NFT Tax Guide: What Creators and Investors Need to Know About NFT Taxes
Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs as they get called in short, have taken the world by storm. There are indications that this is the next phase of growth for the digital economy as a whole. The root technology underpinning NFTs is the blockchain. It is a database that is not in control of a single party. This property means NFTs are unique digital files with unique ownership. Governments across the world have taken the onus to regulate digital assets. This is as per the framework of the existing internet architecture. Can NFT taxes become a progressive measure for creators and thought leaders? Time will tell.
Likewise, there is a collective understanding about the benefits that NFT taxes bring. We have times where young, digital natives are dictating consumption and production trends. Hence, there is a shift in the way brands, consumers and enterprises are going about. Governments believe blockchain technology can get regulated. This is as long as there are adequate, standardized norms for NFTs. Let’s start today’s topic about NFT taxes by first, understanding how NFTs work.
What are NFTs?
Non-fungible tokens or NFTs are digital files that live on the blockchain. Each NFT is unique. It is not exchangeable for another NFT. This is unless there’s a private agreement between owners. They’re programmable. This means they can get attached to perform any set of services as specified in the code. We’ve heard of the statement that ‘code is the law’. NFTs confer properties upon user interactions on the blockchain. This is in such a way that we can bake in value to all our interactions with each other.
What are Taxes?
Taxes are funds collected by governments (central, state or local) to build infrastructure. Typical examples include security forces, drinking water, basic education and primary health. It can also include digital infrastructure like data centers. Taxes play a very important role in directing the shape and future of an economy. For instance, every year governments spend billions on building and maintaining services. They get used by the not so well-off sections of the society. Likewise, think taxes are subsidy for people on their transport and communication costs. With time, private corporations have started to take over the functions of society.
What are NFT Taxes?
NFTs are under the scanner of tax authorities and governments across the world. There is an active direction to impose taxes on NFT sales and transactions that occur in a nation. For instance, the Indian government imposed a 30% tax on sale and purchase of digital assets. This is although there is still some clarity required on the exact mechanism. Likewise, the Securities and Exchange Commission, USA wants to regulate the NFT ecosystem. This is as per its interpretation and definitions. Hence, we must understand that all talk about NFT taxes is still dynamic. Individuals and communities need not panic or despair about it. All we need to do is wait and educate ourselves till then.
Elements of NFT Taxes for Artists
In a typical NFT transaction that occurs on the blockchain, an artist mints his or her art into an NFT. This is either for free or some fees that depend on the NFT service provider. For instance, artists have friends as developers,. They help them upload their art to the blockchain. Likewise, some artists are not lucky. Hence, they rely on the services of marketplaces or white-label services. They charge a fee for this minting process. As an artist, there is no need to worry about this step for tax.
When sellers pay artists, they aren’t doing so through a traditional bank. This is because the blockchain is a global piece of software which knows no physical borders. Hence, what happens is that artists receive funds from collectors present in country. This is the beauty of a 24/7 global market. Hence, what artists need to keep in mind is that when asked, they need to have a list of their income ready and good to go. The blockchain already automates this information and stores it in a secure way. The key point is whether the tax may need to get paid in fiat currency.
Hence, you need to make sure that you use an exchange to convert your earnings into fiat currency.
Second, artists also earn from royalty in the secondary marketplace. Hence, each time there is a sale, the original artist will need to declare to the government that
Elements of NFT taxes for Collectors
As enthusiastic collectors, NFT taxes seem to be something worth bothering about. This is because there are many collectors who are speculators. This is different than people who look at NFTs as artworks to get stored and displayed on the blockchain. For collectors of a certain breed, NFT taxes may not be particularly bothersome. They never intend to sell. If a collector never sells, there is no question of applying a capital gains tax. This is on the price of the original artwork that got sold by the artist.
What NFT collectors need to know is governments claim a percent of the transaction value. For instance, say you bought an art from the original artist, now you need to pay a tax when you resell it to someone else. In many contexts, NFT taxes are exactly the same as the taxes imposed for real-world products. The complexity seems to be there because tax authorities need to track NFTs from the world. This is the main reason why many governments have been calling for a global tax on NFTs.
Collectors also need to remember that blockchain technology is transparent and tracks ownership. In the event of a purchase from a budding artist, tax authorities may claim a percentage of the NFT. Likewise, what if your NFT is something else apart from an artwork? For instance, NFTs get programmed to possess properties like unique access to events. How will such NFTs get taxed? They aren’t the same as an NFT artwork. But at the same time, do possess intrinsic commercial value.
Likewise, what about taxation for more complex NFT works? For instance, an NFT that’s regenerative and changes as per interactions on blockchain. Hence, NFT collectors should remember that the more we look ahead, taxation is not to get ignored. Its about reclaiming your space in a new economy.
Conclusion
Today we are on the crux of a new dawn in global markets and global economics. There is complexity everywhere. It can get overwhelming after a point of time. One can only understand the stress that governments and tax authorities are under. First, they know that blockchain enables a global distributed database. Second, they also make sure to use the technology to streamline their own processes.
Taxation is an inherent part of our economies. As mentioned, they play an important role in getting surplus from one part of the economy to another. NFT taxes look complicated at the moment. This is because we’re in the early stages of a multi-billion dollar global digital economy. NFTs are here to stay. So is taxation. Artists and collectors must get familiar with the NFT taxation landscape.
