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Crypto Taxes Require Diligence
Hodlers — do you remember the first time you did your crypto taxes?
Donnie5 min read·Just now--
Maybe your experience was different from mine. I was handed a list of transactions and expected to know exactly when I bought each coin and for how much. I had no clue.
By 2014, tools like CoinTracking had appeared with the promise of making crypto taxes manageable. The last thing I ever want to think about is taxes. I know I have to pay them — though I’ll be honest, some days it feels like the most aggressive ATM withdrawal theft of the year, one where you don’t get to choose the amount and the machine has a flag on it.
I have opinions about where that money goes. Endless wars. Wealth redistribution and taking money from poor people in our country and giving it to run illusive daycares and rich people in other country because we want them to be our friend. But that’s a conversation for another day.
We all have a responsibility to pay our taxes. I just want to pay exactly what I owe — nothing more, nothing less. I don’t want anyone thinking I cheated. I don’t want to fail an audit. I just want to do what the law requires, get back home, and recover from the shock until next year rolls around.
The problem was, I never felt confident I was paying the right amount. Even after tax software arrived, I walked away every year with the nagging feeling I had overpaid. Maybe I underpaid and didn’t know it — but it sure felt like I had overpaid.
