The U.S. Blockchain Association is stepping up to battle new crypto regulations that are being proposed in the historic bipartisan infrastructure deal that’s working its way through the Senate.
Robert Frank, a wealth reporter at CNBC, says the latest draft of the 2,702-page infrastructure bill targeting efforts to modernize bridges, roads, water pipes, electric vehicle charging stations, and internet service, among other systems, is trying to tackle crypto tax evasion.
Introduced on page 2,433 of the bill, new reporting rules for crypto traders are expected to raise an estimated $28-30 billion over 10 years in tax revenue, according to Frank, by cracking down on people who aren’t reporting taxable crypto transactions. The bill states,
“The amendments made by this section shall apply to returns required to be filed, and statements required to be furnished, after December 31, 2023.”
Very few exchanges actually report taxable transactions to the Internal Revenue Service, according to Frank. The new bill would impose stricter laws on businesses handling crypto, making crypto sellers report purchase and sales prices. It would also require digital asset transactions of $10,000 or more to be reported to the IRS.
The Blockchain Association, a member-led lobbying group, says the potential regulations would burden individuals and entities with reporting requirements to provide information they don’t have access to.
Explains Kristin Smith, executive director of the Blockchain Association,
“What Congress is considering with this measure is not a new tax on the cryptocurrency industry. Instead, it puts new reporting requirements on individual players in the industry who have no way to comply.
“These individuals will be faced with impossible-to-fulfill reporting requirements that could thwart critical investments in our economy and communities across the country. So not only will these types of reporting requirements push businesses and jobs overseas ??– ceding American leadership in the crypto space to our international competitors – it won’t collect the $28 billion Congress thinks they’ll bring in.”
The deal is expected to cost an estimated $1.2 trillion over eight years, according to The Hill. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer hopes to get the bill out of the Senate by August 9th, according to CNBC.
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