Boojapho's Crypto Tax Assistant
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Latest version is v1.0

CHANGES:
- Initial release

DOWNLOAD:
- https://mega.nz/#!PehlzCBR!VLuOLo5LAo0Hsn0Cu-V5cJMQJmsb2gtSwCKCjeHd40I

ABSTRACT:
This tool is intended to assist with gathering data on crypto currencies for United States taxes and general profit/loss calculations.  It treats crypto currency mining as a business with profit/loss.  It treats crypto currency trades as capital gains/losses, similar to stocks, using a First-In-First-Out (FIFO) algorithm for calculating cost basis.  Note that the at the end of 2017, the United States "like-kind" exchange rule under section 1031 explicitly prohibits crypto currencies.  For the 2017 tax filing, the author of this spreadsheet erred on the side of caution and chose to not use the "like-kind" exchange rule.

REQUIRED SOFTWARE:
- Microsoft Excel 2013 or newer

FEATURES:
- Transactions can be input into a single master ledger.  Formulas take care of the rest.
- Profit / Loss summary by individual coin and by year
- Handles coin mining and expenses which would be reported on Schedule C for business based profit/loss
- Handles First-In-First-Out (FIFO) calculations of coin trades for reporting on Schedule D for capital gains/losses
- Can handle multiple coins mixed on the master ledger
- Splits coins to individual worksheets for easier analysis
- Optional macro to assist with setting up individual coin worksheets

MACROS:
Spreadsheet can be used with or without macros enabled.  The macro code is small and you are welcome to investigate it before running it.
The macro is designed to assist you with creating the individual coin spreadsheets needed to calculate profit/loss using First-In-First-Out (FIFO).  This can be accomplished manually if you do not want to run the macro.

KNOWN ISSUES / LIMITATIONS:
- If a sell transaction has coins that were held for both short and long term gains, the calculations assume all of it is short term.  You need to split the transaction to take advantage of the long term gains.
- For fiat buys and sells of cryptocurrencies, you have to manually convert the fee to the cryptocurrency bought/sold.
- Capital is summed up with income/expenses in Schedule C.  But on your taxes they should be treated differently.

FAQ
- Did you use this on your taxes?
--- Yes, I did.  It worked beautifully.  I had both mining and trading activities.

- Can you support Excel 2007?
--- No, too many formulas were not supported in 2007.  However, I am working on an Excel 2010 version.

- I don't trust your macro.  Do I have to run it?
--- No, you can setup things manually.  Just read the instructions.

- I'm in a different country than the US. Do you have a version for me?
--- Not at the moment. I'm not familiar with taxes outside of the US.  But, if you want to help me out, I could be persuaded to add other countries.

- Taxes on cryptocurrencies are for fools.  You shouldn't even be doing this.
--- Go troll somewhere else.  If you aren't paying your taxes, then why are you concerned about a tax assistant spreadsheet?

Scientist for infectious disease research

On my taxes I treat it as a business.

I take off the sq. ft. of the room i use for mining, all the equipment I purchase, and part of my electrical bill.   If you are taking out loans or going to have some other large liability, you'll want to create an LLC and keep your personal finances separate from your business finances (and keep good records).  This will protect your personal assets to an extent.    In my case, I have no liabilities, so the LLC doesn't help me much.  I treat it as a sole prop. 

My normal disclaimer on this is that the above is for informational purposes only.   You should consult a tax consultant or attorney if you want advice.

Find a high volume, reliable exchange with low trading and withdraw fees
Analyze both the fundamental and technical side of a coin
Buy low, sell high;  Buy on the rumor, sell on the news
Don't invest more than you can afford to lose
Do not let "fear of missing out" or "panic" dictate your trades

That's not true.  Look up barter tax center on the IRS's website.  Its all about taxing stuff that is not converted to FIAT.  I'm not saying Bitcoin exchange is a barter, just that taxes can be put on just about everything.  If its worth something, it can be taxed.

