6th June 2023 – (Washington) Two members of the United States Congress, Brad Sherman and Stephen Lynch, have written a letter to the heads of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), urging them to implement tax regulations for the crypto industry. The representatives highlighted concerns about tax compliance practices in the crypto industry, which they believe has been a major source of tax evasion and a significant part of the nation’s tax gap. They also pointed out an audit report from September 2020, which indicated the IRS’ inability to identify pro-crypto taxpayers owing to the lack of reporting.
While the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act requires taxpayers to report crypto transactions starting in 2023, the Congressmen noted that the proposed regulations have yet to be promulgated. They called for the prompt release of the proposed regulations to close the tax gap and bring the crypto industry into full tax compliance. In May, the Biden administration renewed its push for a 30% Digital Asset Mining Energy (DAME) tax on cryptocurrency miners, which was first announced as part of Biden’s FY2024 budget in March 2023. However, the proposed tax did not make it into the May legislation that addressed raising the US debt ceiling.