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A comment on IRS reminds taxpayers to report virtual currency transactions. Parent comment

Re:IRS reminds taxpayers to report virtual currency transact... by spookthesunset on Sunday March 25, 2018 @03:28PM (#16674015)
It's no weirder than having to pay tax on selling MSFT for AMZN. Once you sell an asset, you pay the tax on any gains. doesn't matter how the transaction took place "physically". Just because this crypto space thing is The Future of Money and uses The Internet, doesn't somehow exempt it from real world tax law.

Seems like people should have found better exchanges that would have helped facilitate tax reporting...

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Re:IRS reminds taxpayers to report virtual currency transact... by vollmond on Sunday March 25, 2018 @05:08PM (#16674613)
In the MSFT/AMZN transaction, doesn't the value pass through USD on the way? If I use ShapeShift to convert BTC to LTC, USD isn't involved.

Not saying it affects the situation, but it is still a different type of transaction in the way that a lot of laypeople would think of it.

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Re:IRS reminds taxpayers to report virtual currency transact... by TheCoelacanth on Sunday March 25, 2018 @09:37PM (#16675919)
Usually, yes, but it doesn't change your tax liability if you happen to find someone willing to directly trade MSFT for AMZN. The tax exemption for like-kind exchanges only applies in limited circumstances like with real estate.
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Re:IRS reminds taxpayers to report virtual currency transact... by justincormack on Sunday March 25, 2018 @09:02PM (#16675748)
In that case yes, but not with converting JPY to EUR say, or selling and buying shares of a European company which trades in EUR not USD. Only some assets have cross markets.
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