Retail investors can submit transaction records from crypto exchanges to online accounts on the firm’s website. The software will reconcile the transaction data and calculate how much in taxes the investors will pay, which will be recognized by the IRS, according to Benson.
Lukka, one of the first accounting firms for digital assets, is offering a TurboTax-like service to retail crypto investors starting on Jan. 15.
The move, announced Wednesday, comes after the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued updated guidance for calculating taxes on cryptocurrencies in October. The last time the IRS issued such guidance was in 2014, when the crypto market was less complex and fewer taxpayers held the assets.
“One of the first questions on the IRS’s tax form is whether you have crypto assets”, Lukka CEO Jake Benson told CoinDesk. “It is a question that taxpayers cannot ignore anymore.”
Lukka has also established a partnership with CPA.com, a subsidiary of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, to offer crypto tax preparation services for professional accounting firms, Benson said.
He said the partnership is significant since the institute only selects one partner in each industry to provide accounting guidance and services.
Formed in 2014, Lukka – formerly known as Libra – is one of the first accounting firms to calculate taxes for crypto investors. The firm primarily focuses on serving institutional investors.
The new DIY service for crypto tax preparation will cost $19.95 for an annual subscription and $9.95 if customers pre-purchase before January.
‘Satoshi’ Enters the Oxford English Dictionary
The Oxford English Dictionary, published by the Oxford University Press, has added “satoshi” to its compendium of the English language.
First used less than seven years ago, satoshi is the newest word added to the dictionary. The addition was made as part of a quarterly update to the respected source’s database that also includes the words “Manhattanhenge”, “whatevs” and a revised history of “fake news.”
According to the now official OED definition, a satoshi is “the smallest monetary unit in the bitcoin digital payment system, equal to one hundred millionth of a bitcoin”, or 0.00000001 BTC.
OED lexicographers take a descriptive approach to language, meaning that the dictionary observes how words emerge, grow or diminish in popularity and change definitions over time.
The OED’s policy says:
“Our role is to monitor and record emerging vocabulary so that we can make new terms available to our dictionary users as soon as they start to gain traction.”
Cited uses of the noun come from Ripple Project, a Usenet newsgroup in 2012, from the Guardian in 2013 and the Times in 2017.
The OED notes American and British pronunciations differ. Stateside, the “o” in Satoshi is pronounced like the “ʊ” sound in foot, whereas across the pond the “o” sounds like the “ɒ” in “lot.”
The word is derived from the proper noun, Satoshi Nakamoto, the “probably pseudonymous” creator or creators of bitcoin. In this context, Nakamoto is an etymon, or a word from which a later word is derived.
Curiously, the authorities on grammar state Nakamoto was “reportedly born in 1975”, referring to one of the only bread crumbs left behind by the mysterious founder when asked to give a birth date on a website where he first described the plan for bitcoin.
