Comment by semiquaver | Hacker News Reader

Comment by semiquaver | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

Interestingly enough, V-Bucks were _specifically_ included in the original wording you quoted [1]. The IRS said it was in error, but a spokesman was fairly evasive [2]:

  > Desmond demurred when asked to confirm that gamers wouldn’t need to mark
  > ‘yes’ to the new 1040 question, but said addressing gaming currencies in
  > the virtual currency context isn’t a major focus for the agency right now.
  > 
  > “I am not even looking into that. So I’m not saying one way or another.
  > I think I’d be getting ahead of myself if I said anything,” Desmond said.
  > “Read the website. We posted a correction yesterday and I kind of leave it
  > at that.”

The likely reason that they don't care is that these are mostly a scam that consumers aren't making money off of, but capital gains on property are taxable no matter the underlying asset, so if game currencies became a major source of tax evasion it wouldn't take long for the IRS to pay attention.

[1] https://news.bloombergtax.com/daily-tax-report/irs-pulls-wor...

[2] https://news.bloombergtax.com/daily-tax-report/calling-fortn...

Yes, and as mentioned the IRS decided including V-Bucks/Robux as an example was wrong and posted a correction.

See my other comment here [1]. The IRS removed that part to avoid freaking people out and because they don't actually care about the trivial amount of money being made on game currencies, not because it was an incorrect interpretation of the law. If you make $100K arbitraging V-Bucks you have always needed to pay tax on that, same as any other capital gain.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34169522

This has nothing to do with whether or not you pay tax. You pay tax on income even if it is not related to digital currencies.

If you somehow made $100k off V-Bucks then you need to report that income, but you should say "No" to the question about digital currencies.

(Disclaimer: I can't believe I have to say this, but if you are making significant money off of video game currencies you should talk to a professional rather than listening to an anonymous HN poster as your sole tax advice)

That question in form isn't about currencies, word used is "asset". People here are understanding that fundamentally they need pay taxes from any income, but that "Digital Assets" question seems overly broad and seems cover even non-income situations ("gift or otherwise dispose" for example).

Additionally, I think that your definition of "digital currencies" is little bit strict. IRS isn't going to look definitions, that exclude taxable income. User semiquaver already posted snippet from "Bloomberg Tax", showing potential interest for gaming currencies.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com