Isn't that already what USDT does?

It comes down to money.  It takes time and HW/SW to setup and maintain a new coin. They weigh cost, margin, volume, and risk to figure out if it is worth their time.  If it is, they put it on the exchange.  If not, they leave it off. 

CPU is overkill.  You could run with a celeron and be fine.

I read 100W PSU and dropped my jaw for a second.  But, the one you linked is 1000W.  The 1070 can draw 150W max.  So, 2x150 + 150W for CPU/motherboard, you are at 450W.  Add 20% for inefficiency and another 50% for load spikes / room to grow and you are around 765W.  So you could get away with a 800W PSU.   If you plan to add more graphics cards later, you could get another PSU.

For motherboards, look for 1 or 2 x16 slots and 2-3 x1 slots.  You can probably find one with a power button built in. 

If you can find Windows 7 cheaper than Windows 10, you can go with that.  Or just run Linux if you are comfortable with that.

For your risers, the only problem may be the length of the cables.  Mine are a tight fit and I had to move one of the graphics cards over to accommodate.

Buy some extra fans to put on the rig and blow air between the cards to help with cooling.

The rules are very vague for U.S. taxes.  Last year, I treated my coins like stocks.  When I transferred coins out of a pool after mining, I paid capital gains on the avg. price of the coin that day times the quantity.  Then, every time I sold coins, I would estimate the U.S dollar equivalent and compare it to what I bought it for.  I'd take a loss or profit based on that.  I also treated mining as a business and took off part of my electric bill and home space for my miners.

A lot of people were skirting taxes by claiming that exchanging coins is a "like kind" transaction.  But, that tax rule is really for real estate, not commodities or currency.  So, I took a more conservative approach.  In 2018, with the new tax overhaul, the "like kind" rule was clarified and will definitely not apply to crypto currencies anymore.

Disclaimer:  I'm only telling you what I did for my taxes, not advising you on yours.  Your situation may differ and you should consult a certified tax preparer for their advice.

Treat the coins just like stocks.  The well known ones are safer, but offer lower returns.  The obscure coins are like penny stocks.  If you pick the right pony at the right time, you can have big returns.

In general, if a coin is on a well known exchange (e.g. Bittrex, Poloniex) it is not a scam.

My advice is to read, read, and read more about all the coins.  This will get your fundamental analysis on the coin.  Only invest in ones that have a good potential to be a useful coin.  Second, look into technical analysis.  This is using statistics and graphs to understand trends in the coins.  This will help you know when to buy/sell/hold.  Its the same techniques that you use to evaluate stocks.

Map out which risers will go into which slots on the motherboard.  I usually just buy generic powered risers.  I have some that are x16 to x16 and others that are x1 to x16 via USB connection.  They all work pretty much the same.

In 2017, Bitcoin went up ~1000%.  Ethereum went up ~8000%.   I don't agree that 2017 was Bitcoin's year.

Bitcoin has limited upside utility in the business world.  Ethereum on the other hand is pulling in demand from its smart contracts.  When Casper is finally out for Ethereum in 2018, that will bump the price significantly.  But, Ethereum has a scaleability issue it needs to resolve before it can compete for dominance.  And, as mentioned, the Ethereum founder needs to grow up instead of throwing a hissy fit over internet immaturity.  The internet is full of childish antics and always will be.  Get over it.

I'm bullish on bitcoin.  But, asking if it is a good investment depends on the person.  If you are ok with taking a lot of risk, bitcoin can payoff handsomely.  But, you can also lose a lot if you aren't careful.  I have and still do invest in bitcoin, but I steer my family and friends away from it unless they prove they know what they are doing.  Too many people are buying it because they heard of this cool new thing on CNBC.

When trying to use CDM solo with the Parity client (version 1.2.3), I am getting a JSON error when it calls eth_GetWork.  Below is the log.  Anyone have any ideas what could be going wrong?  I've tried -esm settings but they did not help.