The IRS hoping to make tech giants reveal user crypto activity

• To ensure the success of the investigation, IRS planning to keep obtained information confidential.
• The IRS is also planning to review social media platforms to find and record publicly available cryptocurrency addresses.

It has been reported that the IRS (Internal Revenue Service), is considering requiring tech giants to report on crypto activity by users. As per the documents that were shared, the IRS is planning to use Grand Jury subpoenas on tech companies like Apple, Microsoft and Google to keep track of taxpayers’ download history of crypto-related applications.  

Laura Walter, popularly known as Crypto Tax Girl, who’s a certified public accountant and crypto tax specialist, tweeted a presentation, which was supposedly for the agents in the IRS’ Criminal Investigation sector. Walter concluded that the IRS is conducting thorough research into the identification of criminal tax evasion cases involving cryptocurrencies. She also informed that the tax authority is planning interviews, open-source, electronic surveillance and social media searches regarding the same.

The 181-page presentation stated:

“Grand Jury Subpoena should be considered for Apple, Google, and Microsoft for the Subject’s complete application download history. Each application’s function should be explored to determine whether or not the application can transmit, or otherwise allow, transactions in bitcoin.”

To ensure the success of the investigation, the IRS is planning to keep obtained information confidential. While the IRS has not confirmed the legitimacy of the presentation, they are reportedly hoping to serve subpoenas to check data from accounts in banks and Paypal for connection with crypto transactions. Along with that, the IRS is also planning to review social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to find and record publicly available cryptocurrency addresses. It should be noted that this is not the first time that the IRS has shown interest in crypto taxation. Back in 2018, the IRS’ advisory committee expressed its plan of providing additional guidelines for the taxation of crypto transactions.