But now, as tax day 2021 rolls around, newbie traders are learning another lesson: how capital gains taxes work, and why "what you make" isn't always "what you make". 

And the due diligence traders are interested in doing on paying taxes seems to be far less than the due diligence many are doing by reading r/WallStreetBets. One 19 year old trader, who made $5,000 last year, told Bloomberg: "I read up on it and everything that I saw didn't lead me to believe that I had to pay, however I was at the grocery store or something so I didn't dive into it as much as I needed to."

Retail traders now account for 20% of all stock volume in the U.S., according to Bloomberg. Many of those traders simply don't yet understand the tax implications of trading.

20 year old trader Mac Coughlin said: "That's a whole other process that I need to learn. Quite honestly I have no idea about any of it. I took a small loss over the whole course of the year so in terms of filing and tax returns I do not really understand the process."