It's been a busy couple of weeks for bitcoin enthusiasts, first as they dealt with the volatility brought on by the implosion of the world's largest bitcoin exchange, then as Newsweek fingered a 64-year-old California man named Satoshi Nakamoto as the creator of the virtual currency.

    But compared to the question of whether bitcoin will ever achieve levels of adoption anywhere near the scale of government-backed fiat currencies, these stories are mere trifles. Bitcoin's biggest obstacle to success has always been receiving the blessing of the very governments that many of its supporters view as enemies one through 100.

    Some governments, like China, have taken steps to combat bitcoin's use. In December, Chinese officials banned financial institutions from dealing with bitcoin though individuals are free to own them. The United States has taken a more hands-off approach, but it is inevitable that the Treasury Department, and especially the IRS, will have to take an official stance on the currency, and its position will have huge implications for the success of bitcoin.

    Tax attorney Lee Shepard argues convincingly in a recent article in Tax Notes that "Bitcoin is not a currency," despite the protestations of some supporters. According to Shepard:

    Users of Bitcoin should not think that it is exempt from taxation or outside the tax system. There's nothing that Bitcoin allows anyone to do that they can't already do in the regular banking system ... Libertarians, drug dealers, and tinfoil hatters like Bitcoin because it is not issued by a central government, but the irony is that it is more controllable and more traceable than the U.S. bank notes ...

    Shepard points to a United States Tax Court decision from the 1970s that dealt with a company called Barter Systems, which allowed customers to trade in hard assets in return for "trade units" issued by the firm. This was during a time when inflation was high, which explains the appeal of these trade units. The U.S. tax court ruled that Barter Systems was required to report transactions involving these trade units and that the exchange "should be taxed on the fair market value of property received in exchange for trade units." Continues Shepard:

    Bitcoin is analogous to the trade units considered in Barter Systems Inc. of Wichita. It is a privately issued medium of exchange accepted only in constrained circumstances and not backed by any promise of the issuer. Colvin treated the trade units as property in analyzing their use. The same analysis applies to Bitcoin.

    这几个星期对于比特币的拥趸而言注定不大太平：先是全球最大的比特币交易平台Mt.Gox突然宣布破产；随后《新闻周刊》（Newsweek）又爆出，比特币的发明者是美国加州一位名为中本聪的64岁男子。

    不过，比起比特币的前景问题，上面这些新闻简直微不足道。比特币是否有希望像由政府担保的法定货币那样得到人们的广泛接纳？比特币成功的最大障碍一直在于取得政府的支持，然而许多比特币的拥趸却将政府视为仇敌。

    中国等国家对比特币持明确反对态度。去年12月，中国政府发布官方公告，禁止金融机构参与比特币交易，不过对个人用户仍然开放。虽然美国政府目前仍然维持不干涉的态度，但财政部（the Treasury Department），尤其还有国税局（IRS）早就对比特币虎视眈眈，迟早要插手，而这些大佬的态度会在很大程度上决定比特币的成败。

    税务律师李•谢帕德最近在一篇有关税收的文章中详细阐述了自己的观点：“比特币不是货币。”毫无疑问，他的观点遭到不少比特币支持者的反对。谢帕德的观点如下：

    比特币的使用者不应该认为自己能免除纳税义务，也不能以为自己可以游离于税务系统之外。比特币绝没有超脱世俗的能力，当前银行系统的禁区对比特币一样适用……自由论者、毒枭和阴谋论者喜欢比特币，因为它不由中央政府发行。但讽刺的是，比特币可比美钞更容易控制，也更容易追踪。

    谢帕德列举了美国税务法院（United States Tax Court）在上世纪70年代对Barter Systems公司逃税案的判决结果，这家公司当时允许客户将手中的“硬资产”变卖成自己发行的“交易单元”。当时美国正值高通胀时代，所以对这类交易单元的吸引力也就不难理解。美国税务法院裁决Barter Systems必须将有关交易单元的所有情况如实上报，同时“按照交易单元所兑换商品的市场公允价格进行纳税”。谢帕德还指出：

    比特币类似美国威奇托市Barter Systems公司力推的交易单位。后者是一种私下发行的交易媒介，应用场合十分有限，发行者不承担任何担保。科尔文法官在分析交易单元的使用情况时把它视为财产。同样的分析也适用于比特币。

    If Shepard's analysis is accurate, then how bitcoin users would be taxed when they sell their bitcoins for goods or dollars would depend on whether that person is a trader, investor, or dealer. But one thing is for sure, the transaction would be taxed, as bitcoin transactions are easily traceable.

    And if you're a bitcoin user that is buying and selling the currency on a short-term basis, as one would expect from a person using bitcoin like everyday currency, any gains you realize would be taxed as ordinary income -- as high as 39.6%.

    One of the main appeals for bitcoin is the fact that it was designed so that there can only be a finite number of bitcoins created. This, of course, will help those who keep their wealth in bitcoin avoid the hidden tax of inflation. The United States has an explicit policy goal of devaluing its currency at a steady 2% per year, and that adds up to quite a bit over time.

    But here's the rub: The IRS will value the gains you make on bitcoin vis-a-vis the dollar. The more inflation in the dollar, the higher your tax bill will be if you keep your wealth invested in bitcoin and transact often using it. There's also the issue of the high cost of record-keeping and reporting to the IRS an individual or company's frequent bitcoin transactions.

    So, if you're interested in bitcoin as a currency for its ability to maintain value, you're also going to have to plan on paying a high price to the feds for the pleasure of using it.

    The great contradiction inherent in bitcoin is that so much of its appeal comes from its supposed independence from the government, but it's increasingly clear that for the currency to be widespread enough for it to be a stable store of value, it will have to have to receive the blessings of governments across the world. And those governments are unlikely to cede their control over the monetary system anytime soon.

    如果谢帕德分析得没错，那么比特币交易者在将比特币兑换成其它商品或美元时应该按照什么方式对他们征税呢？按照他们的角色吗？交易者？投资者抑或是经销商？不过有一件事非常明确，因为比特币交易非常容易被定位，所以征税不可避免。

    如果你是比特币短线交易的参与者，需要频繁买进卖出比特币，跟那些把比特币当作日常货币使用的人一样，那么，你的全部所得将按照普通收入课税——税率高达39.6%。

    比特币的一大卖点是，它的数量有限，不能无限增发。这当然有助于比特币用户避免通胀带来的财富缩水。美国一项明确的政策目标即以每年2％的速度使美元稳步贬值，因此，这一年年累积起来可不是个小数目。

    但问题在于，美国国税局会评估你相对于美元从比特币上获得的收益。假如你将自身财富投资于比特币，经常用它进行交易，那么美元通涨越严重，你要缴的税将越高。还有一个问题就是，记录、同时向美国国税局报告个人或公司频繁进行的比特币交易所导致的成本相当高。

    所以，如果你对比特币作为货币的保值能力感兴趣，那就得做好心理准备，向美国联邦政府缴纳高额费用，以享受使用比特币的乐趣。

    比特币内在的一大矛盾在于，它的吸引力主要是因为人们认为它独立于政府之外。但日益清楚的一点是，一种货币要被广泛使用，甚至成为稳定的价值储存手段，它必须得到世界各国政府的认可。而短期来看，政府不大可能放弃对货币体系的控制权。（财富中文网）

    译者：项航