Depending on your current knowledge / opinion this is either massive news, or a storm in a tea cup...
I'm on the side of it being a storm in a tea cup.
It is my long held opinion that trading crypto is NOT a way to hide income or avoid tax.
Quite the opposite in fact, Think of it this way. Crypto's work on the fact they are a permanent, immutable ledger recording all transactions and keeping them forever.
Combine that with the FACT that technology is constantly evolving and you'll soon see even the "privacy" coins may one day be able to have 100% of their transactions "unwound" using AI or similar.
You would be incredibly naive to think the governments would not be the first group to be actively trying to trace and track ALL crypto transactions.
Another reason why I prefer to research, buy and HOLD.
How much do you want to pay an accountant for going through all of your trades to work out a tax position?
That's OK, you can ignore it right? They'll never know anyway, you're just a small fish in a massive pond after all..., or maybe you're just the kind of soft target they need to make an example of to keep "their" people in line.
Be smart guys, expect the "unexpected" and plan for the future.
There are ways to profit from crypto and MINIMISE tax. While I'm no fan of taxation without representation (or most forms of taxation at all), I'm not naive enough to bury my head in the sand and just believe some anons on facebook or youtube when they tell me crypto is a way to "stick it to the man and pay no tax".
Make no mistake, crypto is massively disruptive and will no doubt knock some massive companies off of their monopolistic perch, but if you really think the worlds governments aren't going to go after tax revenue (and in many cases be very successful at it), you're ignoring thousands of years of history...
If you want to make profits, and retain the maximum possible without taking on legal risk, seek professional advice form an accountant (like Campbell Milne).
An accountant like Campbell Milne can help you structure your investments from the beginning so you can MINIMISE your tax obligations legally.
I know we'll see some people getting MASSIVE tax bills in the next few years and maybe some people even going bust as a result.
I don't want to see any of you among those who thought they were going to fly under the radar and wind up in trouble. Be smart, seek advice and retain your life changing profits as a result