“Crypto Currency is the next big thing.”
It’s a scam!
It’s a basic way of avoiding tax!
It’s untraceable!
You can’t fail to make money with it.
Is all of the above true or false? The answer, as some of you might already know is “YES” or is it “NO”?
So, what do we know?
A lot, and we mean a LOT of crew have jumped on the Crypto band wagon in the last 18 months
There is a lot of talk of crew making £100,000’s in profit from their Crypto investments
There is very little mention of how much has been lost by crew who didn’t do so well!
Not many people actually understand what Crypto is and how you make money with it.
Do you know what you are doing?
Some people take this very seriously. They do their research, monitor trends and growth and even have their own algorithms. If you are going to invest in anything it obviously pays to know what you are doing. These people do pretty well.
The rest of us (myself included) have talked to friends and followed random pieces of advice offered. We read stories on the internet and believe what we want to believe. That we will become millionaires overnight with a tiny investment, no knowledge and absolutely no work.
Get real!
Exactly. If you are like me you are probably on a rollercoaster of emotions. It’s up, it’s down, it’s going to triple by year end. Then it all falls through the floor and you have lost your initial investment. But, now it’s cheap I should buy more, right?
The truth is this. If you know what you are doing you can probably make some money. Just like with stocks and shares, FX trading, cars, watches, jewellery etc. The list goes on.
If you don’t know what you are doing and guess at it, the chances are you will probably lose. But who knows, Crypto is so unpredictable you could do absolutely fine.
What have I learned?
I gave it a try at the beginning of the year just to see what happened. Then I talked to a few people who seemed to know what they were doing and did absolutely no research of my own. I only invested money I could afford to lose and have kept an eye on progress. I don’t check every day or even every week but I do get price alerts.
Have I earned any money? So far no. I am up on where I started but have set targets for all the coins I invested in. This is the point where I would remove the profit and leave the initial investment in. None of mine have quite got there yet. I haven’t set unrealistic goals either but every time I get close to cashing in the price drops!
Over the same period I have other investments which have made a steady 17% return. When my Crypto reaches the goal then this will have done much better. But, the key word here is “WHEN”
What do you need to know?
This is simple. There are three things all crew need to understand when investing in Crypto currency.
- You need to do some research. Investing in anything without a clue what you are doing is stupid
- Only invest what you can afford to lose
- if you make or lose money trading Crypto you need to declare it on your tax return
Hold on a second. Declare what?
This part is the unfortunate truth about all investments. If you make money doing something you need to tell the tax man. Recently we have been approached by a huge number of crew asking all sorts of questions like;
How do I hide my crypto gains so I don’t have to pay tax on them?
I’ve made a lot of money trading Crypto. Can I become a resident of Panama to avoid paying tax on them?
Crypto is untraceable isn’t it?
In reality you all know the answers to these questions. The issue most crew have is that they aren’t used to paying tax and so this could come as a shock.
Capital gains normally have tax payable on them
You are in the fortunate position of not having to pay tax on your salary due to the unique way the UK tax system works.
Unfortunately this does not apply to your investments or “gains” made elsewhere.
So, in a nutshell just to ensure we are all on the same page. If you sell or trade any crypto currency this needs to be declared on your tax return.
The golden rule…….
Unsure? ask. If you have made some money this year you know you have. We don’t unless you tell us and so we can’t help you if you do not disclose this to us. Remember, non-disclosure of earnings can be treated as tax evasion. So, please remember this. When it comes to doing your tax return this year (and yes, it is time) please tell us if you have made any money via Crypto or any other source as it needs to be declared.
For help or advice when it comes to tax, banking, investments or anything else relating to money we are here to help at www.crewfo.com
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