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2023-09-19

How Investing vs Trading impacts tax

In most cases of buying and selling cryptocurrency as a retail investor, you are participating in investing rather than trading. The two are treated differently for tax purposes.

  • Investing is subject to capital gains tax or income tax, depending on the nature of the transaction.
  • Trading in this case refers to self-employment which is subject to income tax and National Insurance Contributions.

The key difference between investing and trading – along with the different tax treatments, is how losses generated in the crypto-activity can be used.

In their guidance, HMRC have explicitly stated that they would expect it to be exceedingly rare that any crypto-activity constituting buying & selling crypto would be classified as “trading”.

If you are uncertain, speak to a tax advisor as there are always exceptions, including but not limited to, developing tokens and large scale mining.

How is crypto tax calculated in the United States?

You can be liable for both capital gains and income tax depending on the type of cryptocurrency transaction, and your individual circumstances. For example, you might need to pay capital gains on profits from buying and selling cryptocurrency, or pay income tax on interest earned when holding crypto.

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Can I claim losses on my Celsius assets?

Stay up to date with the latest crypto tax regulations, alongside detailed product tutorials and advice from industry-leading tax professionals.

Key takeaways
This tax guide is regularly updated: Last Update  
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Celsius is one of multiple platforms that have been affected by the liquidity crisis currently plaguing the crypto industry. On June 12, Celsius halted withdrawals, much to the chagrin of its users. In July, Celsius then filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. These developments have left users wondering whether they’ll ever regain access to their funds locked on the platform, a question whose answer could have tax ramifications.

Can I declare assets on Celsius as ‘lost’ for tax purposes?

As you can imagine, Celsius users aren’t excited about the prospect of paying tax for assets that they cannot access. Unfortunately, it’s currently unclear how users should treat crypto lost due to platform bankruptcy as there is ambiguity around whether or not they will eventually receive their assets back.

In Australia, the ATO has provided a list of guidelines outlining what requirements need to be met in order to claim crypto assets as ‘lost’.

In the US currently, any lost, stolen or hacked crypto cannot be claimed as a capital loss.

In the UK, you’ll have to file for a Negligible Value Claim with the HMRC in order to declare any assets as ‘lost’.

It’s important to note that in most situations, if you declare your assets as ‘lost’, you relinquish the right to claim them back if access is ever reinstated. We recommend talking to a local tax professional to determine what is the best way to treat your Celsius assets for tax purposes.

What about the staking rewards I earned, but couldn’t access?

Throughout the current liquidity crisis, some platforms (Celsius included) have continued to ‘pay’ staking rewards to their users, regardless of the fact that withdrawals from the platform had been paused.

In most tax jurisdictions, staking rewards are considered as ordinary income at the time of receipt. In usual cases, you would be required to declare these rewards as you would any typical income stream.

Once again, we recommend talking to a local tax professional to determine what is the best way to treat any staking rewards earned that cannot be accessed, as this could have a significant impact on your tax obligations.

How Summ can help

Our platform aims to make it as easy as possible for you to deal with curveballs like the Celsius situation. We have categorization options available if you wish to declare particular transactions as non-taxable via the ‘lost’, ‘stolen’ or ‘ignore out’ categories. We would like to wrap up this blog post by reiterating the importance of talking through your options with a local tax professional to determine what is best for you and your personal circumstances.

As informações fornecidas neste site são de natureza geral e não constituem aconselhamento fiscal, contábil ou jurídico. Ele foi preparado sem levar em consideração seus objetivos, situação financeira ou necessidades. Antes de agir com base nessas informações, você deve considerar a adequação das mesmas à luz de seus próprios objetivos, situação financeira e necessidades, e procurar aconselhamento profissional. Summ (antes Crypto Tax Calculator) isenta-se de todas as garantias, compromissos e garantias, expressos ou implícitos, e não é responsável por qualquer perda ou dano de qualquer tipo (incluindo erro humano ou de computador, negligência ou outro, ou perda ou dano incidental ou consequente) decorrentes de ou em conexão com qualquer uso ou confiança nas informações ou conselhos deste site. O usuário deve aceitar a responsabilidade exclusiva associada ao uso do material neste site, independentemente da finalidade para a qual tal uso é aplicado ou dos resultados. As informações contidas neste site não substituem o aconselhamento especializado.

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