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With inflation running at a four-decade high in the United States, the country’s federal tax agency – Internal Revenue Service (IRS) – has responded by making adjustments to some sixty provisions.
Several of these changes will directly affect how much tax you owe for your cryptocurrency activities for the year ahead.
This piece is part of CoinDesk’s Tax Week.
Standard deductions
Starting off, the amount U.S citizens can deduct from their taxable income – known as “Standard Deduction” – has been increased, meaning you get to hold on to a little more cash than the previous year.
Filing status | 2021 tax year | 2022 tax year |
|---|---|---|
Single | $12,550 | $12,950 |
Married, filing together | $25,100 | $25,900 |
Married, filing separately | $12,550 | $12,950 |
Head of household | $18,800 | $19,400 |
Cryptocurrency-based activities that are treated as income in the U.S. include:
- Receiving crypto tokens from airdrops.
- Receiving cryptocurrency for completing contracted work.
- Interest earned from crypto assets deposited in decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols.
- Crypto mining, including income both earned from block rewards and transaction fees.
- Any tokens earned from providing liquidity or staking.
Federal income tax brackets
Changes are also being made to income brackets. These will affect how much tax you’ll owe for short-term held crypto assets (assets held for less than one year). Anything held for longer is treated as a long-term capital gain and subject to either 0%, 15% or 20% tax depending on individual or combined marital income.
Individual filers
Taxable income | Taxes owed |
|---|---|
$0 to $10,275 | 10% of taxable income |
$10,276 to $41,775 | $1,027.50 + 12% of amount over $10,275 |
$41,776 to $89,075 | $4,807.50 + 22% of amount over $41,775 |
$89,076 to $170,050 | $15,213.50 + 24% of amount over $89,075 |
$170,051 to $215,950 | $34,647.50 + 32% of amount over $170,050 |
$215,951 to $539,900 | $49,335.50 + 35% of amount over $215,950 |
$539,901 or more | $162,718 + 37% of amount over $539,900 |
Joint-filing married couples
Taxable income | Taxes owed |
|---|---|
$0 to $20,550 | 10% of taxable income |
$20,551 to $83,550 | $2,055 + 12% of amount over $20,550 |
$83,551 to $178,150 | $9,615 + 22% of amount over $83,550 |
$178,151 to $340,100 | $30,427 + 24% of amount over $178,150 |
$340,101 to $431,900 | $69,295 + 32% of amount over $340,100 |
$431,901 to $647,850 | $98,671 + 35% of amount over $431,900 |
$647,851 or more | $174,253.50 + 37% of amount over $647,850 |
Further Reading from CoinDesk's Tax Week
Crypto won’t save you from taxes, but it may eventually make them easier to pay, says futurist Dan Jeffries.
Tax guidance lags innovation. So does tax software. Meanwhile, misconceptions abound. If not careful, investors can end up owing more tax than expected and having to unload crypto to pay the bill
Investors in MicroStrategy, Tesla, Block and Coinbase need to consider how wild price swings will affect results, not only directly but indirectly due to complex tax accounting rules.
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