New watchdog report finds the IRS isn't auditing a large portion of wealthy individuals who haven't filed tax returns, missing out on billions of dollars in potential revenue.
Watchdog identified 879,415 high-income nonfilers for tax years 2014 through 2016, owing an estimated $45.7 billion in taxes. The IRS didn't work 369,180, or almost 42%, of those cases.
SCOOP on
@TheTerminal
now. Treasury in a letter sent to a group of senators today signals that it plans to spare crypto miners and stakers, as well as hardware and software providers, from forthcoming broker reporting rules.
SCOOP on
@TheTerminal
now: Coinbase Global Inc. is facing a US probe into whether it improperly let Americans trade digital assets that should have been registered as securities, according to three people familiar with the matter. w/
@ElleBeyoud
Scoop from me and
@laurapdavison
: President Joe Biden will propose taxing capital gains for wealthy individuals at the top individual rate of 39.6% AND Obamacare's 3.8% net investment income tax would still apply, meaning investors could face a rate as high as 43.4%.
Added that the remaining cases are "sitting in one of the Collection function’s inventory streams and will likely not be pursued as resources decline."
After I started asking questions, the IRS pulled wording from website that characterized gaming currencies used in Fortnite and Roblox as convertible virtual currency, which would have subjected millions of users to new 1040 question.
~Some personal news~
Today I started a new job covering crypto regulation for
@business
. Please send any tips/comments to my new email address: aversprille1
@bloomberg
.net!
Scoop: Crypto exchange Kraken is facing an SEC investigation into whether it offered unregistered securities. The probe is at an advanced stage and could lead to a settlement in coming days.
SCOOP on
@TheTerminal
now: President Joe Biden is set to sign the long-awaited crypto executive order later this week. Will outline a government-wide strategy for digital assets. w/
@jeneps
Sam Bankman-Fried met Sept. 8 with Steve Ricchetti, one of President Joe Biden’s senior advisers, White House officials familiar with the meeting said. This is the latest of several meetings he had at the WH in 2022. w/
@josh_wingrove
. Story on
@TheTerminal
Scoop: Alexis Goldstein of
@openmarkets
is joining
@CFPB
to work on a range of issues, including crypto, an agency spokesperson confirmed to me. Goldstein has repeatedly called for more oversight of digital assets.
SCOOP on
@TheTerminal
now. IRS and Treasury are likely to delay new reporting rules for crypto brokers, according to people familiar who asked not to be named because a final decision hasn’t been made. Move would push back efforts to collect billions in taxes from traders.
IRS will launch a new tool on its website to allow people to look up the amount of the stimulus payments they received to make it easier for those who are missing some of those payments to claim extra credit on their 2020 tax returns, an agency official says.
Today is my last day at
@BBGIndustry
. I've been on the
@tax
team here for more than 5 years and am extremely grateful for the opportunities I've been given and the colleagues I've gotten to work with. Stay tuned for what's next (don't worry I'm not going too far)!
Ways and Means Democrats are asking the IRS to extend the tax filing season. Agency officials so far had said they had no plans to do this but pressure from Congress may change that.
Individuals working in crypto gave more than $26 million in political contributions during 2021 and the first three months of this year. That influx of cash is outpacing spending by internet giants, drug makers and the defense industry. w/
@bill_allison
Scoop: Biden admin is preparing to issue a sweeping executive order on digital assets as soon as next month. In current form, would call for reports from govt agencies on issues, including illicit finance and financial stability. w/
@jeneps
and
@jendeben
SCOOP on terminal now: A former Coinbase manager has been arrested for his alleged role in an insider trading scheme. w/
@ElleBeyoud
@sabrush
and Greg Farrell.
The department’s view is that “ancillary parties who cannot get access to information that is useful to the IRS are not intended to be captured by the reporting requirements for brokers," an official writes.
House Financial Services Committee Chair
@RepMaxineWaters
says at hearing today that "it's not hard to imagine how another major economy's CBDC could chip away at the dollar's leadership status"
IMF official warns against bailing on all cryptocurrencies in the aftermath of the TerraUSD crash, saying not all digital assets are created equally. w/
@emilyjnicolle
The probe by the SEC’s enforcement unit predates the agency’s investigation into an alleged insider trading scheme that led the regulator last week to sue a former Coinbase manager and two other people.
