
Bitcoin: Tax Evasion Currency - cdvonstinkpot
http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2013/08/07/bitcoin-tax-evasion-currency/
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weland
Many, many years ago, when words printed on dead trees were not only for
hipsters, I used to work for a computer magazine (the printed kind).

Our editor-in-chief was this old-school guy in his fifties, with quite a few
years of journalistic experience and with a ferocious attention to details and
exigence. When he was brought in, the first thing he did was mail us a list of
things that were unacceptable and would promptly result in ending
collaboration if they were repeated.

I kept it for future reference, and this article meets about one third of the
points there, including:

1\. Not talking about anything that happened, but instead talking about a lot
of things that _could_ happen. Go write for a SF magazine if you want that.

2\. Mention every possible debate on the subject, without attempting to either
offer a conclusion or a new set of arguments for any of them. People who do
that after they're twenty were too busy being teacher's pets in college to get
drunk, smoke weed and rant. Go get high or something.

3\. Bringing a lot of arguments for something that you do not explicitly
mention. If your material is argumentative in nature, state what you are
arguing for in the first few phrases, in a coherent form. Don't let people
guess what you're arguing for and _especially_ don't imply it in the title.
That's for wimps who want to make noise, but are too afraid to clearly express
their opinions.

4\. Excessive use of terms that are reserved for probability or possibility.
It's tempting to write these off as a stylistic device, but they are rarely
actually needed; excessive use betrays lack of serious research, of which the
author is unconsciously aware, but he is too haughty to admit it. Go check
your sources, make a list of things you're sure of and things you aren't sure
of, and see #1 for what to do with those that you aren't sure of.

(This is a true gem, there's a whole paragraph of things that may or may not
be true, but who knows: "With no banking or government involvement, Bitcoin
may be anonymous. It may even be ideal for someone who intentionally tries not
to pay tax. That may be a small piece of the Bitcoin payment universe. But for
most people who file tax returns and report their income whether or not it
shows up on a Form W-2 or 1099, it probably isn’t the tax haven some are
suggesting it is.")

5\. Lack of a conclusion that either proves or disproves your original
argument. If your conclusion is not about your point, you're sticking it in
the wrong article and you just screwed up _two_ of them.

This is tabloid material.

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nkuttler
In other shocking news: USD: Tax Evasion Currency

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pampa
Yep. And in the mean time, the biggest tax evader is google and does it
absolutely legit.

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to3m
If it's legal, it isn't evasion.

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gaz-s
Exactly; tax avoidance is legal, evasion is illegal.

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jasonwatkinspdx
Wow, talk about a hit job story. Not much substance here but a lot of work
associating bitcoin with scary words.

~~~
jbackus
Seriously. This article reads like a forced book report.

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znowi
Right... I can predict the next headline: "Bitcoin: Terrorist Currency"

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theboywho
I said this before, but here goes again: never read a forbes article on
bitcoin. They made it loud and clear they're afraid of bitcoin.

What would you expect from a media "company" run by people afraid of bitcoin ?

~~~
oleganza
There is also Jon Matonis at Forbes who is now president of Bitcoin
Foundation, who writes tons of positive articles about Bitcoin every month.

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oleganza
Bitcoin allows wonderful tax-complience.

Imagine if government requires merchants to register their addresses with IRS.
Now all the amounts can be traced and taxes calculated perfectly. Employers
will also have to register addresses of the employees where the wages are
paid. Now you'll have "white coins" that can be sent from one registered
address to another without questions asked and "black coins" that exist
outside the eyes of IRS. Obviously, it'll be hard+expensive to transfer black
coins to white addresses and vice versa. Sounds very creepy, but there could
be a nice outcome: government couldn't print money out of thin air and fund
wars, DEA, NSA etc via "budget deficit", "bonds" and other names for never-to-
be-paid debts.

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jgalt212
Yes, except bitcoins's crazy volatility makes it a deficient store of value.

So, until the volatility of bitcoin's exchange rate against the world's major
currencies calms down and stays calm for a significant period of time, this
really isn't something to worry about.

I agree with the sentiments of weland, even though I have not read this
specific article because 7 of 8 articles I have read on Forbes.com, I regret
having done so.

