Over the last few weeks, Americans have read about the U.S.
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) upping its tax enforcement to catch
cryptocurrency users who have not paid taxes. According to one report,
the IRS may get access to bank inflows and outflows via Joe Biden’s
American Families Plan. On top of this, another story explains how an
IRS agent posed as a bitcoin trader called “Mr. Coins” on the
peer-to-peer (P2P) marketplace Localcryptos.com in a $180K sting
operation.
America’s Tax Agency Is Stepping Up Enforcement via Biden’s American Families Plan
The IRS has been stepping up enforcement against tax evaders and has
recently been specifically focused on cryptocurrency transfers. This
past April, Forbes contributor Guinevere Moore published a report on how
U.S. President Biden’s “American Families Plan” aims to increase IRS
enforcement. Essentially, Moore details that America’s financial
institutions have always had to report capital gains to the IRS, but
under Biden’s plan banks are required to “aggregate account outflows and
inflows.”
Two days ago, Bitcoin.com News reported
on how the Biden administration is pushing for global crypto data
sharing rules in the $3.5 trillion budget bill. At the end of July, the
IRS also modified the digital currency question as the tax agency is more focused on finding taxable crypto transfers.
IRS Agent Goes Undercover as ‘Mr. Coins’
Additionally, the IRS has been actively engaged in sting operations and Forbes associate editor, Thomas Brewster, explained on September 1, how an IRS agent went undercover in a $180K sting operation last year.
Brewster said the publication reviewed a search warrant that shows an
IRS agent called himself “Mr. Coins” on the P2P marketplace
Localcryptos.com. According to the report, Mr. Coins went undercover to
bust a darknet market (DNM) drug dealer and conned him into trading
$180K in cash for digital assets. Mr. Coins communicated with people via
Whatsapp and Wickr and Brewster details that Mr. Coins had a 100%
positive feedback rating on the P2P trading platform.
The DNM dealer was arrested in July and the report details that no
plea has been filed to-date. The suspect’s lawyer, Localcryptos.com, and
the IRS all declined to comment on the matter, Brewster said. The
charges were filed in the Eastern District of New York and allegedly the
suspect was involved with cocaine, cannabis, and “pills and opioids.”
