Elon Musk wants clean power. But Tesla's carrying Bitcoin's dirty baggage

Re:Elon Musk wants clean power. But Tesla's carrying Bitcoin... by mschuster91 on Wednesday February 10, 2021 @11:09AM (#26091019)

There's a third motivation other than the speculation on a value rise that "make money" implies (and which, if the BTC price keeps rising, may well turn out to be wise): get customers.

Let's be honest: most people from the early Bitcoin days, or even those who entered at 1k or bought the dip after the crash three years ago, who have enough Bitcoin for a Tesla would have to pay a lot of taxes if they converted it to dollars. Buy a Tesla with them? No way for the IRS to notice that unless they audit you.

Tesla is offering people with an interest in tax cheating essentially an easy way to turn the 2k investment of four or five years ago to a luxury vehicle.

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Re:Elon Musk wants clean power. But Tesla's carrying Bitcoin... by jcranmer on Wednesday February 10, 2021 @11:18AM (#26091141)

> Buy a Tesla with them? No way for the IRS to notice that unless they audit you.

Or the IRS could ask Tesla for a list of everyone who bought Teslas with bitcoins and what their bitcoin addresses were.

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Re:Elon Musk wants clean power. But Tesla's carrying Bitcoin... by nmfisher on Wednesday February 10, 2021 @11:45AM (#26091498)

Exactly. I can’t believe the number of people who think that BTC is some magic shield against the powers that be.

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Re:Elon Musk wants clean power. But Tesla's carrying Bitcoin... by cableshaft on Wednesday February 10, 2021 @11:34AM (#26091327)

I would say the tax evasion is far from a guarantee. Like the other commenter said, IRS can and has asked companies for data on their customers using cryptocurrencies before. Like take Coinbase, for an example.

However, a lot of people suddenly made a pretty penny on bitcoin this year, so giving them an opportunity to buy their cars easily with it (let's just assume they are paying taxes on it), that alone could foster a lot of good will and make people want to support the company by buying Teslas. I've already started seeing threads on Reddit saying 'Should we replace the Lambo (it was a meme that when Bitcoin went to the moon everyone would buy Lamborghinis) with a Tesla?'

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Re:Elon Musk wants clean power. But Tesla's carrying Bitcoin... by gamblor956 on Wednesday February 10, 2021 @01:01PM (#26092592)

Buy a Tesla with them? No way for the IRS to notice that unless they audit you.

That is in fact the easiest way for the IRS to notice, as crypto is only taxable when it is transacted. And bitcoin is a public ledger.

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Re:Elon Musk wants clean power. But Tesla's carrying Bitcoin... by PeterisP on Wednesday February 10, 2021 @11:55AM (#26091655)

I believe Tesla would be required to identify you and report all such sales (as they're >10,000$) to IRS i.e. not only IRS could ask, but it would be Tesla's responsibility to proactively report it as form 8300 for cash sales or something equivalent and ensure that your identity is verified, so instead of "no way for the IRS to notice that unless they audit you" this would immediately trigger an audit if you haven't reported your BTC investment profit as required.

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Re:Elon Musk wants clean power. But Tesla's carrying Bitcoin... by rawtxapp on Wednesday February 10, 2021 @11:50AM (#26091569)

Unfortunately, when you sell or use Bitcoin to buy anything, you trigger capital gains tax on it.

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