More than 100,000 merchants worldwide accept Bitcoin, including big companies like Microsoft and Expedia, according to a 2017 report from Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting, a tax software and analysis firm.

So, for instance, if you bought Bitcoin as an investment in late 2013, when it was trading at around $1,000, and used it to buy a car when the currency was trading at $18,000, you would have a long-term capital gain of $17,000, explained Ryan Losi, an accountant and executive vice president at Piascik, a tax firm.

Likewise, if you suffer a loss, that should also be reported on your tax return.

I’ve successfully ‘mined’ Bitcoins. Now what?

All Bitcoin transactions are recorded in a public ledger maintained by a decentralized network of computers. Mining refers to the process in which new Bitcoins are created and then awarded to the computers that are the first to process these transactions coming onto the network. The people whose computers do this most quickly collect a fresh helping of Bitcoins.

These virtual miners must report the fair market value of the currency (on the day they received it) as gross income. Miners are also required to pay self-employment tax — that is, Social Security and Medicare taxes — if the mining “constitutes a trade or business,” according to the I.R.S.

I was paid in Bitcoin. Are there any special tax consequences?

Receiving wages from an employer in a virtual currency is like being paid in dollars: It is taxable to the employee, must be reported by the employer on a Form W-2 and is subject to federal income tax withholding, according to Wolters Kluwer.

Independent contractors paid in digital currency must also treat that as gross income and pay self-employment taxes.