The BitGive Foundation announced today that it has been officially granted 501(c)(3) status from the IRS, making it the first tax-exempt bitcoin charity in the U.S. The organization is now able to provide a tax deduction to donors, including those who donate directly in BTC, greatly enhancing the potential for fundraising. With their new tax […]

If there is a single issue slowing mainstream business adoption of bitcoin, it’s the still-tricky problem of accounting. Although the IRS has offered some guidance on how bitcoin should be treated, and Intuit Labs has made some headway in bitcoin invoicing, there is still no one-stop solution for fully integrating bitcoin payments into their tax […]

Each year, investors with over $10,000 in foreign financial assets are required to filed a report with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). The report, officially known as FinCEN Form 114: Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts, is still widely known in investment and accounting circles by its previous name, Foreign Bank Account Report […]

The Internal Revenue Service is rarely seen as a source of good news when it comes to paperwork. On Wednesday, however, the IRS announced during a webinar for tax professionals that bitcoin holdings did not need to be reported to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) for this year’s tax season. There had been some […]

There are few figures in recent American politics as controversial as former U.S. Congressman Ron Paul. The noted libertarian-leaning Republican from Texas has long been an opponent of the Federal Reserve banking system, and has advocated for more “private money” in the world economy. Although not a supporter of bitcoin per se, Paul has regularly […]

If U.S. Representative Steve Stockman (R-TX) is successful, bitcoin will soon be classified as a currency rather than as property. The congressman recently announced plans to introduce a new bill entitled the Virtual Currency Tax Reform Act which would overrule the recent IRS decision to subject bitcoin to capital gains taxes. Although the bill itself […]

When the IRS announced last month that bitcoin was to treated as property, rather than as currency, many in the virtual currency community declared it a catastrophe. The panic was understandable, as capital gains taxes can be significantly more complicated to calculate, and often require the assistance of an accountant. But almost as soon as […]

If there’s anyone who should understand the mechanics of currency, it’s Edmund C. Moy. From 2006 to 2011, Moy was the Director of the United States Mint, government office in charge of both handling the nation’s gold and silver bullion and producing all of its coinage. With the recent decision by the IRS to treat […]

In a post on the Bitcoin Foundation’s blog yesterday, Marco Santori, Chairman of the foundation’s Regulatory Affairs Committee responded to the recent decision by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to treat bitcoin as a stock-like class of property, rather than as a currency. The post notes that the foundation “appreciates the IRS’ hard work in […]

Yesterday, the IRS declared that bitcoins were to be treated under the same rules as stocks under U.S. tax law, causing a wave of relief for seasoned investors and a chill of quiet panic among casual users. A literal interpretation of the rules would require an immense amount of bookkeeping for anyone who would use […]