I.R.S. Issues Proposed Regulations on Information Reporting for Digital Assets

Volume 10 No 5    /    Read Article

By Wooyoung Lee

Digital assets are considered to be a form of intangible property and exchanges of digital assets or transfers for cash are taxable events under U.S. tax law. Compliance with income tax rules on income recognition from the disposal of digital assets is viewed to be low. As part of the move to enforce compliance, the I.R.S. recently issued the first of several sets of proposed regulations intended to provide greater clarity on information reporting rules that are designed to enhance compliance. The list of transactions that must be reported by brokers has been expanded to include dispositions of digital assets in exchange for cash, other digital assets, stored-value cards, broker services, or other property subject to reporting under Code §6045. In his article, Wooyoung Lee explains (i) the proposed definition of a digital asset for reporting purposes, (ii) persons considered to be brokers covered by the reporting obligations, (iii) the definition of a sale in a digital asset transaction, and (iv) the scope of information that must be reported.   See more →