It has always been clear that bitcoin is property, subject to barter rules. Within the US to the best of my understanding and knowledge, if you spend, say peso's, then you have a taxable gain or loss depending on the price you paid for peso's in dollars, plus any sales or use tax due. Further, it seems clear that sales or use tax may have become due as well when bitcoin is purchased for dollars unless specifically excluded by state law. Intangible property my not be subject to sales or use tax. For example, in California if you purchase software and it is delivered over the net as information (intangible property) in a download or attachment to an email no sales or use tax is due, but if you receive the software in tangible form, like on a CD, sales or use tax becomes due on the transaction. It is really not much of a problem tracking your bitcoin profit or loss, long term or short term gains or losses. Just put date and cost in a spreadsheet. Track the gains or losses on spending the bitcoin automatically. The big pain though is the necessity of reporting according to the tax laws, state and federal.