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Bitcoin Makes Historic First Appearance In US Supreme Court Opinion (ccn.com)
hyperclocker shares a report from CCN: Thursday marked a historic day for bitcoin, as the flagship cryptocurrency made its first appearance in an opinion published by the U.S. Supreme Court. The case, Wisconsin Central Ltd. v. United States, did not involve bitcoin's regulatory or legal status. Rather, it examined whether employee stock options represent taxable compensation under the Railroad Retirement Tax Act of 1937.
That may seem like an unlikely place for a discussion of bitcoin to appear, however, as justices noted in both the majority and dissenting opinions, the case forced them to consider a fundamental question that has also taken on a renewed importance in the decade following the publication of the Bitcoin white paper: "What is money?" "Ultimately, the 5-4 majority ruled that employees should not be taxed for exercising stock options since the action does not constitute 'money remuneration,'" the report adds. "However, writing in a dissenting opinion, Justice Stephen Breyer argued for a 'broader understanding of money' and said that stock options should be classified as taxable compensation."
That may seem like an unlikely place for a discussion of bitcoin to appear, however, as justices noted in both the majority and dissenting opinions, the case forced them to consider a fundamental question that has also taken on a renewed importance in the decade following the publication of the Bitcoin white paper: "What is money?" "Ultimately, the 5-4 majority ruled that employees should not be taxed for exercising stock options since the action does not constitute 'money remuneration,'" the report adds. "However, writing in a dissenting opinion, Justice Stephen Breyer argued for a 'broader understanding of money' and said that stock options should be classified as taxable compensation."
That was not the IRS's fault, that was the fault of the morons that on exercising kept the shares. Everyone with half a brain during that period exercised and sold the shares in a single transaction, I had my share of options back then and also watch many people get burnt like you explained, but that was purely their own fault and a decision they made.
you are blaming the IRS for a greed based risk that people chose to take. maybe they were poorly informed or just stupid, but this was not some random screwing by the IRS, it was a financial risk/investment they took on themselves and lost. The IRS doesn't get to make decisions for your investment stupidity, nor do they or should they compensate you for your stupidity.