原文标题：
The IRS wants to know all about your Bitcoin holdings — and this court
summons is a reminder
美国国税局（IRS）希望了解您所持比特币的所有信息-此法院传票提醒您
原文连结：
https://reurl.cc/v5A0Ra
发布时间：
Last Updated: April 6, 2021 at 10:38 a.m. ET
First Published: April 5, 2021 at 9:28 a.m. ET
原文内容：
There’s a problem with under-reporting crypto transactions, the tax
collection agency says
The IRS wants Circle, a Boston-based financial technology company enabling
trade in various types of cryptocurrencies, to produce account-registration
information, account activity records and other materials for customers who
had at least $20,000 in transactions any year from 2016 to 2020.
Cryptocurrency has gained prominence and value over the year, but the IRS
says tax reporting hasn’t kept up.
The IRS issued Circle with a summons, which is part of an ongoing
investigation by the Internal Revenue Service to make sure all sorts of
cryptocurrency users across the board are reporting and paying up their tax
obligations, the government explained in court papers.
The IRS treats cryptocurrency as property and, when it’s sold at a profit,
the tax collection agency will assess a capital-gains tax. If, that is, the
IRS knows the transaction occurred.
The IRS and the Justice Department note they are not alleging any wrongdoing
on Circle’s part — but based on dealings with some people who have Circle
accounts, the feds want more information to see who else might be owing tax
money.
For example, one unidentified taxpayer amended 2014-2017 returns to show $1.6
million in previously unreported virtual currency sales, the government said.
Poloniex was one of the exchanges the taxpayer used.
(Circle sold the Poloniex exchange in late 2019 and customers in America can
no longer trade on the exchange, court papers noted.)
Massachusetts Federal District Richard Stearns signed off on the summons
Thursday, saying it was narrow enough and supported by a “reasonable basis”
to think some account holders might not be following tax laws.
“We’re reviewing, and of course expect to work collaboratively with the IRS
in responding to the court order,” a Circle spokesman told MarketWatch.
The summons sends “the clear message to U.S. taxpayers that the IRS is
working to ensure that they are fully compliant in their use of virtual
currency,” IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig said in a statement. “We will
enforce the law where we find systemic noncompliance or fraud.”
The IRS has filed other court summons seeking information from other
exchanges in previous years, said Dale Werts, a partner at Lathrop GPM in
Kansas City, Mo., where he advises companies on blockchain and cryptocurrency
matters.
But it’s also coming during tax season, at a time when rising cryptocurrency
prices are at the front of mind for many investors. “This is their way of
reminding you, ‘Hey, you better fill out your tax return properly,'” he
said.
For Werts, it’s not that the tax laws on cryptocurrency are new. Since 2014,
the IRS has stated its view that capital gains taxation rules apply. It’s
just a new crowd that has to learn the laws that have been on the books for
years, Werts said. “Lots of folks, I discovered, believe that cryptocurrency
is ‘new’ and existing laws don’t apply. This is just not true.”
Mainstream appeal
The summons is another sign of cryptocurrency’s growing mainstream appeal,
according to David Sacco, practitioner in resident at the University of New
Haven’s Pompea College of Business. The IRS has its eyes on the money in the
emerging market — and more eyes may ultimately mean more regulation and
investor protections, said Sacco, who teaches finance courses.
The IRS revised its tax paperwork this year to give prominent play to one
question about cryptocurrency. Near the top of the 1040’s first page, it
asks, “At any time during 2020, did you receive, sell, send, exchange, or
otherwise acquire any financial interest in any virtual currency?”
When Sacco looked over the revamped 1040, the question struck him as “a
little creepy” but “on the other hand, it makes it like any other asset
class now.”
Two accountants specializing in cryptocurrency and taxes were split when
previously talking to MarketWatch on whether to answering ‘yes’ for merely
buying currencies like bitcoin or ether. Answering ‘yes’ doesn’t
necessarily mean more taxes, they note.
Either way, a lot’s happened for cryptocurrency in 2020, and 2021 so far
looks to be no different. Bitcoin BTCUSD, -3.54% tripled in value during
2020. Ethereum ETHUSD, -7.00% hit a record value above $2,000 on Friday, and
was trading above that on Monday, as Bitcoin traded near $58,000 on Monday.
Between 2013 and 2015, a mere 800 to 900 taxpayers filed returns reporting
cryptocurrency, the IRS said. That number increased from 2016 to 2018, “but
the numbers still fall far short of what would be expected given the number
of users, transactions, and value that the exchanges publicize occur on an
annual basis,” court filings said.
Over the years, the IRS has stepped up enforcement. In the summer of 2019, it
sent more than 10,000 letters to people it believed potentially failed to
report virtual currency income. The taxpayer who amended returns to report
$1.6 million in previously unreported sales was one of the letter recipients,
the court filing said.
机翻如下：
税务征收机构表示，存在少报加密交易的问题。
美国国税局希望总部位于波士顿的金融科技公司Circle能够为2016年至2020年任何一年至
少有2万美元交易的客户提供帐户注册资讯、帐户活动记录和其他材料。
加密货币在这一年中的地位和价值越来越突出，但国税局表示，报税工作没有跟上。
政府在法庭档中解释说，国税局向Circle发出了传票，这是国内税务局正在进行的调查的
一部分，以确保各种加密货币用户全面报告和支付他们的纳税义务。
国税局将加密货币视为财产，当它被出售获利时，征税机构将评估资本收益税。如果，国
税局知道交易发生了。
国税局和司法部指出，他们并没有指控Circle的任何不法行为