In Ron Paul's view, bitcoin is money, and it should be taxed as such. How do you view this information?
Right now, whether Bitcoin is taxed really depends on the country where you live. I think that Bitcoin itself shouldn't be subject to taxes, but that the income from trading or just getting BTC as a salary should be reasonably taxed in a way that's similar to fiat income taxes. So it shouldn't be anything crazy because then people will just hide it, and the procedure of filing taxes should also be as simple as possible. I think such conditions would move a lot out of the gray area, and it can be beneficial to countries economies.
Correct and in most countries that I know every conversion from crypto to crypto is also subject to taxation. It makes sense because giving away your Ether for Bitcoin is nothing else but a realization of the profits you made on the first asset.
But it is a delicate topic because the lack of global harmonization in taxation and generally taxation on crypto makes it difficult to push it into the mainstream because it has limited usability. If you buy smaller items and then have to take account of everything and calculate your tax, you can imagine what kind of mess is going to punch you in the face at the end of the year or at the beginning of the year so to say.
Gouvernements just don't want to give up their participation on the awesome profits that cryptocurrencies brought to their citizens and the only way to get their hands on that is by taxation.