If they are going to treat it as property, how would mined coins by a company set up as a corporation be treated? My impression is that per the IRS's position, bitcoins mined would be the same as a the creation of a product you create/produce for sale but does not sell. It becomes on the shelf inventory, and there is no taxable event until it sells. This applies to all companies that make products through a process, hard materials or digital. If you own a software application, or a script (plugin) you developed, and sell it for $50 per copy, and make 1000 copies on CDROM, you don't owe the IRS taxes on the copies until they sell. It's all 1s and 0s, so what difference is there between using computers to create scripts or plugins or software, or bitcoins? All property right? You just have to view it from a manufacturing standpoint. And the fact that they have ruled it is property, the manufacturing stance would in my opinion apply. Manufacturing being the creation of something tangible "property" from the use of labor, machines, raw materials, and energy resources. So you mine the coins, put them on paper wallets as inventory to sell. But hold them... For sale at a later date, which would be taxable. You'd have to set up an s-corp to do this, or is my thinking way off??
No, you're thinking is not way off. This is the exact question, or pretty close, that I'm taking to my accountant next week as part of my annual visit.
I'll likely incorporate, but am going to my accountant, who is a good one, first. This obviously entails other costs, such as incorporation, an annual report, annual fees, and filing a corporate return in addition to your private return, all of which increases your accounting costs, but it's likely a solid plan to consult an accountant first.
Oh, and as to kind of just holding them. From that standpoint they're inventory. Pretty sure that the value of the inventory is taxable. Now if that value is when they're created or at the end of the year is a question I don't have the answer to.