Lee Sharpe warns that taxpayers and advisers will need to make sure that cryptoasset gains are being reported on tax returns, as HMRC is growing increasingly interested in taxing them.
Legend has it that in 2010, 10,000 Bitcoins were used to buy two pizzas. By the end of 2020 – just a decade later – 10,000 Bitcoins were worth well over $200 million.
Back in 2014, when Bitcoins were only worth around $150 each, HMRC issued Brief 9 (2014), which stated: “…depending on the facts, a [cryptocurrency] transaction may be so highly speculative that it is not taxable, or any losses relievable. For example, gambling or betting wins are not taxable and gambling losses cannot be offset against other taxable profits.”
However, it seems that over the last few years, HMRC has become rather more concerned with missing out on taxing gargantuan profits or gains, than
