This is actually a very important topic of discussion. Like you said, the more transparent and legitimate you are, the less there is to worry about. I've wondered myself about how the 'rewards' of Steem come into play with taxes, because it could be argued that a prize reward for a competition isn't subject to tax, so being rewarded in Steem for creating a good piece of content sort of plays on a thin line between that and an earning.

In the UK, from what I understand, you are taxed on the profit you make when you sell the currency, so if I bought at $2 and sold at $3 I would only pay a tax on the difference between the numbers, the profit. But what I struggle to work out is, with Steem, you don't buy it, so I suppose it must fall into the difference of value from receiving to selling that would count.