Tax blitz to hit Bitcoin investors
Tax-dodging Bitcoin investors will be confronted by the full investigative powers of the tax office, which has revealed it will use anti-money laundering legislation due to come into force next month as the basis for a long-awaited blitz on cryptocurrencies.
Under the legislation, the ATO will use compulsory 100-point identification checks for Bitcoin investors as part of its new arsenal, giving it the ability to roll out its data-matching techniques to take on the previously opaque cryptocurrency world.
ATO deputy commissioner Will Day said the tax office would rely on “increased transparency” from the government’s anti-money laundering counter-terrorism financing rules to tackle cryptocurrency tax cheats.
The escalation of the ATO’s crusade against Bitcoin is part of a growing international movement in recent weeks to crack down on Bitcoin tax avoidance — most notably in the US.
Four days ago, Coinbase, one of the world’s biggest crypto-currency exchanges, announced to its client base that it had received a mass “summons” from the US Internal Revenue Service, for the account details of 13,000 investors. Coinbase revealed that the requested details had included “taxpayer ID” numbers, as well as name, birthdate, address, and historical transaction records for “certain higher-transacting customers”.
The ATO is believed to be planning to implement a similar crackdown, as it battles perceptions that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have emerged as great tax-evasion loopholes — partly because they are used by organised crime and other investors to preserve anonymity.
The price of Bitcoin has plummeted since regulators around the world started to clamp down on cryptocurrencies with bans and other measures. After hitting a high just below $US20,000 in mid-December, the price has settled at about $10,600.
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Source: Tax blitz to hit Bitcoin investors – The Australian
