Jump to content
ATX Community

Donation of Cryptocurrency


Lee B

Recommended Posts

"If a taxpayer makes a charitable contribution of cryptocurrency valued at more than $5,000, a qualified appraisal is required the IRS held in Chief Counsel Advice 202302012.[1]  The IRS finds that cryptocurrency fails to fall into any category of property exempted from the qualified appraisal rules of §170(f)(11)(C)."

It doesn't get any easier, does it?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No it doesn't. Crypto is considered property. The most difficult part is determining value. One would think the value is either FMV or owner basis at time of purchase, but not that simple. Add in forks, splits and other items to the mix. So, if I donated a bitcoin that my basis is $3000.00 to a charitable organization, is it safe to include this amount on the 8283? Can't be a cash donation because it is property. Like you said, it doesn't get any easier.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The really tricky part about valuing crypto is that the value changes by the second or nonosecond or something, and it trades 24/7.  No looking up the closing price like with funds, or averaging the day's opening and closing prices for stocks.  (One appraiser uses the average day's high and low of three crypto exchanges that exchange into dollars and then averages the averages--not sure if that cuts the mustard.)  I would put the onus on the donee to research the price when the  crypto left his/her wallet.  If over $5k, there are few "qualified" appraisers to sign the necessary paperwork, so good luck with that.  Few charities are equipped to take crypto anyway.  For those that do, the client could get help from them to determine FMV.  So yes, I am pretty much saying that it is NOT OUR PROBLEM to figure this out, other than making sure the client follows the rules (and explaining over and over that basis has nothing to do with it).

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I assume the appraiser will use this link below to know the FMV when the coin was donated. Let's say that you donated some solana SOL on April 15, 2022. You will enter SOL on the search bar, then you will click "all" and expand the chart and move the cursor to the date you are looking for.  In this case the FMV of each SOL was $101.3

https://coinmarketcap.com/gainers-losers/

image.thumb.png.6988528df8046d888f3471ac078468da.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think you need the exact time.  As volatile as crypto is, it could have traded between $70 and $150 that day.  Bitcoin, for example, sometimes seems to be going up at 9AM but by 5PM is down over $400  (and there is no trading day so who knows where it was before 9 or where it will be by midnight).

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...