IRS Targets Virtual Currency
IRS Targets Virtual Currency
Revenue agents are on the hunt for those who deal in virtual currency.
They’re mailing letters to people they believe have virtual currency accounts. It’s part of IRS’s efforts to clamp down on unreported income from these transactions.
Two of the letters aren’t threatening, asking taxpayers to review their records on whether they accurately reported the transactions and to amend returns as needed. They’re more like warning letters. But if you get one of these, it’s best not to ignore it.
A third is a bit dicey, asking recipients to sign penalties of perjury statements that they were following the law. People who get this letter should contact a tax expert.
It’s a good bet that the IRS got taxpayer names from its summons to Coinbase, a virtual currency exchange. In 2017, a court ordered Coinbase to turn information over to IRS on some U.S. customers who bought and sold bitcoins through the firm.