[cba9]

At this point, if he is Satoshi, he would probably be better off coming out of the closet. If you read through the McGrath-Nichols documents about the Hotwire bankruptcy and how the R&D tax credits dispute killed Hotwire, it's clear the ATO has it out for Wright.

I bet that whatever this raid is about, it's about something like R&D tax credits again (http://www.businessinsider.com.au/the-australian-who-may-hav... says $54 million in 2015 alone!) or some sort of VAT rebate, and it may kill another of Wright's companies. There's not much you can do against the ATO if they are determined to reach an adverse decision against you... But if he's Satoshi, he can take the moral high ground and wage a media campaign to shame the ATO into dropping the case and maybe finally correctly treating Bitcoin as money.

[2muchcoffeeman]

> But if he's Satoshi, he can take the moral high ground and wage a media campaign to shame the ATO into dropping the case and maybe finally correctly treating Bitcoin as money.

How does this help? If they treat it that way, wouldn't Wright have a huge income tax debt?

[cba9]

> wouldn't Wright have a huge income tax debt?

Yes, but presumably he can pay it out of his Bitcoin fortune. He has to deal with that at some point anyway, and by going public now, he gains additional leverage on his VAT or tax credit or whatever the ATO has decided to get him for this time.

[randyrand]

Bitcoin is still volatile.

Typically tax on volatile income is paid when you "cash out" to a more stable currency.

[girvo]

I wonder if capital-gains tax applies to Bitcoin? I'd think it would. And it's quite large, too.

[mikeyouse]

Yep, the Australian Tax Office recognizes it as a commodity that's subject to capital gains taxes.

[imron]

> Yes, but presumably he can pay it out of his Bitcoin fortune

Thereby tanking the price of Bitcoin, and his fortune. Though on the bright side, a smaller fortune will mean smaller taxes.