did some rough mining calculations
1) if the bitcoin price drops further from here, basically you are screwed buying mining equipment, you should have just bought BTC when price drops
2) if the price of bitcoin rises, you are screwed, because you should have just bought bitcoin, as rising prices will attract more new miners and difficulty will rise and you wont mine as many BTC as you could have bought.
so?
the only possible mining outcome that makes sense is that bitcoin stays here for a long time , around 300 for 1 year, and difficulty stays at current levels or decreases.
that is the only way you can make money mining?
I base the answer below to usa tax law and accounting rules.
No your questions only show you do not understand your investments from an accounting viewpoint.
Mining is not and never will be the same investment as buying coins and holding them. So asking the question you ask means you do not understand the rules of tax law and accounting as applied to your question.
Mining is an active investment.
Buying coins and hold them is a passive investment.
Your question lumps them together and in a lot of countries including the USA lumping them together simply does not apply.
BTW your question also make the assumption you buy and hold perfectly. Ie buy at the low and sell at the high.
And your question totally disregards. What if I buy a miner today for 1 coin. Mine it for 1 month earn back .5 coins (including power costs) then sell the miner for .8 coins thus earning 1.3 coins after power on a miner that cost me 1 coin. A net gain of .3 coins in a month putting me at 1.3 btc vs the 1 btc that the buy and hold guy has..
Here is the bottom line this business in now very very very very tight margined. Today right now that is a fact. Tommorow