Quote from article at link below: "Today’s IRS guidance will provide certainty for Bitcoin investors, along with potential income-tax liability that wasn’t specified before. Purchasing a $2 cup of coffee with Bitcoins bought for $1 would trigger $1 in capital gains for the coffee drinker and $2 of income for the coffee shop."
The article aslo says: "The ruling takes effect immediately and covers past and future transactions and tax returns." This is very wrong for the IRS to try to do as there is no way people would have kept records on all their spending, nor will they keep those kinds of records in the future.
This is not a good thing as far as using Bitcoin as a currency, however, it IS a good thing for those utilizing bitcoin to securely hold their savings and for those who trade bitcoins as they can utilize capital gains treatment rather than the income tax treatment which traders of foreign currencies have to use.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-25/bitcoin-is-property-not-currency-in-tax-system-irs-says.html BITCN
IRS: Bitcoin is property rather than currency, can be taxed
The IRS says it will apply rules used to govern stock trades and barter transactions, rather than currency, towards Bitcoin (BITCN). Bloomberg notes the ruling means a $2 cup of coffee purchased via Bitcoins originally bought for $1 would yield a $1 capital gain for the coffee buyer, and $2 of income for the seller. As with stocks, Bitcoins held for more than a year would be subject to a lower tax rate (capital losses can be deducted from gains), and different tax rules will apply for dealers.Coinbase is currently showing a Bitcoin bid-ask spread of $583.04-$586.04.