Document Type
Article
Publication Date
8-13-2018
Abstract
In this report, Shakow explains how a decentralized autonomous organization functions and interacts with the U.S. tax system and presents the many tax issues that these structures raise. The possibility of using smart contracts to allow an entity to operate totally autonomously on a blockchain platform seems attractive. However, little thought has been given to how such an entity can comply with the requirements of a tax system. The DAO, the first major attempt to create such an organization, failed because of a programming error. If successful examples proliferate in the future, tax authorities will face significant problems in getting these organizations and their owners to comply with the tax laws.
Keywords
Income taxation, blockchain, smart contracts, The Ethereum Platform, blockchain forks, classification, Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, FATCA, enforcement, taxation of owners, taxation of the entity, cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence
Publication Title
Tax Notes
Repository Citation
Shakow, David J., "The Tao of The DAO: Taxing an Entity That Lives on a Blockchain" (2018). All Faculty Scholarship. 2009.
https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/faculty_scholarship/2009
Included in
Computer Law Commons, Digital Communications and Networking Commons, E-Commerce Commons, Internet Law Commons, Policy Design, Analysis, and Evaluation Commons, Taxation Commons, Taxation-Federal Commons, Tax Law Commons
Publication Citation
Tax Notes, August 13, 2018, at 929.