Inventory

Overview

The Inventory API offers a streamlined solution for retrieving asset amounts within a user's inventory, providing essential information such as total cost and total quantity for each asset.

Key Terms

  • Inventory: Inventory refers to the total quantity of a specific type of asset held by an individual. It consists of multiple individual tax lots, each with its own unique attributes.
  • Tax Lot / Inventory Lot / Lot: A tax lot represents a specific group of units in an investment acquired at the same time and cost basis. Accurate tracking of tax lots is essential for proper tax gain or loss calculation when an asset is disposed of.
  • Acquisition Date: The acquisition date is the date when an individual gains control of an asset. In the United States, this date determines the holding period (Long Term or Short Term) for tax purposes. The accurate determination of the original acquisition date is crucial, especially when assets are transferred.
  • Cost Basis: The cost basis of an asset is its value at the time of acquisition or the amount paid for the asset. It is essential for calculating gains or losses when the asset is disposed of. For example:
    • Buying 0.5 BTC for $200 results in a cost basis of $200 for that 0.5 BTC.
    • Earning 1.5 BTC with a fair value of $750 results in a cost basis of $750 for that 1.5 BTC.
  • Cost Basis Method (Accounting Method): This method is used to determine the cost basis of an asset for tax purposes upon sale. Two common methods for calculating and tracking the cost basis of digital assets are:
    • FIFO (First-in First-out): Assumes that the assets sold first are the ones acquired first.
    • Specific Identification (Spec Lot ID): Identifies specific lots at the time of sale to calculate gains or losses in detail.
    • Highest-in First-out (HIFO): Assumes that the assets sold first are the ones with the highest cost basis.
  • Missing Cost Basis: Transferring assets between accounts or wallets can make it challenging to track the cost basis and original acquisition date, resulting in a "missing cost basis." Accurate tax gain or loss determination becomes difficult for assets with missing cost basis information.

Purpose

Inventory can be used to provide an optimized tax experience for your end users. Examples of use cases that leverage this:

  • Detailed Portfolio Overview: By using the "Inventory Summary by Asset" endpoint, users can obtain a detailed overview of all the assets in their portfolio, including the quantity of each asset held.
  • Accurate Cost Basis Calculation: The API provides cost basis information for each asset, ensuring that users have a precise understanding of their investment's acquisition costs. It can also exclude assets without a cost basis, typically due to transfers between accounts or wallets.

Prerequisites

  1. Tenant scoped bearer token must be created
  2. Users must have been created in TaxBit’s system.
  3. To have meaningful information that is outputted, users must have acquisition transactions.

Available Actions

  • Get Inventory Summary by Asset: Get a comprehensive summary of your inventory by asset, including total cost basis and quantity for assets that are still in your inventory.