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IRS Will Seize Crypto Assets on Failure to Pay US Taxes: Official

Crypto is treated by the IRS as property for U.S. tax purposes and can be seized in the same way, an official said.

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) could seize people’s crypto assets to settle unpaid taxes, an agency official said.

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  • Robert Wearing, deputy associate chief counsel at the IRS, told a virtual conference Wednesday that crypto can be seized in the event of failure to pay taxes, just like other property.
  • This is in line with a 2014 IRS notice that crypto will be treated as property, not currency, for tax purposes.
  • “Bottom line: The IRS will seize that property and will attempt to follow its usual procedures to sell it and use it to satisfy collection,” Wearing said, according to a Bloomberg report.
  • The IRS recently contracted with crypto tax service provider TaxBit to assist with auditing of crypto transactions to verify the correct reporting of taxes by high-volume traders.

See also: How to File Your Crypto Taxes (and Not Get Screwed)

Jamie Crawley

Jamie has been part of CoinDesk's news team since February 2021, focusing on breaking news, Bitcoin tech and protocols and crypto VC. He holds BTC, ETH and DOGE.

Jamie Crawley