IRS Comes To Admit The Non-Ideal Nature Of Crypto Tax Regulation

It’s that time of the year, again. The taxpayers of the US have up to Wednesday to file their returns for 2019, assuming they didn’t forget about it and figured it all out already. Otherwise, extensions can be requested, but that’s a whole other problem in and of itself. US taxation of crypto, and for the world at large for that matter, is a confusing thing to address.

Crypto Tax Confusion

For the US, in particular, it seems that the tax regulations are as confusing as taxation can ever aspire to be. Through an article posted on Coindesk, Nikhilesh De stated that he’s having trouble with his tax, and it comes from a man that has been neck-deep in the crypto taxation side of the IRS for some time now. De even warned that this could be downright overwhelming if it came to complete newcomers.

The IRS itself has even come to admit that the guidance issued out for crypto is less than ideal, leaving many questions unanswered. An official that De had quoted, who apparently couldn’t go on public record about the matter, urged taxpayers to leverage both the forms that exchanges are issuing. Through this, the official said, individuals can list taxable events, and are further encouraged to use the various software tools available to help simplify the process at large.

Information Clarification Top Priority

This same official admitted that the guidance published to date isn’t the most ideal, and could stand to be clarified in the future. The official stated that the IRS is working hard to try and keep up with the crypto industry at large.

The official went further, explaining that the IRS at large is trying to find a way to work on guidance regarding how to gain proper information reporting. Furthermore, the tax agency must first conclude what is the proper form of information reporting, to begin with, the official said. As such, the IRS has recognized, according to this official, that the guidance is lacking in regards to what information should be reported, in particular. The official stated that the IRS is working on the guidance plan, and is currently the biggest priority in the IRS in regards to clarification.

Legal Teams Hard At Work

Micheal Meisler stands as a partner at Ernst and Young (EY), a firm that specializes in taxation. Meisler is the global blockchain tax leader for the Big Four auditor, and gave a few statements about the matter. He explained that a significant issue is an outstanding question in regards to information reporting.