognize gain or loss on the exchange of cryptocurrency for cash or for other property. Accordingly, gain or loss is recognized every time that cryptocurrency is sold or used to purchase goods or services. How the gain or loss is recognized depends largely on the type of transaction conducted and the length of time the position was held.
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Cryptocurrency gains from trading coins held as capital assets are treated as investment income by the IRS, and the same capital gains rules apply. A taxpayer who sells a coin position for cash must report a capital gain on Form 8949. A coin position held for one year or less is considered a short-term capital gain, taxed at ordinary tax rates; a position held for more than one year is considered a long-term capital gain.
As with stock trades, capital losses offset capital gains in full, and a net capital loss is limited to $3,000 ($1,500 for married taxpayers filing separately) against other types of income on an individual tax return. An excess capital loss is carried forward to the subsequent tax year.
Under IRS rules, the default for stock transactions is the first-in, first-out (FIFO) method of accounting. Under certain circumstances, however, specific identification is allowed. The use of specific identification can drastically reduce the recognized gain on cryptocurrency transactions, since many traders have multiple transactions in the same form of cryptocurrency.
While some tax preparers have attempted to use specific identification when reporting cryptocurrency gains, this represents an aggressive approach for two reasons. First, although Notice 2014-21 refers to cryptocurrency as property, it does not—on face value—refer to it as a stock. Second, it is doubtful that an “adequate identification” could ever be made with respect to cryptocurrency. The coin being traded is represented by an entry in a distributed ledger held by various parties. Furthermore, it can be divided into an infinite number of parts, and thus lacks any sort of lot number. Without being able to establish adequate identification, FIFO may be the only permissible method.
General tax principles that apply to property transactions must be applied to exchanges of cryptocurrencies as well.
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