Buying coffee with bitcoin using a crypto credit card is a taxable event, but there are ways around it

Buying coffee with bitcoin using a crypto credit card is a taxable event, but there are ways around it

Some of the biggest credit card companies on the planet are trying to make it easier than ever to spend and earn bitcoin. But accountants and financial advisers tell CNBC there is a massive catch. Every time you swipe one of these crypto cards, you're logging a "taxable event." "The one thing that a lot of people don't realize is that whenever you spend cryptocurrencies to buy a cup of coffee, or any type of consumer item, that triggers a capital gains event," said Shehan Chandrasekera, a CPA and head of tax strategy at , a digital currency tax software company that helps clients to both track their crypto across virtual wallet addresses and manage their corresponding tax obligations. There's always a difference between how much you paid for the cryptocurrency, which is the cost basis, and the market value at the time you spend it. That difference can trigger income capital gains taxes, in addition to the other taxes you have to pay, like sales tax. But a lot of people don't seem to care about the tax headache. in July that more than $1 billion worth of cryptocurrency was spent by consumers globally on goods and services through