Kraken statement on settlement: “Starting today, with the exception of staked ether (ETH), assets enrolled in the on-chain staking program by U.S. clients will automatically be unstaked and will no longer earn staking rewards.”
Scoop on
@TheTerminal
now. US prosecutors and regulators are closing in on Sam Bankman-Fried’s inner circle with probe into Nishad Singh. Singh, if authorities determine he participated in the alleged fraud at FTX, could be charged as soon as this month.
Story from earlier this evening w/
@ElleBeyoud
and
@austwein
. Archegos emerging as a sticking point in a Washington turf battle between the SEC and CFTC over swaps jurisdiction.
Former federal prosecutor Katie Haun's new venture firm
@HaunVentures
just raised $1.5 billion to invest in crypto projects. w/
@olgakharif
and
@jeneps
Was battling a breakthrough case of Covid-19 for the last two weeks and am FINALLY feeling back to normal. This morning I could faintly smell my coffee again. It's going to be a good week!
Individuals earning $200,000 or more owed the IRS back taxes of a combined $38.5 billion as of May 14, 2019, the agency's watchdog said in a report today.
Scoop on
@TheTerminal
now: Was able to view the latest draft of the House's stablecoin bill and it would place a two-year ban on stablecoins similar to TerraUSD.
The Federal Reserve and FDIC say they’ve issued a letter demanding that
@investvoyager
stop making “false and misleading” statements regarding its FDIC deposit insurance status.
IRS official today walked back comments made earlier in the week by another official who said taxpayers shouldn't apply like-kind exchange principles to pre-2018 cryptocurrency trades.
A sweeping bill from a bipartisan Senate duo would address some of the hottest issues facing the crypto industry including sanctions compliance, stablecoin oversight and energy usage.
IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig says agency is "current" on mail backlog. Says there are still millions of tax returns "in process" but the IRS is now working on all of those it's received.
IRS to soon make announcement on the agency's increased use of FAQs to provide guidance. Will detail plans to archive older versions of FAQs and make it easier to see when changes have been made. Will also discuss penalty relief for taxpayers who rely on them.
IRS watchdog says as of March 5, taxpayers made nearly 46.3 million total attempts and 30.8 million net attempts to contact the IRS by phone. 7.6 million calls answered with automation; more than 4.4 million answered by a person.
SCOOP: CFTC investigators have concluded that bankrupt crypto lender Celsius Network and ex-CEO Alex Mashinsky broke agency rules. If the majority of the agency’s commissioners agree and vote to proceed with enforcement a case could be filed as soon as this month. w/
@ElleBeyoud
Crypto is taking full advantage of Washington's "revolving door" as more and more people move between jobs in the industry and the government agencies that police it.
Congressman Peter Welch (D-Vt.) plans to reintroduce his bill this week to extend the electric vehicle tax credit--a favorite of companies like
@Tesla
and
@GM
--for 10 years and get rid of the cap that phases out the credit once manufacturers sell 200,000 vehicles, office confirms
White House office in new report says crypto mining could threaten the US's climate goals and that actions should be taken to mitigate harmful effects to the environment.
IRS issues guidance that allows businesses, from Jan. 1, 2021 through Dec. 31, 2022, to write off 100% of their food or beverage expenses paid to restaurants. Link here:
.
@AICPA
is asking the IRS to make a final determination on whether or not to extend the tax-filing season by March 1. Says extended due date, if it happens, should be June 15.
.
@SenJohnKennedy
to me on the lack of transparency during these omnibus talks: "I feel like I'm a victim of mushroom management--keep me in the dark and feed me manure."
President Joe Biden is seeking more than $1 billion dollars in additional funding for the IRS—showing his administration is serious about getting the agency the resources it needs to audit more wealthy individuals and large corporations.
.
@BlockchainAssn
says it’s digging into allegations that crypto firms are being booted from the US banking system. Submits FOIAs to FDIC, Federal Reserve and OCC. New story on
@TheTerminal
now.
