Tax related questions

Beginners
21

NFA – This is my personal view as a community member and not affiliated with MaidSafe/Autonomi. I am not a lawyer or a tax expert.

There are two perspectives on the MAID → ANT conversion for U.S. taxpayers:

Approach 1: Crypto-to-Crypto Swap (Taxable Event)

Anytime you exchange one asset for another, it is considered a taxable event under US tax law. You owe capital gains tax on the difference between your purchase price (cost basis) and the value at the time of conversion.

Example:

  • You bought MAID for $250 two years ago.
  • When swapping for ANT, its value is $300.
  • You owe long-term capital gains tax on the $50 profit ($300 - $250).

If you held MAID for less than a year, the gain would be taxed as short-term capital gains, which is typically a higher rate.

Conversely, if you swap at a loss, you can use capital losses to offset other taxable gains.

Approach 2: Proxy/Placeholder Swap (Not Taxable)

Some argue that because MAID, eMAID, and ANT are all 1:1 representations of the same asset, despite different contract addresses and tickers, the conversion should not be considered a taxable event.

This is similar to:

  • ETH ↔ wETH
  • BTC ↔ wBTC
  • USDC ↔ USDT
  • SOL ↔ wSOL

Under this view, the swap is more like wrapping/unwrapping than exchanging distinct assets, making it a non-taxable event. However, tax authorities have not provided explicit guidance on this, so interpretations may vary.

Selling ANT (Taxable Event Regardless of the Approach)

Regardless of whether the initial MAID → ANT swap is taxable, selling ANT for USD, USDC, ETH, or any other crypto is always a taxable event. At that point, you must report capital gains or losses based on:

  • The price at which you acquired ANT (cost basis).
  • The price at which you sold it.

Final Note

Since tax treatment can vary based on interpretation and enforcement, it’s always best to consult a tax professional to ensure compliance with your specific situation.

2 Likes
22

Right now I have 2 options. Lets say I have 100,000 MAID.

Option#1
Feb 2025: Burn 100k MAID, receive 100k ANT. (ANT price $0.50)
Feb 2026: Sell 100k ANT at $2.00
Tax due in Austria: = 100,000 x (2 - 0.5) x 27.5% = $41,500

Option#2
Feb 2025: Do nothing.
Feb 2026: Burn 100k MAID, receive 100k ANT. (ANT price $2.00)
Feb 2026: Sell 100k ANT @ $2.00
Tax due in Austria: $0

It’s a no brainer for me. I could of course go to the Finanzamt and get a binding answer, but why bother?

2 Likes
23

Austria, along with Germany, Portugal, and a few others, has a very favorable cripto tax system, especially for holders, which is not the case in most Western countries.

I wish there were something similar in my country…

3 Likes
24

NFA

I don’t think that’s right. Even with Option #2, you would still owe taxes on the gains from $0.50 to $2.00 when you sell ANT for USDC/ETH in February 2026. If you take Option #2 under the assumption that it’s a proxy token, you would still need to pay taxes on the $1.50 gain because the increase in value happens while holding. The swap itself might not be taxable under the ‘proxy’ argument, but the gain from holding until the swap would still be subject to taxation when you sell.

This is assuming US jurisdiction, I know nothing on Austria.

25

In Austria there is no tax on gains if held for over a year, so @Astroman is correct that he is best to wait until he wants to sell ANT to do the token swap if he wants to sell within a year from now.

I believe everyone should treat the swap as a taxable event unless the tax rules in your country are very clear that it isn’t.

26

Norwegian tax authorities consider tokens swaps, wraps/unwraps and burning where you receive a new token to all be taxable events.

27

@Bux advised she was going to create a document for shareholders, which I assume would also answer tax questions for everyone, around 6months ago.

28

That is a big assumption :laughing:

On the stages they noted they’ll provide a shareholder update shortly (i.e. within the next week).

29

I’m pretty sure they mentioned tax advice was to be included. I can’t be certain, but think that is why it stuck in my mind as I didn’t expect it to be covered. Anyway, it has been almost ready, or approved and just needing a website and on Tuesday was promised for this week.

3 Likes
30

It would surely be quite limited advice, as there’s no reasonable way they could tailor it to every country etc.

Hopefully not too long to wait anyway :slight_smile:

31

Agreed, which is why I was curios and waiting to see what came out. It may of course have been a mistake, mine or theirs.

1 Like
32

It could be argued that what you mentioned often means getting a different/new asset while switching Emaid/Maid to ANT should be considered the same asset, there should be a difference at least in theory.

That Maid/Emaid is said in the whitepaper to be a placeholder token should in theory be helpful when explaining that Maid/Emaid was always meant to become ANT and that they are the same asset, that you are not making any gains or receiving a new asset, at least in theory.

33

In any case different jurisdiction will interpret it in different ways and different professionals within a jurisdiction will interpret the law in different ways. I think it’s likely that no tax professional or tax lawyers would be able to give a really good answer if the tax authorities haven’t already given clear guidance. In that case the only sure way to get an answer is to directly ask the tax authorities in your jurisdiction for a legally binding answer. You might disagree with the answer and in that case, there’s even a chance you could successfully challenge their answer in court, to go along with your interpretation, if you’re so inclined.

1 Like
34

Actually no. My cost price is the price on the day of the burn. So tax is only due on the difference between the cost price and the selling price.

This is only because I bought my MAID before new laws were introduced in 2021.
The old laws apply to these MAID which means if I hold for over a year gains are tax-free.
The moment I burn, the new tokens fall under the new laws which taxes any profit from selling at 27.5%