Crypto Oversight In The Infrastructure Bill Begins To Surface

Washington, D.C. – Crypto clauses have been under the microscope now that the bill is law and crypto stocks have seen the hit across the board. The new Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act has been signed into U.S. law by President Joe Biden and embedded within it, cryptocurrency has been targeted. The funding package is set to increase the tax reporting requirements for cryptocurrency transactions; a decision which has greatly been opposed by those among the realm of digital currency.

            All cryptocurrency brokers such as the notorious eToro and Coinbase, will be subject to document transactions beginning in January 2024. Cryptocurrency brokers will be required to issue form 1099-B which mirrors the regulation of stock and bond brokers. Customer names, addresses, and phone numbers will need to be disclosed alongside the gross proceeds from sales, capital gains, and capital losses. Additionally, companies which obtain payments of $10,000 or above in cryptocurrency will be mandated to reveal the identity of the sender to the government.

Such records will be conducted for the benefit of customers and the IRS. These rulings furthermore serve to prevent money laundering-like transactions.

Expanded crypto reporting is anticipated to bring in about $28 billion worth of tax revenue over the span of 10 years. Issues regarding untaxed cryptocurrency transactions will therefore be combatted with the installment of enforced reporting.

Adjustments to virtual currency policies in the bill will insignificantly impact taxpayers. Considering that crypto has been deemed as “property” by the Internal Revenue Service, taxes are owed when it is either sold or exchanged just like a stock or bond. Consequently, Form 1040 inputted an additional question which compels individuals to account for sales, exchanges, or receipts of virtual currencies.

Heightened requirements surrounding cryptocurrency proposed by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act has created immense controversy among crypto advocates who claim that the language defining a crypto broker is ambiguously broad. Apprehension is encompassed around the possibility that customers will be forced to obtain inaccessible information. In response to crypto proponents, the U.S. Treasury Department stated that a new bill will soon be issued which will narrow the meaning of “crypto broker” and will not target non-brokers including miners and hardware developers.