Want to take the time to thank people like my dad and brother-in-law, who are longshoremen and having to go into work during the Covid-19 outbreak to unload ships carrying medical supplies and other necessities. A reminder that not everyone is lucky enough to be able to WFH.
Ishan Wahi allegedly tipped off his brother and a friend when tokens were about to be listed by the exchange. We've been told the recipients used the information to illegally trade dozens of tokens from at least June 2021 until April 2022 for a profit of more that $1 million.
SEC Chair Gary Gensler told Bloomberg News in an interview that he's worried about crypto trading platforms potentially betting against their own customers because they don't have walls up between different parts of their businesses.
.
@SBF_FTX
says on a Twitter Space that he's "currently not scheduled" to attend the Senate Banking Committee's hearing on Dec. 14. Says he'll attend tomorrow's House hearing virtually.
Also important in the story...Treasury says it's still considering “the extent to which other parties in the digital asset market, such as centralized exchanges and those often described as decentralized exchanges and peer-to-peer exchanges, should be treated as brokers.”
Regulators in new report identify climate change, stablecoins as potential threats to the financial system. Say they're prepared to take steps to rein in stablecoins if Congress fails to act. w/
@jesseahamilton
My
@tax
colleagues and I are debating whether bagels should be toasted or not, so in an effort to get Twitter riled up on a Friday, I'm posing this question: toasted or untoasted?
(Weigh in
#TaxTwitter
. I know how much you all love a good food debate)
DOJ concludes that Treasury must comply with the House Ways and Means Committee's request for former President Donald Trump's tax returns. Statement here:
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell says report on central bank digital currencies is "ready to go." Will come within weeks (now he has said this before but seems pretty confident this time. Guess we'll see!)
Exclusive: Senators, including
@ewarren
,
@RogerMarshallMD
,
@SenJohnKennedy
, and are redoubling their efforts to press Silvergate on its ties to FTX, saying the firm didn’t provide complete responses when they asked in December.
The IRS has lost nearly half of its revenue officers (the people who actually go out and collect money from delinquent businesses/individuals) since 2010. This is starting to impact even the highest priority cases.
CFTC commissioner weighing in on the SEC's action against Wahi, which identifies nine tokens as securities. That potentially has big implications for the industry and Coinbase, which has asserted none of the crypto assets it lists are securities.
IRS speakers at a conference today remind everyone that answering "yes" to the new crypto question on the Form 1040 doesn't hinge on whether the transaction that occurs is taxable. For example, you must check yes if you receive crypto as a gift during the year.
SCOOP w/
@avabmorrison
: US authorities are asking crypto investors and trading firms that worked closely with FTX to hand over information on the company and its key figures, including founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
Hello
#TaxTwitter
. Some people were asking me whether individuals could amend their 2020 returns electronically. The IRS previously said that was only for 2019 returns. Agency confirms the e-file option will be available for returns filed this year too.
Had
@Starbucks
delivered today (don’t judge me) and came outside to find that my dog ate my bacon, egg, and gouda sandwich…how’s everyone else’s morning going?
NEW from me: The union that represents IRS workers is calling on the agency to shut down its Austin, Texas campus after dozens of employees contracted Covid-19.
IRS still has a mail backlog of 5 million pieces of mail because of facility closures at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, a Taxpayer Advocate Service official says on
@ABATAXSECTION
panel today.
Story on
@TheTerminal
: House Financial Services Committee leaders aiming to advance their stablecoin bill in a markup on July 27, according to several people familiar. This could change but that's the goal. As of now, bill would do several things: 👇
This one was a rollercoaster.,.IRS denies it's considering temporarily shutting down its phone lines to divert resources to its tax return backlog, hours after Erin Collins said the idea was one of several "drastic measures" on the table.
Latest scoop from me and
@avabmorrison
on the US probe into DCG. Prosecutors in Brooklyn, SEC staff, and FBI agents met in recent months with Gemini's Cameron Winklevoss to discuss fraud allegations he's made against DCG and its CEO Barry Silbert.