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    Author Topic: Anyone know what happened to knightmb and his 371,000 BTC?  (Read 81720 times)
    SgtSpike
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    May 16, 2011, 11:07:24 PM
     #101

    @rezin777: very nice questions, in my opinion.

    manufacturers may have income as a result of manufacture. for example, see

    http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/industries/article/0,,id=100355,00.html

    which says 'To figure taxable income, you must value your inventory at the beginning and end of each tax year'.

    inventory rules are complicated, however, and involve many line-drawing problems. but it's very possible for a business to be required to include goods purchased below market in 'inventory' at fair market value before sale. for example, the same document i linked above directs taxpayers to include in taxable inventory all 'purchased merchandise if title has passed to you, even if the merchandise is in transit or you do not have physical possession for another reason'.

    in general, there isn't a tax difference between 'making' and 'mining'. making gold from atomic processes (or more realistically at today's level of technology, making a diamond from conventional industrial processes for planned sale) would almost definitely have the same tax treatment as mining it, unless there are specific statutes that differentiate the two. what may be leading to an intuition that 'making' something isn't taxable is that if you just make something for yourself, not for sale or for its financial value, then it is likely not taxable.

    but of course, i'm not commenting on this case or giving tax advice!

    @vess, it is not correct to say 'a simple purchase is never taxable for the purchaser' under federal law in the united states. that is usually true, but there are many situations that require marking to market even if there is a purchase but no sale. it's 'for most ordinary taxpayers, trading most securities', not 'period, end of story'. i agree with you about what 'capitalism' is, however. it's hard to find people who actually engage in business in the modern world who have the extreme 'robber baron' view of nondisclosure norms. nor would those norms be economically productive in most situations.
    You are taking things completely out of context.

    Quote
    An inventory is necessary to clearly show income when the production, purchase, or sale of merchandise is an income-producing factor. If you must account for an inventory in your business, you must use an accrual method of accounting for your purchases and sales
    This means that if you keep an inventory of finished goods on hand, available for sale, you must know the value of said goods.  It doesn't mean that producing the goods themselves is taxable, only that you must know the value of your inventory so that when you sell it, you have proper accounting for your cost of goods sold, so you know what your income is after expenses.

    NOWHERE does it say that you are taxed for income when you produce goods.  You are ONLY taxed when you sell the goods you produce!
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