Everything You Need to Know About Your 2020 Crypto Taxes - Ep.210

In this episode, Shehan Chandrasekara, head of strategy at CoinTracker, and Dan Hannum COO at Zen Ledger, take a deep dive into the world of crypto taxes. Over an hour and fifteen minutes they tackle a bevy of topics ranging from why the IRS is asking about your crypto history to explaining the proper way of reporting yield farming income. Shehan and Dan give up their hard-earned tax secrets and tips learned through building their respective cutting-edge crypto tax software. Here is a list of talking points covered in the discussion:

0:00 - intro
1:20 - how the IRS is handling crypto this year
5:59 - where to start with reporting crypto and what constitutes a taxable event
19:48 - bitcoin corner cases: mining, with a description of calculating cost basis
27:00 - bitcoin corner cases: wages
28:23 - bitcoin corner cases: peer-to-peer transactions outside of exchanges
31:13 - sponsor - Crypto.com
31:45 - defi and taxes: yield farming — and how it's like Russian nesting dolls
36:32 - defi and taxes: how the IRS taxes earned interest
40:15 - defi and taxes: airdrops
46:28 - crypto transactions that are not taxable: purchases, withdrawals, and stablecoins
50:47 - navigating tax documents
57:14 - NFT’s and social tokens
1:03:09 - tax loss harvesting
1:05:05 - how having coins on platforms like Robinhood and Paypal can have an effect on your taxes
1:06:50 - proposed tax changes

Thank you to our sponsor!
Crypto.com: http://crypto.com

Episode links:

Guests
Shehan Chandrasekara: https://twitter.com/TheCryptoCPA
Dan Hannum: https://twitter.com/DHannum8

Software
CoinTracker: cointracker.io
ZenLedger: zenledger.io

Accounting
LIFO, HIFO, FIFO: https://www.forbes.com/sites/shehanchandrasekera/2020/09/17/what-crypto-taxpayers-need-to-know-about-fifo-lifo-hifo-specific-id/?sh=7077f8e936aa (written by Shehan)
1040 Question: https://fortune.com/2020/09/28/the-irs-is-adding-a-cryptocurrency-question-to-form-1040-for-2020/
1099 Misc: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1099msc.pdf
1099 B: https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-1099-b

Regulatory research:
2014 IRS Tax Guidance: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-14-21.pdf
IRS Virtual Currency page: https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/virtual-currencies
IRS gains and losses: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p550.pdf
Equipment write-offs: https://www.section179.org/section_179_deduction/
IRS sues Coinbase: https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/29/16717416/us-coinbase-irs-records
How holding crypto at PayPal or Robinhood or any platform that does not allow you to transfer to an address off-platform could affect your taxes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/shehanchandrasekera/2021/01/28/exiting-robinhood-could-create-a-tax-nightmare-for-crypto-users/?sh=106b74a84ad6
De minimis exemption: https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/09/series63-050509.asp#:~:text='The%20De%20Minimis'%20exemption%20means,period%20with%20a%20physical%20address.
FinCEN intends to apply FBAR to cryptocurrency held offshore: https://www.coindesk.com/fincen-foreign-crypto-exchange-disclosure-rule

Backstory:
Bitcoin Cash Fork: https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-cash-has-split-into-two-new-blockchains-again

Yield farming and social tokens:
https://decrypt.co/resources/what-is-yield-farming-beginners-guide
https://www.cointracker.io/blog/defi-yield-farming-crypto-tax-guide (written by Shehan)
Alex Masmej: https://www.coindesk.com/man-who-sells-himself-now-wants-buyers-to-control-his-life

Crypto tax guides
BlockFi: https://blockfi.com/crypto-tax-laws
Coinbase: https://www.coinbase.com/learn/tips-and-tutorials/crypto-and-bitcoin-taxes-US
Nerd Wallet: https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/investing/bitcoin-taxes

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