IRS building 'hundreds' of crypto cases, ramping up hiring: Bloomberg Tax

Quick Take

  • The IRS is developing “hundreds” of soon-to-be-public cases involving crypto.
  • The cases being built reportedly involve crypto-to-fiat “off-ramping” transactions, as well as individuals being paid in crypto.

The United States Internal Revenue Service is developing "hundreds" of soon-to-be-public cases involving crypto, according to a Bloomberg Tax report citing division chief Jim Lee.

The cases being built reportedly involve crypto-to-fiat "off-ramping" transactions, as well as individuals being paid in crypto and not reporting it as income.

The report follows news that the IRS was granted the power to issue a "John Doe" summons to M.Y. Safra Bank. This provided the tax authority with the ability to obtain data on customers of the bank's partner and crypto prime broker, SFOX.

THE SCOOP

Keep up with the latest news, trends, charts and views on crypto and DeFi with a new biweekly newsletter from The Block's Frank Chaparro

By signing-up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
By signing-up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

In March, an IRS official said to "expect more" broad information requests to crypto exchanges — such as those previously seen involving Coinbase, Kraken and Circle.

The IRS has notably made clear its plans to ramp up hiring across the agency. Lee has now said the tax authority is expecting a "more significant" hiring increase for the remainder of the fiscal year.


© 2023 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

TAGS
IRS

About Author

Adam is the managing editor for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He is based in central Europe and was a managing editor and podcast host at the crypto exchange OKX's former research arm, OKX Insights. Before that, he co-founded BeInCrypto.com, which he elevated into one of the leading crypto media brands at its peak as the editor-in-chief. Earlier, he served as the editor-in-chief at Bitcoinist.com. Before joining the blockchain and crypto industry, he worked for Looper.com, Grunge.com and SVG.com. He tweets via @XBT002 and can be emailed at [email protected].