At the time of the announcement, the moderators of most of the subreddits involved with the community points program claimed to be unaware of the decision.
I am also curious. On the one hand, if you tax any gains from it you should also make sure it operates within some legal framework. On the other hand, would anybody investigate a magic bean salesman for insider trading? Would they rather charge them with scamming?
Edit: I just realized your comment wasn’t directed at the IRS specifically. I’ll leave my comment up because I still find the info interesting.
I think the IRS tries to be agnostic to the legality of income. Yes, taxes are set in accordance with law, but their role isn’t make sure you obtained your income legally or ethically… not that I would trust them not to “tattle”.
Here is an overview on the IRS’s guidance for reporting illegal income:
I am also curious. On the one hand, if you tax any gains from it you should also make sure it operates within some legal framework. On the other hand, would anybody investigate a magic bean salesman for insider trading? Would they rather charge them with scamming?
Edit: I just realized your comment wasn’t directed at the IRS specifically. I’ll leave my comment up because I still find the info interesting.
I think the IRS tries to be agnostic to the legality of income. Yes, taxes are set in accordance with law, but their role isn’t make sure you obtained your income legally or ethically… not that I would trust them not to “tattle”.
Here is an overview on the IRS’s guidance for reporting illegal income:
https://taxfoundation.org/blog/irs-guidance-thieves-drug-dealers-and-corrupt-officials/