After a tough year for crypto, you may be looking for ways to turn steep losses into possible tax breaks. The digital currency industry lost nearly $1.4 trillion in 2022 after a slew of bankruptcies and liquidity issues, including the collapse of the digital currency exchange FTX. Selling crypto is generally treated the same as security sales with a few exceptions. One of these exceptions is crypto is not subject to the ‘wash sale’ rules and there are a few others. Make sure that the crypto documentation that you provide to your tax preparer is detailed and includes a summary. If you have a large number of crypto transactions, i.e. more than 25, we recommend taking advantage of a software tool that will gather, calculate, and format your crypto activity for tax reporting. Using such a tool will minimize the fee that your tax preparer charges for crypto compliance. Koinly is a good choice but there are a number of tools available. Note the free plan Koinly offers does not include tax reports. If you choose Koinly, please contact us for a discounted license. https://koinly.io/features/
Georgia Dependent Personal Exemption
Beginning with the 2022 tax year, Georgia residents may claim a $3,000 tax exemption on their Georgia state income tax return for each qualifying “unborn” child.
On August 1, 2022, the Georgia Department of Revenue issued guidance related to Georgia’s anti-abortion law, known as the “Living Infants Fairness and Equality Act” (the LIFE Act). Among other things, the LIFE Act includes language that changes the definition of “natural person” to include an “unborn child with a detectible human heartbeat.” The LIFE Act defines an “unborn child” as “a member of the species Homo sapiens at any stage of development who is carried in the womb.”
According to the Georgia Department of Revenue, a taxpayer who has an “unborn child” with a detectable human heartbeat on or after July 20, 2022 is eligible for the Georgia individual income tax dependent exemption in the amount of $3,000 for each “unborn child.” https://dor.georgia.gov/press-releases/2022-08-01/guidance-related-house-bill-481-living-infants-and-fairness-equality-life.
Charitable Contribution Deduction
If you took the standard deduction on your 2020 or 2021 tax return could also claim a tax deduction of up to $300 for cash donations to charity. However, the $300 deduction wasn’t extended past 2021. For 2022 and beyond, the only way to write off gifts to charity is to itemize. https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc506
Are you lucky if you owe tax on your cryptocurrency activity?
Well possibly. The lucky person is the one who owes taxes on their crypto activity and realizes cash. But what about the unlucky person who owes taxes on their crypto activity and did not realize any cash from that activity? This scenario is common. We trade in crypto personally and understand the potential complexities of appropriately reporting crypto transactions on your tax returns. Forbes Advisor
The IRS revealed it’s backlog was much larger
” The IRS has its own internal watchdog, the National Taxpayer Advocate. In her annual report to Congress this month, the advocate, Erin Collins, said that in 2021, the agency had a backlog of some 35 million returns that required manual processing. Taxpayers who called the IRS for guidance had only a 1 in 9 chance of getting their calls answered.” NPR
The IRS has a massive backlog
The IRS has a backlog of over 6 million paper returns from the previous tax years. Do not file on paper unless you have no other option, especially if you expect a refund. -Washington Post