Very reasonable @lexiconical. I thought about it the same way you describe it.
Lets imagine you all of a sudden get a $10,000 payout in Steemit account. You go to pay your taxes say 5% or $500. The next day for some reason Steemit drops 10 times in value. Will you get a $450 cashback from IRS? ))
Anyways, will be waiting for your next post with your proposal how to count it.
Nope, you definitely won't! And I hope to cover this exact phenomenon in part 3 where I cover the complications around powering down! With the volatility that is normal in the cryptocurrency markets, the 13 week power-down delay can often create exactly the situation you describe.
Here's a quick link to part two:
https://steemit.com/taxes/@lexiconical/valuing-steem-rewards-as-taxable-income-is-a-vast-overstatement-of-tax-liability-part-2-the-thin-order-book-and-flash-crashes