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The 10,000 bitcoins that seven years ago famously paid for the delivery of two Papa John's pizzas would be worth more than $74 million today.
The exploding value of the cryptocurrency since its first real-world transaction in 2010 is one reason the U.S. Internal Revenue Service is pushing to see records on thousands of users of Coinbase Inc., one of the biggest U.S. online exchanges. The company's digital currency platform allows gains to be converted into old-fashioned dollars in transactions that the IRS alleges are going unreported.
Coinbase and industry trade groups are fighting back in court, claiming the government's concerns about tax fraud are unfounded and that its sweeping demand for information is a threat to privacy.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by crafoo on Sunday November 12 2017, @05:24PM (4 children)
Maybe universal income tax should go away then. We can eliminate most of the IRS, tax services, and other undocumented drags on the economy.
If something is too difficult to be done, that doesn't mean we should toss out inalienable rights to get it done. We must look hard at what we are doing, why, and at what cost to our civilization.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by sjames on Sunday November 12 2017, @06:45PM
It is notable that when the income tax started, the vast majority of people weren't required to file. Unfortunately, the brackets weren't indexed to inflation, so over time later legislatures were able to tax increasing proportions of the population through simple inaction.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 12 2017, @07:26PM (2 children)
Progressive taxes is how you institute any basic notion of fairness into the financial system. Without such a system, the wealthy simply get more wealthy a lot quicker, and the poors starve instead. Then you have a revolution or Zimbabwe scenario and things start again. Personally, I would rather have the wealthy pay taxes so government can pay the poors to provide services to the wealthy without causing inflation to strip away meagre savings of the poors.
You see, you really want strong progressive tax system in place. The alternative is you fuck the country and screw the future so some can take faster. And if those rich want to maintain their riches, then they really want to have strong progressive tax system too, since when the poors revolt, they lose their shit too.
Exactly. Otherwise you may start to equate money with things like social order, and not having Syria type civil wars. If you want stability in your nation, you want to reduce income inequality and at least have a perception that the rich are paying more taxes even when their increased share is insignificant when comparing disposable incomes.
(Score: 2) by crafoo on Monday November 13 2017, @12:59AM (1 child)
Are you making an argument for or against income tax? I can't really tell. I assume you know the wealthy aren't really affected by income tax. Capital gains tax is maybe what you mean?
Income inequality is fine and expected. The is a pretty big variation in people's capabilities, motivation, and industriousness. What we want to allow for is very easy mobility. Remove barriers for success. Open as many avenues for success to as many people as possible. Progressively apply larger tax pressures and "enforced responsibilities" as a corporation grows. No free rides though. People have to choose to put in the effort and take the risks.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 13 2017, @04:05AM
You're right. Sociopaths are superior beings and clearly deserve the lion's share of our economic output.