Will I be taxed if I immediately bought and sent (gifted) the bitcoin to another persons wallet without me selling the bitcoin?

[Vanessa A]

No, that would be considered a gift so if you did not sell it and you no longer own it, you would not be taxed on it.  However, the person who you gifted it to, will be taxed on it when they sell it.

Do note, that if you transferred it to another person in exchange for an item, this would be considered a sale so this would be a taxable event. 

Your Crypto Tax Guide

[sierrajcurry]

Ok thank you. I was a victim of a scam back in 2023 on the cash app Bitcoin. The scammer made me buy the bitcoin and then immediately send them the bitcoin to their wallet. Will I get taxed if I was a victim of a scam? Do I have to amend my 2023 form and report the gains and losses? 

[Vanessa A]

No. You do not need to amend and you will not get taxed on it.  A bitcoin scam is not a taxable event.  You cannot report a loss from it as this would be considered theft and is not currently a deductible expense, but you also do not report a gain from it. So there will be no affect on your return. 

[sierrajcurry]

Ok thank you. I have one more question. I got a “my all time returns for my performance”in the bitcoin transaction gains and loss from the scam. Do I need to report the “all time returns”?  I didn’t sell or anything just bought the bitcoin, and did a send/withdrawal to the scammer. I didn’t recieve a tax form last year from cash app. Thanks again!

[JamesG1]

Someone would be willing to help but we may not be familiar with the issue that you are talking about.  

Google searches did not return enough information to give a satisfactory answer. 

Can you refer us to another name for the scam or a website that explains the nature of the scam?  Please clarify.

[sierrajcurry]

I’m not sure what the scam really was. Mine and the scammer’s conversation started on Facebook when they pretended to be one of my Facebook friends and was talking to me about investing and how I should get started. It then led to them giving me instructions on how to buy Bitcoin and then send them the amount they told me to send. I bought 185$ of Bitcoin and then I withdrawald/gifted 180$ to the scammer. They promised me to send me something back in return for a huge refund that I never got. I looked on the blockchain and it says I have 0$ in everything with no transactions. 

[JamesG1]

Consider researching Google under 'crypto accounting firms' to find an accounting professional who is experienced in cryptocurrency taxation.  They would be more familiar with this issue.

@sierrajcurry