The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) wants a piece of the NFT loot. There is uncertainty over how NFT holders should be taxed, although tax experts estimate that taxes could be as high as 37%. According to James Creech, a tax attorney in San Francisco, “you don’t get to report earnings or losses because the IRS has failed to provide guidance that satisfies your expectations.”

According to Chainalysis, the NFT business would see $44 billion in transactions in 2021. Some artists made large profits, with one American artist selling an NFT for $69 million-plus royalties. This raises some concerns about how they ought to be taxed. Although the taxation of NFTs is not apparent at the moment, that does not mean they should not be declared on your tax return.

Those who failed to declare quarterly earnings from NFTs may be in for a rude awakening when penalties are imposed the next tax season. NFT owners can sell their NFTs on NFT marketplaces like Opensea or Rarible, and they may be liable to income tax of up to 37 percent when they do so. In addition, if NFTs use another cryptocurrency to purchase the NFT, they will owe capital gains taxes to the IRS.

Experts on taxation weigh in

NFT taxes are estimated to be worth billions of dollars, according to Arthur Teller, CEO of TokenTax. However, aside from the 37 percent income tax, the tax requirements are murky. For example, should they be taxed at the same rate as capital gains on art collectibles, currently 28 percent? Moreover, in light of Joe Biden’s proposed tax infrastructure package, the Treasury Department provides no detailed guidance on how NFTs will be taxed. According to Jarod Koopman, a director of the criminal investigation at the IRS, as a result, tax evasion may become a distinct possibility.

The IRS has issued general crypto tax guidelines

Notice 2014-21, 2014-16IRB938, Rev. Rul 2019-24, 2019-44 IRB1004, and ILM 20214020; the IRS explains how bitcoins are taxed. It should be noted that none of these include any mention of NFT. Section 61 of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) may necessitate the inclusion of creator income on the revenues of NFT sales and royalties. In contrast, Section 197 may allow amortization to buyers who use the NFT for business purposes. Buyers from other countries will be subject to local taxes. At the same time, if the copyright owners are citizens of the United States, they may be required to pay state and federal taxes on any royalties received.

According to reports, an Indonesian college student made a million dollars from NFT versions of his selfies on the OpenSea NFT marketplace.

A 22-year-old Indonesian computer science student named Sultan Gustaf Al Ghozali converted and sold approximately 1,000 selfie photos as NFTs. Ghozali claims he collected images of himself for five years, from the ages of 18 to 22, as a means to reflect on his graduation journey.

Ghozali took selfies in front of his computer, whether sitting or standing, which were eventually turned into NFTs and posted to OpenSea in December 2021. Without expecting severe buyers, the artist set the price for each NFT selfie at $3. Ghozali commented while marketing his expressionless images:

“You can do anything like flipping or whatever but please don’t abuse my photos or my parents will very disappointed in me. I believe in you guys so please take care of my photos.”

Ghozali’s NFT offering blew up, contrary to his wildest expectations, as notable members of Crypto Twitter showed support by acquiring and pushing the offerings.

According to AFP, one of Ghozali’s NFT sold for 0.247 Ether (ETH) on January 14, valued at $806 at the time of purchase. Along with the selfies, the young entrepreneur adds a touch of individuality by offering background information, which adds to the NFT’s rarity.

According to a Lifestyle Asia post, Ghozali’s selfie NFTs sold for 0.9 ETH or almost $3,000 at their peak. Ghozali’s collection eventually achieved a total transaction volume of 317 ether, worth over $1 million. Through OpenSea, the young artist made his first tax payment based on this money.

Despite the general crypto market’s recent sluggishness, the NFT marketplace and blockchain gaming business continues to see large transaction volumes.

According to DappRadar data, the number of UAW connected to Ethereum NFT DApps has increased by 43% from Q3 2021. Furthermore, NFT trading generated $11.9 billion in the first ten days of 2022, up from $10.7 billion in Q3 2021.

Increased Ethereum gas expenses have resulted in the burning of more than 14,000 ETH coins in the previous 24 hours. The increasing burn rate was caused by a surge in interest in NFT initiatives.

NFTs on the rise

While some in the cryptocurrency and digital asset communities feared the demise of the NFT business following a significant reduction in selling volume and transactional activity, specific NFT projects have seen a more than 100 percent spike in activity in the first days of 2022.

OpenSea NFT marketplace was one of the biggest burn providers, according to burn sources, with 3,300 ETH destroyed in the last 24 hours. In addition, shared Ethereum transfers caused the burning of 1,200 ETH.

Uniswap, Tether, and GenieSwap sent slightly more than 1,300 ETH to the burn address.

Is Ethereum on the verge of deflation?

More Ether has been burned in the last 24 hours than has been issued by miners, making January 9th another deflationary day for Ethereum. When the main network experiences high fees or congestion, Ethereum typically deflates.

Ether transaction fees have surged by more than 150-200 percent during the most recent NFT popularity surge, resulting in dramatically higher network user expenditure.

While Ether is constantly experiencing deflationary days, its market performance does not appear to be following the trend, with a 16.6% correction from January 5th to 9. At the time of writing, Ethereum is trading at $3,145, having had its first positive day in the market in four days, with a 2.4 percent price increase.