IRS Could Subpoena Tech Companies Due To Unreported Crypto Holdings, Practice Savvy Wallet Training

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) could take further actions in order to tackle unreported crypto holdings individuals have. This is according to a slide deck presentation that was unveiled at an IRS cyber training session and revealed by CoinDesk. Companies such as Apple, Google or Microsoft could receive a subpoena from the IRS.

IRS Could Request User Information From Tech Firms

The IRS is trying to go behind those individuals that are not providing information about their taxes and holdings in virtual currencies.

The slide deck presented by James Daniels reads as follows:

“Issuance of a Grand Jury Subpoena should be considered for Apple, Google and Microsoft for the Subject’s complete application download history. […] Each application’s function should be explored to determine whether or not the application can transmit or otherwise allow, transactions in Bitcoin.”

As reported by CoinDesk, the deck was unveiled on Twitter by Crypto Tax Girl, a recognized crypto tax expert in the United States.

I recently got hold of a presentation given to special agents in the IRS Criminal Investigation division that discussed investigating taxpayers who hold crypto.

I went through all of the 181 horribly formatted slides (attached for reference haha) and here's what I learned… pic.twitter.com/YQqHVR5Dv7

— Crypto Tax Girl (@CryptoTaxGirl) July 8, 2019

As she explained, agents should not notify the taxpayers about the obtainment of this information since this could have a negative impact on the investigation. Furthermore, the IRS is also working on serving subpoenas to collect bank, credit card, and PayPal records to understand whether individuals purchased cryptocurrencies.

This shows that the IRS is working very hard in order to identify criminal tax cases related to virtual currencies. Justin Cole, the director of communication and education at IRS’ criminal investigation unit explained that this information was presented to the agency staff at an event at the World Bank in Washington.

Lisa Zarlenga, a partner at the law firm Steptoe & Johnson, said that the IRS’ subpoena power can be applied both to civil and criminal cases. Nonetheless, it is important to mention that the IRS must notify taxpayers before it subpoenas third parties, so people will know whether a company is being investigated.