IRS says businesses can hold off on reporting crypto, for now
There are fresh reporting requirements for crypto, but the Treasury says businesses get a pass until they can finalize the new rules
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen | Alexandros Michailidis/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks
The US Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service on Tuesday announced that businesses do not have to report the receipt of digital assets — not yet, at least.
As determined by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act enacted in 2021, taxpayers engaged in a trade or business must report receiving cash, which includes digital assets, when the value exceeds $10,000. Tuesday’s guidance clarifies that this particular provision will not take effect until the Treasury and IRS issue regulations.
The Treasury and IRS “intend to prescribe regulations, to provide additional information and procedures for reporting the receipt of digital assets,” Tuesday’s announcement states. The agency does not give a deadline or timeline for policy.
Read more: Who’s affected by new crypto tax reporting obligations in the US?
The Treasury and IRS issued proposed rules for digital assets in August 2023, in which officials suggested defining “digital asset brokers” as “trading platforms, digital asset payment processors, certain digital asset hosted wallet providers and persons who regularly offer to redeem digital assets that were created or issued by that person.”
Notably, and to the delight of many industry members, the agencies exempt individual miners and validators from the “broker” classification.
Still, the rules, if passed, would add responsibilities that many industry players find troubling. The proposed rule change has not been finalized.
The Treasury said Tuesday that it intends to publish regulations, alongside the IRS, that deal specifically with the issue of reporting digital assets. The agency will also provide updated forms and instructions, the announcement added, and, until then, these disclosures are not yet required.
“Persons engaged in a trade or business who, in the course of that trade or business, receive cash (other than digital assets) in excess of $10,000 in one transaction (or two or more related transactions) must continue to file an information return under section 6050I with respect to that cash received,” the agency clarified.
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