Crypto Tax Dodgers Are Tempting Fate

Institutions like the Internal Revenue Service are then tasked with enforcing these laws, but they do not create tax law themselves, nor do they make decisions regarding tax expenditures.

Many cryptocurrency enthusiasts seem utterly dumbfounded by this, and are brazenly willing to risk the threat of a lifetime of recurring audits, massive fines which wipe out their capital gains, and even downright imprisonment - all for the sake of the wholly separate topic of how much tax "Ought" to be collected and how those dollars "Ought" to be spent.

Did Al Capone think he "Ought" to pay less tax? Sure.

Some citizens want to pay no tax at all, presumably content to drag down their neighbors while imagining a world in which fires put themselves out, highways and bridges build themselves, and no armed forces are required to prevent foreign invasion because everyone will sing each other to sleep at night.

Others want the rich taxed so heavily that anyone with an ounce of gumption decides it's a waste of time growing a business, and a presumably endless spigot of tax dollars will magically pay for everyone to go hiking seven days a week before watching the latest episode of "Game of Thrones" on free satellite internet beamed into their free tiny home situated on a free lot on the peak of forever-free Mt. Utopia.

Clearly the truth is closer to the middle, and if there is indeed a middle ground where some amount of tax is necessary, then everyone who enjoys the benefits of tax expenditures - safety from invasion, use of transportation services and infrastructure, access to a robust legal system - must also pay their share.

Most citizens are inflamed by ultra-rich politicians and businessmen who are found to have hidden millions in offshore accounts, and similarly the crypto community should raise a skeptical eye at those who claim they are hiding income because the world is not what it "Ought" to be.

Even if you vehemently advocate for hiding income, at very least do yourself a favor and research just how many clever tax cheats have been caught, fined, or jailed years later when old technology was proven vulnerable and exploited by weaknesses that new tech uncovered.

Every action you perform online, from bank deposits, purchases, and email exchanges - all of it, including all activity on most of the major crypto exchanges - is now or may soon be available to your government's tax enforcement institution.

Deal with what "Is" by reporting your income and paying your taxes, then deal with what "Ought" to be by getting involved and advocating for changes to tax law and expenditures.