New Hampshire Lawmakers Debate Accepting Bitcoin for Tax Payments

By Stan Higgins

The New Hampshire state legislature held a pair of hearings earlier this month that focused on how the state could create a means for residents to pay taxes and fees using bitcoin.

Up for debate is a bill recently filed by state representative Eric Schleien that would open the door for the state to accept bitcoin. The bill is currently being weighed by the New Hampshire General Court Ways and Means Committee.

If passed, the bill would allow New Hampshire to partner with a bitcoin company to accept bitcoin payments and receive US dollars. Similar efforts are underway in states like Utah to explore or take the first steps toward some kind of digital currency acceptance.

The committee met on the 12th and 17th of February to hear testimony from a number of local bitcoin activists and politicians. Speakers included Schleien, former gubernatorial candidate Andrew Hemingway, Ziftr CEO Bob Wilkins, as well as other state residents speaking both in support of and against the bitcoin payments bill.

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Have bitcoin on your balance sheet? Here's what to know for tax time

By Jake Benson, founder of LibraTax

For a better sense of what a bitcoin transaction flow looks like, check out the slideshow. One thing: I have not illustrated the issue of long-term gain versus short-term gain, which adds almost another magnitude of difficulty. Basically, if a bitcoin is more than one year old when it is sold, that gain/loss is categorized separately and taxed at a lower rate.

This, hopefully, has given you a better sense of how the federal government is watching you're bitcoin and how you should report it. Doing it yourself isn't impossible, but with all the steps needed to figure out the valuation, it's not easy.

The difficulty of tracking bitcoin is one reason I created LibraTax, software designed to address the unique characteristics of digital currency and blockchain technology and make the accounting of it easy to handle.

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5 Major Changes Lawmakers Made to Your Taxes

December is here, which can mean only one of three things: It's time to buy gifts; it's time to stuff our bellies full of home-cooked food; and it's time to start thinking about your taxes!

Although tax time comes around but once a year, it's really a year-round effort on your part to dot your I's and cross your T's. Having a full understanding of your wages and investments, and keeping all pertinent paperwork organized, can make a big difference come April 15. December is also your last chance to make a number of key moves before it's too late, such as adding to your 401(k) or tax-loss harvesting to potentially reduce your capital gains or a portion of your wages.

Then again, the end of the year is also the time when Congress and the IRS lay out what tax code changes have been made for the year. Since 2001, Congress has enacted about 5,000 tax code changes to the nearly 4 million words that comprise the U.S. tax system. For you novel lovers out there, this works out to more than 60 books! It's no wonder most taxpayers wind up running for cover around tax time. 

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The Biggest Federal Income Tax Changes for 2015

By Kristin Shaw

Spoiler alert: 

The Affordable Care Act is the granddaddy of tax law changes this year. In fact, it's the largest single change to the tax code in 20 years.

It's a complex one to dig into, so let's set it aside for now. 

Besides the ACA, there are a few interesting changes that could affect you when you file that 2014 tax return next year.

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