US lawmakers have urged the IRS to implement crypto tax reporting requirements before 2026.
Seven members of the United States Senate have called on the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to advance legislation that would “as soon as possible” impose certain tax reporting requirements for crypto brokers.
In a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel on October 10, a group of United States Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders criticized the two-year delay in implementing crypto tax reporting requirements that are slated to go into effect in 2026. In the year Lawmakers say delaying implementation of the rules for transactions through 2025 could cost the IRS about $50 billion in annual tax revenue and continue a policy that allows bad actors to avoid paying taxes.
“While we appreciate the content of the proposed regulations and your agencies' efforts to ensure taxpayers report crypto activity, we are deeply concerned that the final rule will not take effect until 2026,” the letter said. “[A]At a time when the industry is pushing to repeal the recently enacted reporting requirements, the Nye delay gives crypto lobbyists more opportunity to thwart the administration's efforts to impose basic reporting requirements on the unregulated crypto sector. Now is the time to act. “
Warren took crypto to X (formerly Twitter) on October 11th as a “non-secret financial instrument” to help fund Hamas in its war against Israel. Following a request from Israeli law enforcement, crypto exchange Binance announced on October 10 that it had seized accounts linked to Hamas.
The fact that Hamas-linked digital wallets are accepting millions of dollars in cryptocurrency is alarming and should be a wake-up call to lawmakers and regulators. https://t.co/yUVSIElI8v
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) October 11, 2023
Related: IRS Releases Draft Proposed Reporting Rules for Digital Asset Brokers
The crypto reporting requirements proposed by the IRS in August were open for public comments until October 30. Brokers are required to “help taxpayers know if they owe taxes” through crypto, as well as report information about digital asset transactions. Rep. Patrick McHenry, who is currently serving as interim House Speaker after Republican lawmakers voted to vacate the office, criticized the move as an “attack on the digital asset ecosystem.”
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